IRSS at UBC

Three researchers operate a drone in a post-fire landscape, surrounded by grasses and scattered burned trees under an open sky. Photo credit: Sadie Russell.

A drone sits on rocky ground beside a small stream, ready for takeoff. Photo credit: Leanna Stackhouse.

A drone controller screen displays an aerial view of a forested landscape with a winding stream below. Photo credit: Sadie Russell.

Three researchers walk along a grassy forest path, carrying field gear on their way to a new research site. Photo credit: Leanna Stackhouse.

How do different disturbances impact a stream and its riparian zone?
This August, a Water and Fish project used drones equipped with high resolution LiDAR and thermal sensors to survey 24 streams across four site types:
🌲 Forested
🔥 Fire-affected
🪵 Harvested
🏍️ OHV-impacted

NEW PAPER 📣 Projecting Future Changes in Burn Probability in Canada's Forests and Communities Under Different Climate Change Scenarios

doi.org/10.1080/0703...

✍️: Mulverhill, Coops, Wulder (@mikewulder.bsky.social), Hermosilla (@txominhermos.bsky.social), White, Bater

#Wildfire #ClimateChange

Will we be seeing you at The Wildlife Society's 2025 conference in Edmonton this week? 🦌 #TWS2025

Leonard (@l-hambrecht.bsky.social) and Hiroto will be sharing their research on how #drones, #ThermalImaging, and #DeepLearning are advancing conservation research.

@thewildlifesociety.bsky.social

#IRSSLab roll call! 🙌

Brianne Boufford, José Riofrió, and many more are lighting up #Silvilaser2025 with some awesome talks and stellar science!

Still so much good stuff ahead—come hang with us!

#UBCForestry #RemoteSensing

@silvilaser2025.bsky.social

Day 2 of #Silvilaser2025!

🎙️ Welcome address by co-hosts Dr Achim & Dr Coops
👏 A word from our platinum sponsor #rapidlasso
👨‍💻 Keynote speaker Dr Tompalski

We’re looking forward to a full day of sessions!!

@irssubc.bsky.social @metafor-ulaval.bsky.social @piotrtompalski.bsky.social

Bienvenue à SilviLaser 2025! ⚜️🌲

#IRSSlab members Brent Murray (@brntmrry.bsky.social) and Liam Irwin kicked off the conference today with a workshop on #lidR and #LAStools.

Lots of exciting talks and sessions ahead — make sure to stop by and say hi!

#Silvilaser2025 @silvilaser2025.bsky.social

Congratulations to Yinan (Elaine) Ye on successfully completing her Master of Science! 🎓

Her thesis, "Segmenting and Updating Forest Polygons Over Three Decades Using Time-Series Landsat Imagery," showcases her incredible hard work and dedication.

Don’t be a stranger! 🌲🧳

#UBCForestry #IRSSLab

One to remember! 🎓

Dr. Evan (Bud) Muise finds his place on the wall after the successful defense of his thesis: "Assessing forest ecological integrity and protected area effectiveness in British Columbia with satellite remote sensing"

Congratulations, Bud!

#IRSSlab #UBCForestry #RemoteSensing

Thank you to Francesco Pirotti at the University of Padova for hosting Dr. Nicholas Coops at the Earth Sensing Summer School 2025.

It was inspiring to hear the work of fellow speakers and the next generation of geomatics scholars.

✨The future looks bright! ✨

#EarthSensing2025 #RemoteSensing

📖 Published in Canadian Journal of Forest Research (@canjforestres.bsky.social)

Funded by #Silva21, #NSERC

1️⃣FAM forests adapt to #ClimateChange, but limited #SeedSupply, infrastructure & policy frameworks hinder large-scale implementation
2️⃣Tools like genomic selection, seed databases offer opportunities for future FAM
3️⃣Trust, collaboration & #DiverseKnowledgeSystems are essential for policy & practice

NEW PAPER 📣 Challenges and opportunities for the operationalization of forest-assisted migration in Canada
doi.org/10.1139/cjfr...

✍️: Wotherspoon (@dr-spoon.bsky.social), D'Orangeville, Thiffault, Pedlar, Raymond, Ravn, Spearing, Isaac-Renton, Godbout, Gravel-Grenier, McPhee

#IRSSlab #UBCForestry

#Silvilaser2025 schedule & program are now online! 🥳

Check out the line up of workshops, speakers, field tour & social events! 👉 www.silvilaser2025.com/program

Which plenary session are you most looking forward to?!

