The UBC Alumni Builder Awards recognize alumni who have significantly contributed to the university and enriched the lives of others, and in doing so, have supported alumni UBC’s vision of a global alumni community for an exceptional UBC and a better world. We are proud to honour this year’s Alumni Builder Awards recipients whose generous contributions have been recognized by their UBC faculty.
Nick Arkle, BSF’84, and Louise Arkle, BA’82, MA’85
Office of the Principal and Deputy Vice – Chancellor
Nick and Louise Arkle are community leaders and philanthropists whose dedication has strengthened UBC Okanagan and the broader region. As CEO of Gorman Group, Nick has advanced BC’s forestry sector while providing influential leadership across the profession, championing initiatives that strengthen industry and trade. He has supported community growth through the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce, United Way, and the Central Okanagan Economic Development Commission, while also serving on the inaugural UBC Okanagan Advisory Council. Louise is a dedicated advocate for education and community development, working to expand equity and opportunity, serving in several leadership roles for the Central Okanagan Bursary and Scholarship Society and as a volunteer for the Loran Scholars Foundation.
John Mohammed, BSc(ForSci)’91
Faculty of Forestry
John Mohammed is president of A&A Trading, a BC-based family forestry company. With deep industry roots and experience across logging, timber valuation, and trading, he is a respected leader in the sector. John actively hires UBC graduates and co-leads an annual exercise in negotiation that equips students with essential career skills, an initiative now adopted and being used in other areas of the faculty. John’s dedication to mentorship and education has made a lasting impact on the next generation of forestry professionals. As a board member of the BC Council of Forest Industries, he continues to champion leadership and learning.
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Mark Carney and the premiers said Thursday they’re maintaining a united front under the long shadow of the upcoming negotiations for the review of North America’s key free trade agreement. …Carney updated the premiers on Ottawa’s plans for the coming review and committed to monthly meetings to update the premiers once CUSMA review talks officially begin. But Carney was tight-lipped on trade strategy. …In the meantime, Trump’s sector-specific tariffs continue to damage key Canadian industries such as steel, aluminum and softwood lumber. New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt said she wasn’t seeing a lot of US “movement or interest” in resolving the softwood lumber dispute, meaning a deal on duties outside of the CUSMA review process is unlikely. “We are constantly looking at ways to make it clear to the U.S. administration how the U.S. lumber producers are suffering under a low price,” Holt said.
Canada’s forest industry is being dismantled in plain sight. …For decades, Canada built its forest economy around a single export market and a narrow set of commodity products. That strategy has now been exposed as dangerously fragile. Our closest trading partner has proven unreliable, and the cost of over-dependence is being paid by rural workers and regions across the country. Canada does not have a forestry problem. We have a market diversification problem. Ironically, today’s global uncertainty has created a once-in-a-generation opportunity. …Capital is mobile, and companies are actively looking for stable jurisdictions in which to build new production facilities. Canada can and should be at the top of that list—but we need to build the foundational infrastructure to make this happen. …The federal government’s new Canadian Forest Sector Transformation Task Force opens a critical window to address structural weaknesses in Canada’s forest economy. 
OTTAWA — Canada’s premiers are set for two days of huddling in the nation’s capital with the economy, affordability and trade expected to be high on the agenda. The premiers meet with Prime Minister Mark Carney on Thursday, and will want to show a united “Team Canada” front as trade tensions rise again with Canada’s largest trading partner. The meetings come a year after U.S. President Donald Trump assumed office and hit Canada with blistering tariffs, and just ahead of negotiations to renew the Canada-United States-Mexico agreement, due for its first formal review this summer. Trump threatened Canada in recent days with 100% across-the-board tariffs on exports, which would land on top of the sectors already hit by steep U.S. tariffs, such as steel, softwood lumber and vehicles. Ontario Premier Doug Ford said the premiers will show they stand united as the whole Canadian economy remains under attack.
COFI 2026 CEO Panel to Tackle the Forest Sector’s Future: The 
Cherie Whelan has been named the new chief executive officer of the B.C. Forest Safety Council. She takes over on April 1 from Rob Moonen, who announced his retirement in October. Whelan served as CEO of the Newfoundland & Labrador Construction Safety Association for two years and previously held the position of director of SAFE Companies at B.C. Forest Safety Council. The Nanaimo-based council delivers safety training and advisory services to British Columbia’s forest industry.
