Attention Science Geeks: The forest industry has loads of jobs for those of us who love science, but although the forest is full of life that must be cared for, this industry is not just about biology. If chemistry is more your thing, you may want to consider a career in chemical engineering. Meet Colleen … Continued
Last week I spent a day at Envirothon Alberta. Since 1997, this event has brought students in Grades 9-12 together to learn about and work toward finding solutions to current environmental issues. The winning team goes on to compete in the North American competition, which is located in a different province or state each year. Each year’s competition … Continued
Plants, animals, insects… these are all forms of life that reside in the forest. A forest wouldn’t be a forest without life, and forests are crawling with living things. We want our forest ecosystems to continue to thrive, so a very important field within forestry is the study of life, or biology. For this forestry … Continued
“Forest Fire Fighter” is a job that often comes to mind when people try to think of forestry careers, but fighting fires is only one part of a much larger process of wildfire management. Jobs range from Lookout Observers to Wildfire Dispatchers to Helitack Fire Fighters. Another area within fire management is Wildfire Technology. To … Continued
Last month, I had the honour of meeting Commander Chris Hadfield. I was at a conference in Grande Prairie—Growing the North, and he was the keynote speaker. His presentation was very inspiring and got me thinking about what it takes for a person to achieve his or her goals. You may be wondering what astronauts … Continued
When I talk to students about forestry careers, I usually start out by asking them, “What kinds of jobs come to mind when you think of forestry?” The response I hear the most is probably “lumberjack”, but students also list jobs like log truck driver, tree planter, and fish and wildlife officer. While lumberjacks aren’t … Continued
Although summer seems very far away right now, it’s a great time to start looking into summer employment. A lot of employers already filled their summer positions back in the fall. But there are still some fantastic opportunities available. One of my personal favourites is the Junior Forest Rangers (JFR) summer job. In order to … Continued
The winners of the Prairie Wood Design Awards were announced at the Awards Gala on November 27. Here are the winning projects. Category: Commercial & Institutional Project: Grizzly Paw Brewery Location: Canmore, Alberta Architect: Lloyd R McLean Architect with russell and russell design studios Engineer: ISL Engineering and Land Services Ltd. The outline of this … Continued
The Prairie Wood Design Awards Gala is approaching and several beautiful wood structures have been nominated for awards. There are four building categories and altogether 42 nominations, and I have looked through all of them. Although I’m not actually on the jury, I thought I’d pick my favourites anyway. It was really tough to choose … Continued
Oh, the mountain pine beetle; a tiny creature that’s doing a whole lot of damage to our forests. If you’re from Alberta or British Columbia, you have probably heard about this troublesome little bug. And you may even know about how devastating this beetle has been to some forests, particularly to our neighbours to the west. … Continued
Last month, we set up a booth at K-Days to represent Alberta’s forest industry. There are lots of different fields within forestry—wildlife, research, forest management, harvesting—but we focused on building with wood at this display. And how did we do that? We built with wood… blocks. It was really fun seeing all the structures we could … Continued
I finished June off with an incredible adventure down the west coast in Oregon and California. We took loads of photographs of the huge California redwood trees, so I feel I must share them, while also letting you in on some fun facts about these majestic giants. We started our road-trip in Portland, Oregon, and … Continued
Whether you’re a student looking for part-time or seasonal work, a recent graduate ready to start your career, or someone who is just ready to wander down a new path, I can think of at least five reasons you should consider a career in forestry. 1. The forest is beautiful! If you’re on this website, … Continued
This week I was in northern Alberta talking to students about forestry careers. I stayed with a couple in Manning who took me on an adventure on the Peace River. It felt great to get out and enjoy Alberta’s natural beauty. First, we got in a jet boat and drove for about 40 minutes down the river. … Continued
With the massive snowfalls we saw in March, it probably seems strange to think of summer being just around the corner. But when it comes to finding work for the summer months, it’s definitely time to start looking (if you haven’t already)! Lots of companies started hiring back in December and January. But there are … Continued
Last month I attended the Growing the North Conference in Grande Prairie, and it got me thinking that I should write about the massive growth potential in the Great White North (for this blog’s purposes, I’m referring to Alberta). Alberta is experiencing huge growth. However, according to the Financial Post, Alberta’s oil and gas industry—the … Continued
Whenever I give a class presentation, I ask the students to list products we get from trees. The first two answers are usually wood and paper. And that’s absolutely right. We get loads of useful wood and paper products from our trees. Sometimes they’re useful and beautiful: Also, music just wouldn’t be the same if there … Continued
Even though winter officially started less than a month ago, we all know it’s been winter in Alberta for a few months now. It’s been cold and snowy since some time in October! So what do forestry companies do in the winter months? It seems like it would be really difficult to get much logging … Continued
Last month I was in beautiful Hawaii. Our hotel was built around a very big 134-year-old banyan tree. It was one of the coolest trees I have ever seen. It had multiple trunks coming from the ground, appearing, at first glance, to be multiple trees. But upon further examination, I saw that it was all one … Continued
Hello all. It’s been a while since I’ve posted on the site, and I just wanted to let you know why… it’s because I’m famous! That’s me in that commercial, talking about how working in forestry will change the way you see your job. It’s not just a job when you’re working in our industry, … Continued