Sophie Wilkinson, PhD
Welcome!
My name is Sophie Wilkinson and I’m the founder of the Fire and Ecosystems Research Lab based in the School of Resource and Environmental Management at Simon Fraser University. I received my BSc and MEnv (Master of Environment) from the University of Leeds, UK. I then went on to complete my PhD at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Toronto. In 2020 I co-founded the Peatland Early Career Researcher (ECR) Action Team peatecr.com <— check it out!
I LOVE the outdoors and I care deeply about our planet. I’m thrilled and very grateful to be able to do a job where I can share that passion with students and collaborators while progressing our understanding of fire and ecosystems.
The Team
The research group will be accepting students and postdocs for the 2024 school year and beyond. See Opportunities tab for more details or contact us to discuss a potential project.
We commit to developing an inclusive and supportive community for all prospective researchers. Core to that commitment is condemning racism at every level and striving to amplify and promote historically underrepresented voices.
A core goal of the research group is to support progress in academia and scientific institutions while doing awesome science that helps the planet and its inhabitants.
If that sounds like a good fit for you then please reach out!
Research Mission
The Fire and Ecosystems Research Lab applies an interdisciplinary approach to tackling complex scientific questions surrounding the drivers, impacts, and future of wildfire in different ecosystems, and the changing interactions of fire with industry and society.
Current research includes understanding patterns of wildfire severity and identifying ecological tipping points to high-severity fire in black spruce lowlands, using GIS and numerical modelling to understand the impact of mountain pine beetle outbreak on fire severity, assessing the vegetation and forest fuel trajectories of ecosystems following forestry or fuel modification treatments, measuring and modelling the post-fire carbon balance in managed peatlands and much more...
We work in close collaboration with the Canadian Forest Service, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Parks Canada, and local resource and land managers. A key part of our mission is to transfer academic research findings into actionable management solutions in Canada and internationally. An ongoing tech transfer project is the development of a new fuel moisture index for the Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System to help fire and land managers better understand the potential fire behaviour of peatland ecosystems. We are also working with industry professionals and the Forest Service to test fuel modification treatments through experimental crown fires in treated stands.