The Regional District of Nanaimo board will plead with fellow municipalities to pressure the B.C. and Canadian governments to prohibit raw log exports. At the Jan. 27 RDN board meeting, Paul Manly, City of Nanaimo director, proposed a resolution for the upcoming Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities conference, asking B.C. local governments to call on senior government to “ban the export of raw logs and lumber cants from B.C. to ensure that forests harvested [on] Crown land and private-managed forest lands are processed in B.C.…” The resolution passed and will be brought before AVICC. Should it pass there, it would be forwarded to the Union of B.C. Municipalities. Manly …pointed to recent mill closures on the Island, with a key factor being “lack of accessible and affordable fibre”. …Leanne Salter, Coombs area director, said she thought the resolution needed to be tweaked.
A federal task force announced earlier this month will attempt to save Canada’s stricken forest industry from further decline through product and market diversification. While the support will no doubt be welcomed by the industry, in BC the more immediate need is access to timber. Canada’s forestry sector has been pummeled by a one-two punch of low lumber prices, and US duties on softwood lumber. The situation is particularly dire in BC where an integrated industry of lumber, remanufacturing, pulp and pellet mills has been collapsing like a row of dominos. …The industry is in crisis, a number of speakers said at the 
VICTORIA — The president of the Tahltan Central Government, Kerry Carlick, said British Columbia shouldn’t change its Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, just as the First Nation and the provincial government celebrate a landmark agreement based on the legislation. Carlick said it is not a “good idea to take anything away from DRIPA,” adding that “if anything, it should be strengthened.” Carlick was speaking at an event with deputy premier Niki Sharma where they co-signed an agreement to share mineral tax revenue from the Eskay Creek mine. The ceremony came after the provincial government issued an environmental assessment certificate to Eskay Creek Mining Ltd. to restart gold and silver mining after a first-of-its kind collaborative assessment process with the First Nation under DRIPA. The provincial government has said it plans to revise the act after a series of court rulings around Aboriginal title, responding specifically to those decisions.
Make an impact with our Forestry Program Management Consulting Team as a Consultant and program lead. Our diverse team of professionals deliver program administration for a large forestry grant funding organization. As a trusted advisor, you’ll collaborate with the team in the delivery of forestry-related projects within the funding programs. Our team is based in Edmonton and works in our downtown office, this is an in-person, on-site position. The forestry Consultant supports the delivery and administration of forestry funding programs, working with government, industry, Indigenous groups, academics, and other stakeholders. The role involves managing and assessing projects such as silviculture, habitat restoration, wildfire mitigation, and forest health, including tracking activities, reviewing deliverables and expenses, and preparing reports. Responsibilities also include proposal review support, developing Requests for Proposals, limited GIS use, occasional field assessments, and providing advice to senior management and boards, while contributing to the growth of MNP’s forestry consulting practice.
The Municipality of North Cowichan says it is preparing for the possibility of another mill closure in Chemainus, while hoping it can be avoided. Western Forest Products announced Friday it is extending curtailment at the Chemainus sawmill, affecting about 150 workers. Mayor Rob Douglas said the priority is protecting jobs and preparing for potential financial impacts. “We’re going to be looking at impacts on our tax base, especially with the municipality already seeing the effects of the Crofton mill closure this year,” Douglas said. “We’ll prepare for the potential closure of the Chemainus mill in 2027.” Douglas said a permanent closure in Chemainus would affect future finances, but not to the same extent as the Crofton mill shutdown. “Western Forest Products has three sites, and with two of them operating that will continue to provide a significant portion of our industrial tax revenue,” he said.
The unravelling of our trade relationship with the US compels us to act decisively. The chaotic diplomacy of the Trump Administration should encourage Canada to build up economic capacity where Canadians possess both agency and an existing industrial base to rely upon. This capacity‑building goal dovetails with the inherent purpose of the Sustainable Jobs Action Plan (SJAP). …Acting on these priorities, industry can direct its capital and follow its own strategic objectives, but it will do so in an environment that better reflects Canada’s long‑term economic goals. The SJAP can play a pivotal role. …One can look to the forestry sector. …Forestry faces an existential crisis from the 45% U.S. duties and tariffs imposed on Canadian lumber. …However, the sector also holds immense potential for manufacturing a variety of high value‑added products while also being a renewable resource key to decarbonizing construction.
