2018 Fall Research Workshop

Science and Practice

Workshop Description

Members of the Boreal Ecosystem Recovery and Assessment (BERA) project held their third annual workshop on Thursday, November 22^nd 2018 at the University of Alberta. This year’s workshop aimed to create an opportunity for our collaborators and partners to 1) see the progress that has been accomplished across all the research projects at this half-way point of year 4 of BERA, 2) engage in follow-up discussions to track these accomplishments relative to the original research objectives laid out four years ago, and 3) exchange ideas for the remaining and new research activities related to ecosystem recovery and assessment for year 5 of BERA and beyond. With a wealth of 23 research projects to present, the workshop was organized this year to span a full day, and was greeted once more with a highly engaged, forty-people strong participant group.

The morning began with Greg McDermid (see “Presentations – Session 1” below) welcoming the group and setting the stage by providing an overview of the guiding question in BERA – “when is footprint no longer footprint?” – and a reminder of the original research objectives across the main four BERA themes: 1) Vegetation and Footprint Mapping, 2) Abiotic Footprint Conditions, 3) Ecological Effects on Vegetation and 4) Ecological Effects on Wildlife. The research projects undertaken within each of the themes were then presented in lightning-talk format, theme by theme, followed by their own respective, interactive poster session and targeted discussion rounds to track the accomplishments relative their original objectives (see “Presentations – Sessions 2 to 4” below).

The last session (see “Presentations – Session 5” below) used a moderated round-table discussion format to review the status of the individual research themes as well as of the convergent objectives across themes through a wider lens. The discussions resulted in great positive feedback, emphasizing the tremendous value of the scientific foundations being established for restoration activities while maintaining the research under operational, real-world scenarios. The session also included discussions on partnership and future BERA steps. While the BERA team already greatly benefits from the focus and support provided from collaborators and partners, ideas were discussed to further expand the partnership more directly to the student body through potential internship programs. Regarding next steps for BERA, great interest was expressed in finding the support to expand the research for real-world monitoring in ecosystem recovery, and exploring the potential for another 5-year research program.

We want to thank our partners and collaborators for their active engagement and support. We are excited to complete our current research path over this final year of BERA and to start engaging on formulating new frontiers for BERA II to embark on with you. We look forward to meeting again at the next annual workshop!