KAMLOOPS – The BC Forest Science Program has awarded six researchers at Thompson Rivers University a total of $418,132 in grants related tonine forest and range issues and management research projects in the BCInterior.
“I am very pleased that the BC Forest Science Program has recognized the importance of these research projects to forest and ecosystem health in British Columbia, and I am particularly pleased that research scientists at Thompson Rivers University are able to contribute positive knowledge that will help in the sustainability of forestry and agriculture, two very important economic engines in the SouthernInterior,” said Dr. Nancy Van Wagoner, TRU Associate Vice-President,Research and Graduate Studies.
For two projects related to grasslands ecology, “Managing the interacting effects of grazing and global climate change in BC interior rangelands” and “Effects of livestock grazing in southern interior wetlands: interactions with amphibians, benthic macroinvertebrates,vegetation, and breeding waterfowl,” TRU Canada Research Chair Lauchlan Fraser received a total of $124,524.
Alan Vyse, the first person designated at TRU as a Research Associate after his retirement from the BC Ministry of Forests about three years ago, received a total of $198,396 for three projects: the ongoing “Sicamous Creek Silviculture Systems Project,” as well as two newprojects, “Tree species growth rates and susceptibility to insects and diseases in the southern ICH under current and possible future climatic conditions” and “Sustainable management of the ponderosa pine parkland ecosystems in the Thompson River watershed after the mountain pinebeetle epidemic.”
Lyn Baldwin, an assistant professor in TRU’s biological sciencesprogram, received $44,928 for her research project, “Structure and functional values of riparian buffer strips for sustaining floristic diversity in interior forested landscapes,” while geographer Darryl Carlyle-Moses received $27,428 for his continuing work on “Measurementand Modelling of Mountain Pine Beetle Impacts on the Annual ForestWater Balance,” Karl Larsen, an associate professor in TRU’s natural resource science program, received $8,856 for his continuing researchon “Indicators of biodiversity within aspen stands of the Interior Douglas-fir zone,” and Brian Heise, associate professor in TRU’snatural resource science program, received $14,000 for his “Extension of the effects of logging on export of organic matter from headwater streams.”
For more information, please contact:
TRU: Dr. Nancy Van Wagoner at 250-371-5586 or 250-828-5410 or email.
BC Forest Science Program: 604-484-3487
