Dr. Che Elkin – photo submitted

Prince George, B.C. – UNBC has announced its new Mixedwood Ecology chair.

His name is Dr. Che Elkin and he arrived last month from Switzerland. The department consists of just himself at the moment but says his goal “will be to develop a lab with graduate students, masters students, PhD students and possibly post-doctoral students.”

Like its title suggests, he says mixedwood forests are made up of different species and says his work in part is to discover how these forests will respond to various climate scenarios, different climate change impacts and how they respond to ecological innovations.

Elkin says his research will also include the impact “climate will have on forest development” over the next 20, 30, 40 years and how current management practices may be modified “in order to better facilitate forest change in the future.”

He says the Canfor sponsored research chair will also include both community and industry outreach.