Canada’s housing and homelessness crisis touches nearly every Canadian. Over the past decade, while federal housing spending has increased, affordability has worsened for all but the wealthiest, and homelessness is surging. Despite recent declines in housing prices and rents, unsheltered homelessness is still up 300% since 2018, according to the most recent national point-in-time count. The country has a narrow but historic window to tackle this crisis and rebuild our housing system so it delivers at the speed, scale and affordability this moment demands. …Federal action alone won’t get us there. Provinces and territories control the planning systems, development-charge frameworks, zoning rules, supportive housing, health services and income supports. …That is why we need a Canada Housing Accord. [Tim Richter is the chief executive of the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness and Tyler Meredith is a senior fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy]
RUSS TAYLOR provided the latest quarterly report from the 
MONTREAL — Tariffs and economic angst delivered a significant blow to Canadian National Railway Co. last year, as the question mark hanging over North American free trade continues to threaten profits in 2026. “Tariffs, trade uncertainty and volatility impacted our full-year 2025 revenues by over $350 million,” chief commercial officer Janet Drysdale told analysts on a conference call Friday. Forest products and metals took the biggest bruising, she said, with the two segments seeing a year-over-year revenue drop of eight and four per cent, respectively, in the latest quarter. …On top of trade uncertainty, a less publicized source of angst has rippled through the rail industry since last summer. Union Pacific Corp., the second-largest railway operator in the United States, announced in July it wants to buy Norfolk Southern Corp. in a US$85-billion deal that would create that country’s first transcontinental railway, and potentially trigger a final wave of rail mergers across North America.
Canada’s economy could gain nearly 7%, or $210 billion, in real GDP over a gradual period by fully removing internal trade barriers between the country’s 13 provinces and territories, according to a report published Tuesday by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). On average, regulation-related barriers are the equivalent of a 9% tariff nationally, estimates the report, which was co-authored by IMF researchers Federico J. Diez and Yuanchen Yang with contributions from University of Calgary economist Trevor Tombe. …Because of the trade barriers between provinces, “Canada isn’t really one economy. It’s really 10 economies,” said Alicia Planincic, director of policy and economics at the Business Council of Alberta in Calgary. …The report points to finance, telecom, transportation and professional services as far-reaching sectors that “ripple through the economy” and raise costs for all of the businesses they touch. 
The Bank of Canada held its overnight interest rate steady at 2.25 per cent on Wednesday in a move widely expected by economists. The announcement comes amid ongoing trade uncertainty, with increased focus on the negotiation of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement and a murky outlook for the Canadian economy later in the year. Ahead of the announcement, economists polled by Reuters were unanimous in their expectations for a hold today, and nearly 75% forecast the central bank will stay on hold through 2026. In its December decision the Bank also held its policy rate stable. …“While this rate hold provides some stability, other factors such as economic uncertainty, potential job loss and affordability are continuing to put downward pressure on the housing market,” Rates.ca mortgage and real estate expert Victor Tran said in a statement following today’s decision.”
In the construction industry, ideas or materials first seen on the margins of construction processes later become an established part of those processes. …And so it seems to be with Mass Timber Construction (MTC). MTC entered the construction industry as an intriguing approach to reduce embodied carbon. …Today, MTC has become a mainstream building method. Across North America, there are reportedly 2,500 MTC buildings already built or in the planning stages. Similar levels of acceptance are seen in Europe. The world’s leading architects and designers have embraced MTC by incorporating wood components into a wide range of building types and sizes, from commercial offices to housing, campuses, infrastructure and even data centres. Interest and acceptance have moved beyond the pure environmental benefits of using MTC. Economics, simple dollars and cents, are now recognized as a persuasive factor as well. This is because mass timber changes the mechanics of construction.
Victoria, B.C. – A new independent report from the Provincial Forestry Advisory Council (PFAC) finds that British Columbia’s current forest management system is failing to meet a range needs, including communities, First Nations, businesses and the environment. The report concludes that small, incremental reforms are not enough to address the scale of challenges facing the sector. Titled 
VANCOUVER — A government-commissioned review of forestry in British Columbia is calling for the system to be razed and rebuilt with a focus on trust and transparency about the state of the province’s forests, shifting away “from managing harvest volumes to managing lands.” …The authors of the report, including industry representatives and academics, pitch a model that would change who makes decisions about lumber allotment, taking that power away from the provincial government and shifting it to regional bodies that manage defined areas. …Shannon Janzen a co-chair of the advisory council, and former chief forester, said the use of area-based land management is not a new idea and is already in use in places like Ontario and Alberta. …Forest Minister Ravi Parmar would not commit to implementing the report’s recommendations, telling reporters that he has to consult with other ministries. …A statement from the BC Council of Forest Industries said it would be reviewing the recommendations with its members. …Brian Menzies, the executive director of the Independent Wood Processors Association of B.C., said there’s little detail in the report about how its members would access more fibre.
