Lab Director
Dr. Lael Parrott
(PhD Agricultural & Biosystems Engineering, McGill University)
Professor in Sustainability, Departments of Earth, Environmental and Geographical Sciences and Biology, UBC Okanagan
Students
Corrie Allen, PhD Student
Project: Watershed resilience
Emmanuel Adoasi-Ahyiah, PhD Student
Project: Land use planning for ecological resilience
Harry Chang, PhD Student
Project: Agent-based modelling of grizzly bear movement in Southern BC
Rachel Field, PhD Student
Project: Planning for ecological resilience in multifunctional landscapes
Cole Hooper, MSc Student
Project: Climbing management to meet conservation & recreation objectives in Skaha Provincial Park
Renee Larsen, MSc Student
Project: Modelling future wildfire scenarios for the Okanagan
(in co-supervision with Mathieu Bourbonnais)
Ehsan Pashanejad, PhD Student
Project: Modelling the dynamics of ecosystem service supply using a spatial system framework in Canadian working landscapes
Ellen Simmons, PhD Student
Project: Indigenous and western science approaches to forest management to enhance grizzly habitat
postdoctoral fellows
Dr. Lilian Sales, PhD
Ecosystem services and habitat modelling, ResNet Postdoctoral fellow
RESEARCH ASSISTANTS & TECHNICIANS
Visiting Researchers
Dr. Marcelo Miranda Salas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
Sabbatical professor
* Recently graduated & moved on to meet new challenges *
Luke Crevier, MSc Student, Graduated in 2023
Project: Modelling human-bear interactions for the resort municipality of Whistler, BC
Dr. Dana Reiter, Postdoctoral fellow, Liber Ero fellow
(PhD, Queensland University of Technology)
Project: Production, protection, potential for co- benefit: Evaluating the Species at Risk Partnerships on Agricultural Lands program in southwest Saskatchewan from the perspective of producers
Rob Friberg, PhD Student
Project: Assessing community resilience to mountain pine beetle outbreaks
(in co-supervision with Kevin Hanna, Geography)
Janna Wale, MSc Student, Graduated in 2022
Project: Building Climate Resilience in Indigenous Communities
Dr. Katey Kyle, Postdoctoral fellow
(M.Sc., Geomatics, U. Calgary, PhD UBC Geography)
Projects: Identification of priority conservation areas for maintaining wildlife habitat connectivity in the Okanagan Basin & Identification of priority areas for biodiversity conservation initiatives on agricultural land in the Okanagan
Matthias Baß, PhD Student
Project: Social-ecological network analysis and community resilience to mountain pine beetle outbreaks
Bruno Carturan, PhD Student, Graduated in Fall 2020
Project: Spatial modelling of resilience of coral reefs to human and natural disturbances
(co-supervised by Jason Pither, UBC)
Theresa Loewen, MSc Student, Graduated Spring 2020
(B.Sc. Earth & Environmental Sciences, UBC)
Project: Initiatives for biodiversity and ecosystem services conservation on agricultural land in the Okanagan
Shane Pedersen, MSc Student
(B.Sc. Earth & Environmental Sciences, UBC)
Project: An agent-based model for managing off-highway vehicles in a multi-use watershed
Fabian Cid Yanez, PhD Student
(M.Sc. Wood Sciences, Université Laval)
Project: Multi-objective management of the Boréal forest
(co-supervised by Frédéric Raulier, Département des sciences du bois et de la forêt, U. Laval)
Alexander Lake, BSc student, graduated in Fall 2019
Shane Pedersen, BSc Student, graduated summer 2017
Project: Ecosystem services mapping for the Okanagan Valley
Dr. Rodolphe Gonzales, Post-doctoral fellow, completed April 2017
(PhD Université de Montréal, 2016)
Project: Mapping the social networks of stakeholder interactions for forest dependent communities
Corrie Allen, MSc Student, completed November 2016
(B.Sc. Honours in Biology, UBC)
Project: Identifying wildlife corridors in the Okanagan Basin using a focal species approach
Christopher Kyle, GIS Research Technician, part-time
(M.Sc., Geomatics, U. Calgary)
Projects: Identification of priority conservation areas for maintaining wildlife habitat connectivity in the Okanagan Basin & Identification of priority areas for biodiversity conservation initiatives on agricultural land in the Okanagan
Jessa Marley, Undergraduate Research Assistant
(B.Sc. Mathematics student, UBC)
Project: Individual-based modelling of the impacts of bear aware education programs on human-bear encounter rates
(in co-supervision with Dr. Rebecca Tyson)
Dallas Chelick, Research assistant
(Double Major, B.Sc. in Earth & Env. Sciences, B.A. in Economics)
Project: Conservation and stewardship on agricultural lands to preserve biodiversity and ecosystem services in the Okanagan Valley
Joe Salkeld, Undergraduate Research Assistant, completed April 2016
(B.Eng. student, UBC)
Projects: (1) Individual-based modelling of bear foraging movements and interactions with humans in Whistler, BC (2) Simulating the resilience of future forests in BC to mountain pine beetle outbreaks
(co-supervised by Dr. Rebecca Tyson)
Jonathan Bepple, MSc Student, completed April 2016
(B.Sc. Biology, The University of British Columbia)
Project: Simulating impacts of future land use scenarios on water demand for the City of Kelowna, BC
Rodolphe Gonzales, PhD student, completed March 2016
(M.Sc. Geography, Université de Montréal)
Project: Analysis of the social-ecological network of the Eyre Peninsula, South Australia
(Co-supervised by Prof. Wayne Meyer, Soil and Land Systems, University of Adelaide)
Dr. Amalesh Dhar (post-doctoral fellow, May 2014-April 2016)
(PhD in Forestry, Institute of Silviculture, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria)
Project: Mapping the influence of mountain pine beetle outbreaks on ecosystem services
Dr. Li Xin (post-doctoral fellow, Feb 2015 – Jan 2016)
(PhD, College of Public Administration, Nanjing Agriculture University and Lecturer, School of Geodesy and Geomatics, Jiangsu Normal University)
Project: Multicriteria spatial optimization of future land use for the Okanagan Valley, BC
Jean-Sébastien Landry, PhD student (AT MCGILL UNIVERSITY), completed June 2015
(B.Sc. Physics; M.Sc. Environment, Université de Sherbrooke)
Project: Modelling the interactions between natural disturbances and climate in the Canadian Boreal forest.
(in co-supervision with Navin Ramunkutty, Dept. of Geography, McGill University)
Bruno Proulx, M.Sc. student, Completed January 2015
(B.Sc. Biology, Université de Sherbrooke)
Project: Study of humpback whale use of a marine sanctuary in the French Antilles
Corrie Allen, Undergraduate Honour’s Student, Completed April 2014
(B.Sc. Biology student)
Project: Agent-based modelling of jeep-cheetah interactions in the Maasai Mara
(in collaboration with Dr. William Bates, Biology, UBC)
Kristel Lucas, M.Sc. student, Completed, April 2014
(B.Sc. Geography, Université de Montréal)
Project: Exploration of management scenarios for the boreal forest that mitigate the impact of forest harvesting on woodland caribou populations
(Co-supervised by Daniel Fortin, Biology, U. Laval)
Maryssa Soroke, Undergraduate Honour’s Student, Completed April 2014
(B.Sc. Environmental Sciences student)
Project: Identification of priority conservation areas for maintaining wildlife habitat connectivity in the Okanagan Basin
