I would like to extend my sincere appreciation and gratitude to the amazing BVRC Administrative and Research teams, to the BVRC Board of Directors, to the BVRC members, to our supporting members, and also to all the scientists and researchers I have had the pleasure of interacting with over the past two years. I have appreciated all the connections, linkages, guidance and support to re-build connections with researchers and academia; to bring in new research projects and build new research programs while continuing to support legacy research programs; to host the Northern Conference for Wildfire Resilience; and, to build committed and effective administrative and research teams. I am also appreciative of the engaged Board of Directors, who are committed to continuing and building the legacy of our community-based non-profit organization.

The power of the Research Centre is in our nucleus of natural resource scientists. By supporting our network of researchers, natural resource practitioners, and collaborators to conduct research and collaborate on initiatives that advance stewardship of our natural resources, we play a key role in meeting the challenges facing us in the 21st century. During my time with the BVRC it has become apparent to me that BVRC's role is to support researchers to conduct research, and in return, the natural resource community has benefitted and will continue to benefit from the knowledge and expertise that the BVRC-affiliated researchers bring to land and resource management and decision-making. I am grateful to have been part of this endeavour, albeit for a short period of time. GO RESEARCHERS! GO BVRC TEAMS!

We are on the look out for a new Executive Director. 

The executive director (ED) is responsible for establishing and executing major goals and objectives for the organization. The ED will implement policies established by the board of directors, provide leadership, direction and guidance to the organization’s activities, and will analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of all organizational operations. The ED will also develop and maintain the organizational structure including effective personnel and coordinate major activities through subcontracts. The ED will represent the organization to regulatory bodies, other agencies, community and civic organizations, donors, funders and supporters, and the general public.

Qualifications:

A degree in a field related to the sustainability of natural or cultural resources. A master’s degree would be preferred and experience managing a non-profit organization including finances. The position requires excellent communication skills and the ability to work well with diverse people and organizations. The ideal candidate will also have experience working with communities, building or delivering research projects, and developing successful research proposals.

Located in Smithers, BC

How to Apply:

For more information visit our website. Please contact Adrian deGroot at info@bvcentre.ca

Dr. Kira Hoffman is one of our newest BVRC board members - she is a forest ecologist based in Northern BC with interests in terrestrial ecology, wildfire, conservation, climate change, and forest dynamics.

Kira began her experiences with forests early on as a tree planter and wildland firefighter in B.C. Her work as a firefighter caused her to question fire suppression policies and the need for the public to understand fire as a healthy component of forest ecosystems.

Kira’s interest in forest management led her to enroll in an undergraduate program in biogeography at the University of Victoria. She continued her studies and earned a PhD in Environmental Studies from the University of Victoria in 2018.

“My PhD research reconstructed Holocene fire activity, climate, and vegetation in temperate rainforests located on the Central Coast of British Columbia. I assessed ecological legacies associated with long-term cultural burning practices and using fire as a tool for resource management. This work has contemporary applications in forest management such as reducing wildfire risk, and establishing prescribed burning programs in British Columbia that are informed by traditional knowledge and western science.”

Moving forward, Kira would like to partner with local First Nations to incorporate traditional knowledge and fire management systems into current forest management policies. She is also interested in working with communities in the Bulkley Valley to create more resilient forests and fire-resistant communities.

You can follow Kira on Twitter and Instagram, as well as visit her website. She also presented at one of our seminar series earlier this year - watch the video on our Facebook page.

Invitation to participate in a pilot study concerned with the potential application of Episodic Future Thinking (EFT) to public planning.

Episodic Future Thinking (EFT) is the ability of a human mind to simulate personal future events. (See Karl K. Szpunar and Gabriel A. Radvansky, eds., Imagining the Future: Insights from Cognitive Psychology (Oxford: Routledge, 2017: 3)).

Ray Chipeniuk wants to conduct a pilot study into whether this individual and personal ability might play a useful role in the design of public planning processes. For the study, he needs volunteers to provide him with (1) brief written accounts of what they remember from daylong recreational outings in the back country around Smithers, and (2) equally brief compositions presenting what they imagine would be their experience if they were to make similar outings to the same places ten years in the future. Participation will be anonymous, with a third party receiving and sending email communications, and volunteers will be free to withdraw from the study at any time. Because a pilot study is just exploratory, Ray has no particular “sample” in mind, except that volunteers should meet certain basic requirements, such as being at least 21 years of age. He will circulate more specifications for what he has in mind once he has enough volunteers to be sure it will be worth while to proceed with the study.

Ray is a long-retired professor of environmental planning. As an active academic, he published a number of articles in peer-reviewed journals specializing in cognitive research. The best way to evaluate his ability to carry out research of the kind he is proposing here is to Google his name and read at least the abstracts of his publications.

If you are interested in volunteering, please send Ray an email message asking for more information. Once he decides whether to proceed with the study, he will send interested parties a package of written materials via email through a third-party intermediary. 

Raymond Chipeniuk, Ph.D. (Regional Planning and Resource Development)
(250) 847-5758
chipeniuk@xplornet.com