Registration for extra activities closes Sep 10
📍 Quebec City Convention Centre

Announcement for the call for papers for a new special issue with SilviLaser 2025. In the top right there is the Forestry and Silvilaser2025 logos. There are several green and grey boxes with text. Text reads: Call for papers! SilviLaser 2025: Laser scanning applications in forest management. Open for submissions from SilviLaser 2025 conference participants, as well as non-participants. Guest editors: Dr. Alexis Achim, Université Laval, Canada; Dr. Nicholas Coops, University of British Columbia, Canada; Dr. Amy Wotherspoon, University of British Columbia, Canada. Submission deadline: 30th November 2025. More information here: https://academic.oup.com/forestry/pages/call-for-papers. There is also a QR code that takes you to Forestry special issue webpage.

We have a call for papers for a new Special Issue with
@silvilaser2025.bsky.social

SilviLaser 2025: Laser scanning applications in forest management

⏰ Submission deadline: 30th November 2025

More information here👇
academic.oup.com/forestry/pag...

✨Research Highlights:

The approach keeps existing stand boundaries without land cover change and updates regenerating areas.

Stands grew larger and more complex over time, approaching pre-disturbance values.

The algorithm is transparent and efficient, ideal for forest change monitoring.

#IRSSlab

NEW PAPER 📣 Temporally Consistent Forest Stand Segmentation using Landsat Imagery

dx.doi.org/10.1109/LGRS...

📖: Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters

✍️: Ye, Coops, Hermosilla @txominhermos.bsky.social, Wulder @mikewulder.bsky.social, Gergel

#Segmentation #ChangeDetection #Landsat #ubcforestry

Congratulations again and again and again to Dr. Ramon Melser! (@ramonmelser.bsky.social)

He joins the wall after successfully defending his thesis: “Enhanced assessment of boreal vegetation productivity using integrated satellite-derived datasets and analysis approaches.”

#IRSSLab #UBCForestry

We’re so glad you made the trip to join us!

@mikewulder.bsky.social, @txominhermos.bsky.social, @piotrtompalski.bsky.social, @jamorgenroth.bsky.social, @metafor-ulaval.bsky.social, @spencerdk.bsky.social

Huge thanks to our amazing guests — Mike Wulder, Txomin Hermosilla, Piotr Tompalski, Justin Morgenroth, Trevor Jones, Alexandre Morin-Bernard, Tristan Goodbody, Spencer Dakin-Kuiper & Wiebe Nijland — for bringing their insight, expertise & good times to our annual retreat!

Work hard, play hard! 🌲✨ The #IRSSLab just wrapped up our annual summer retreat.

This week away gave lab members the chance to share research updates, pick up new skills from colleagues and guests, and, of course, enjoy some much-needed R&R!

#UBCForestry #remotesensing

Huge congratulations to you, Ramon!

Excited to share that I successfully defended my PhD dissertation in Remote Sensing (Forestry) at @forestry.ubc.ca. Thank you to all of my fantastic labmates in the @irssubc.bsky.social, as well as my supervisor, Nicholas Coops, and my research committee for all their support.

Members from the IRSS attended the #WIRED2025 symposium to present their research on overhead power lines across forested landscapes, as well as engage with industry and project participants.

Wonderful work from James (@jamesmcglade.bsky.social), Eliceo and Celine!

#IRSSlab #ubcforestry

Great having you there! Thanks for sharing your insights and expertise with the team

Great demonstrations from the whole team!

Having a great time at the #IRSSlab retreat 2025 @ Cowichan Lake!🫶

Thanks to all who demo’d the Outdoors Tips & Tricks!🔨
@la-stack.bsky.social with the #Trimble, @jamesmcglade.bsky.social with the the #GeoSlam & Liam with PostEx👏

@irssubc.bsky.social @forestry.ubc.ca @metafor-ulaval.bsky.social

Visible light (RGB) image of a conifer forest.

Thermal image showing two animals.

IR image zoomed in on the thermal signatures.

Preliminary results are in: Fixed-wing drones show strong potential for moose surveys.

Monitoring moose populations has been traditionally done by helicopter. Our partners at UBC are exploring if drones are a better alternative.

🔗Learn more: friresearch.ca/publications...

@irssubc.bsky.social

From tree cover to green roofs, how are cities fighting extreme heat? - National | Globalnews.ca Studies have shown cities can see higher temperatures during heat waves compared with rural areas, but cities are taking steps to try to reduce that impact.

Vancouver recently increased its urban forest strategy to aim for 30% tree coverage by 2050.🌳

#UBCForestry Master of Urban Forestry Leadership Program Director, Sara Barron, explains that "trees take time to grow, but they can still benefit cities in the long term,"🌱

globalnews.ca/news/1129225...

📖: Published in Canadian Journal of Forest Research @canjforestres.bsky.social

#HigherEducation #ForestryEducation #ActiveLearning #BloomsTaxonomy