Centre for Forest Biology

Welcome to the University of Victoria's Centre for Forest Biology!  We carry out fundamental and applied research in forest biology, and train graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. Our research projects emphasize the adaptations of trees and their interactions with the environment. The Centre is now embarking on a major research and training initiative, the NSERC CREATE Program in Forests and Climate Change, which supports graduate students for research on the interaction of trees and forests with climate change, including carbon sequestration.

In addition to the research carried out in our laboratories at UVic, we work with with scientists from Forestry Canada at the Pacific Forestry Centre and the Laurentian Forestry Centre, as well as the B.C. Ministry of Forests and Range. We foster linkages with the forest industry and private sector laboratories, and work to facilitate the transfer of technology and knowledge to the broader community.

Our areas of research include conifer embryogenesis, plant stress physiology including water relations and gas exchange, plant and fungal molecular biology, functional genomics of plant natural products, plant-pest interactions, plant biochemistry and biotechnology, and microbial ecology and carbon sequestration by forests and soils.

Graduate students wishing to take part in the work of the Centre should contact professors directly, and subsequently apply to the Biology Graduate Program. They may conduct their thesis research working with collaborating scientists.  Both MSc and PhD research and training is conducted through the Centre.
 
Director: C. Peter Constabel, Professor of Biology