NSERC Industrial Research Chair for Colleges in Forest Health

新喀里多尼亚学院和不列颠哥伦比亚省中部的区域森林工业正在合作，为森林健康学院设立一个长期的NSERC工业研究教席。主席将与森林公司以及来自政府和学术界的合作科学家密切合作，开发创新的工具，帮助减轻森林疾病对不列颠哥伦比亚省幼龄管理森林的生产力和弹性的影响。主席理查德·赖克在过去26年里在森林病理学方面进行了广泛的研究和开发，并将重点放在对倒伏松树和蜜环菌根病上的干锈病的初步研究。这些疾病在该省的一些地区迅速增加，并对森林业的经营和管理构成严重挑战。教席还将与正在开发基于技术的地理空间解决方案的中小企业合作，帮助森林公司使用无人机和高分辨率数字图像远程探测森林健康问题。教席的研究活动将涉及学院自然资源和环境技术项目以及生物学和其他教育项目的教职员工和学生。参与这项研究的学生将学习森林健康、营林栽培、无人驾驶车辆、地理信息系统和遥感领域的创新技术。这将为学生提供增强的技能集，以促进加拿大林业部门的创新。

The College of New Caledonia and the regional forest industry in central British Columbia are partnering toestablish a long-term NSERC Industrial Research Chair for Colleges in Forest Health. The Chair will workclosely with forest companies and collaborating scientists from government and academia to developinnovative tools that will help mitigate the impacts of forest diseases on the productivity and resilience ofyoung managed forests in British Columbia.The Chair, Richard Reich, has conducted extensive research and development in forest pathology over the past26 years, and will focus initial research on stem rust diseases on lodgepole pine trees, and armillaria rootdisease. These diseases are rapidly increasing in some regions of the province and pose serious business andmanagement challenges to the forest industry. The Chair will also work with SME companies who aredeveloping technology-based geospatial solutions that will help forest companies remotely detect forest healthproblems using unmanned aerial vehicles and high-resolution digital imagery.The Chair's research activities will involve the faculty, staff and students from the College's Natural Resourcesand Environmental Technology program, as well as Biology and other educational programs. Studentsinvolved in this research will learn innovative technologies in the fields of forest health, silviculture, unmannedaerial vehicles, geographic information systems and remote sensing. This will provide students with enhancedskillsets to foster innovation in the Canadian forest sector.