COMPETITION AND COLLABORATION

Andy MacKinnon, RPBio (ret.), RPF (ret.) ABSTRACT BIOGRAPHY When I began my career with the BC Forest Ecologist Andy MacKinnon is a forest ecologist who Forest Service, in the 1980s in Prince lives in BC. Since December George, many of my research projects 2014 he’s also served as a Councillor in concerned competition between conifer Metchosin, and in spring 2017 he was the crop seedlings and other plant species provincial Green Party candidate in the (‘competing vegetation’). I was a partner in riding of Esquimalt - Metchosin. He began research trials looking at various methods his career in Prince George, where he – especially mechanical site preparation – worked as a research ecologist for the BC for preparing sites for conifer regeneration, Forest Service from 1982-1988. Until his and for controlling this competing retirement in 2015, he worked for the BC vegetation. Collaboration to study Forest Service on-and-off for three competition. decades, mostly on BC’s coast, where he But even at the time, I was working with was responsible for ecosystem colleagues who were considering some of classification and mapping and a program the potential positive influences of other of forest ecology research focused on old plant (or even microbial) species on conifer growth structure and composition, effects survival and growth – projects such as of climate change, and BC’s native plants white spruce regeneration under trembling and fungi. Andy has also been involved in aspen, and lodgepole pine growth with and defining and implementing ecosystem- without Sitka alder (whose roots host N- based management in Haida Gwaii and fixing bacteria). the Great Bear Rainforest. He has co- My work in Prince George was primarily taught rainforest ecology field courses in with plants. And for some in BC, I’m and (for the University of perhaps best known for co-writing a series Victoria) and Haida Gwaii (for UBC). Andy of plant guides for western North America. is co-author of six best-selling books But my MSc was in Mycology – the study of about plants of western North America. an arguably much more interesting He’s an Adjunct Professor at Simon Kingdom of organisms, the fungi. And so I Most of this talk will be about those collabora- Fraser University, and a (retired) gradually found my way back to my ‘roots’ tions – and how studying them, and learning Professional Forester and Professional – or hyphae – and became involved in about them, has ultimately and fundamentally Biologist in BC. Andy was awarded an projects studying forests and fungi. transformed my understanding about how for- Honorary Doctor of Science degree by Fungi are interesting, and plants are ests work. And perhaps taught me just a little interesting. But the various and diverse bit about the benefits of collaboration. Simon Fraser University in 2013. He collaborations among plants and fungi are enjoys drinking good whisky and playing perhaps most interesting of all. mandolin.

DATE: Thursday, November 23, 2017 PLACE: Prince George Campus, Canfor Theatre 6-213 TIME: 7:30 PM WEBCAST: unbc.ca//livestream

The Doug Little Sponsored by the The Doug Little Memorial Lecture Ecosystem Science and Memorial Lecture Management Program, College of Science and Management.

Doug Little Supported by an endowment 1928—1993 from the former Northwood Pulp and Timber Limited, now Canfor.

The Doug Little Memorial Lecture series was initiated by the faculty of Natural Resources and Environmental Studies at the University of Northern (UNBC) in the fall of 1996. This annual event commemorates the late J.D. Little, former Senior Vice-President Forest EVERYONE WELCOME! Operations, Northwood Pulp and Timber Limited. Doug was a founding supporter of UNBC and a recipient in 1986 of the Distinguished www.unbc.ca/esm Forester award from the Association of British Columbia Forest Professionals. 3333 University Way ANDY MACKINNON Prince George, BC V2N 4Z9 Doug Little’s philosophy was that with Forest Ecologist appropriate forest management, the resources of the forest can be sustained for Date: Thursday, November 23, 2017 future generations. Time: 7:30 pm The lecture series is supported by an Place: Prince George Campus endowment from Northwood Pulp and Room 6-213, Canfor Theatre Timber Limited, now Canfor. Webcast: unbc.ca//livestream