Climate Change Monitoring and Research in the Skeena Region

About this Presentation

As part of a North Area effort to understand the impacts of climate change to forests and ecosystems in northern BC, several field-based research projects have been initiated over the last two decades by the Ministry of Forests Research Program. The focus of this presentation will be to highlight research sites in the Skeena Region as led by Vanessa Foord, Research Climatologist for the North Area. These include projects on climate and rusts/diseases of lodgepole pine plantations, microclimate and soil effects on fire weather/risk in different stand types, and alpine change. Climate monitoring design and results to date will be shared. Efforts to improve climate monitoring in northern BC through collaboration will also be presented. The purpose of the presentation is mainly for awareness on work in progress and to share data with other researchers or those interested in exploring further.

About Vanessa Foord

Vanessa Foord, P.Ag., is a Research Climatologist for the North Area of BC Ministry of Forests. She has been studying climate trends and climate change impacts in northern BC since 2002, primarily in the areas of forest change (drought, pests) and natural disturbances (landslides, permafrost thaw, hydrologic change) with a particular interest in understanding extreme events. She has a Master of Science in Earth Science from Simon Fraser University and Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science from the University of Northern BC. She is a member of the Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society, American Meteorological Society, American Geophysical Union, and the Canadian Institute of Forestry. She lives in Prince George with her husband, two kids, and a dog.