A First Nations-owned company west of Williams Lake says continued funding is essential for projects that use fire-killed wood instead of burning it in slash piles or leaving it to decay. Percy Guichon and Daniel Persson with Central Chilcotin Rehabilitation Ltd. (CCR) attended a Jan. 27 regular city council meeting in Williams Lake to provide an update on the Palmer Project, a multi-year Indigenous-led stewardship initiative which aims to reduce wildfire risk and improve public safety and forest health through spacing treatments that remove hazardous fuels. To date, the project located along Palmer Lake Road, about one and a half hour west of Williams Lake, has treated more than 1,500 hectares with recovered fibre utilized by Atlantic Power for biomass and Cariboo Pulp & Paper for pulp. Fibre was also previously utilized by Drax, which closed in Williams Lake by the end of 2025, into fibre pellets for bioenergy.
Residents of a Bonnington, 18 km west of Nelson, hope they can rely on B.C. Timber Sales’ assurances that logging in their watershed will reduce wildfire risk and won’t threaten their water supply. For nearly a year, BCTS has engaged in an elaborate communication process with the residents of Bonnington about its plans for the Falls Creek watershed. The agency has a timber license on Crown land in the watershed, which provides drinking water to the rural community of about 600 people. …BCTS plans and designs logging operations, builds logging roads, then sells the timber to the highest bidder. The B.C. government added wildfire mitigation to the BCTS mandate last year. In the spring of 2025, the province hired Cathy Scott-May, a communications consultant, to steer a communication process along with BCTS professional forester Mark Tallman of Nelson. …Tallman said this consultation process is different from anything BCTS has done in the past…
Another dire warning is coming from B.C.’s forest industry, but this time from the tree-planting side, with those working in reforestation saying funding is running out as record wildfires took out huge sections of the province’s forests. A Western Forest Products greenhouse in Saanichton produces hundreds of thousands of tree seedlings. Many will be planted on Vancouver Island, according to Christina Lavoie, nursery supervisor, Western Forest Products, Saanich Forestry Centre. B.C. logging companies are legally required to restore the trees they harvest, but as the industry shrinks, fewer trees are being planted. Add to that the loss of trees due to years of record forest fires. …At the Western Forestry Contractors’ Association annual conference, there is concern about just how many trees are being lost to forest fires, and pests on public lands. …Forests Minister Ravi Parmar says he’s working with industry on solutions.
The latest newsletter from the Forest Enhancement Society of BC reflects on ongoing forestry challenges and emphasizes the value of collaboration, proactive planning, and shared solutions to strengthen forest health and resilience across British Columbia. It highlights a safety tip from the BC Forest Safety Council focused on mental health support for forestry workers, offering a free, confidential service to help industry professionals navigate stress. The newsletter also announces a new Extension Specialist position through a partnership with the Silviculture Innovation Program (SIP) aimed at translating technical and field knowledge into practical forestry resources. There’s a Faces of Forestry feature on Jennifer Grenz, plus links to a range of recent FESBC-funded project stories — from wildfire rehabilitation to biomass utilization — showcasing work being done by partners and communities province-wide.
The BC Truck Loggers Association sent a letter to the North Island College regarding the potential discontinuation of two forestry programs. This would mean a significant loss of forestry education for the forest industry, and we’re asking for your support by copying and pasting our letter into an email and sending it to the college Board of Governors at bog@nic.bc.ca …The North Island College forestry programs are an essential contributor to education and economic opportunity for students in Campbell River and the north Island and provides an important stream of new graduates for forestry businesses. The program has strong backing from local industry, government and First Nations, and it would be regrettable to see the program discontinued at a time when sustained investment in forestry education is vital to British Columbia’s future.
We are pleased to announce the upcoming 
NEW BRUNSWICK — J.D. Irving approached a number of municipalities last fall, asking them to support its request to be able to log 32,000 hectares of protected areas on its Crown timber licence in exchange for conserving forest near those communities. At least nine municipalities signed a letter asking that Natural Resources Minister John Herron “give equal weight to the social and economic interests of local governments when seeking to balance the interests of multiple stakeholders across New Brunswick.” …Conservation groups, including the Conservation Council of New Brunswick, said the proposal is extremely concerning. Roberta Clowater questioned why protected areas would be treated as “a wood bank for industry.” …The proposal is in response to the government’s promise to increase conservation lands from 10% to 15% of the province’s landmass. That would mean protecting an additional 360,000 hectares, which the province hopes to source from a mixture of Crown and private land.
A new study finds that Canada could remove at least five times its annual carbon emissions with strategic planting of more than six million trees along the northern edge of the boreal forest. The 
Nature markets are systems for measuring an ecological improvement on some land, then creating a representation of that improvement as a credit, which can then be bought and sold. In theory, they allow governments to attract more private investment and diversify funds that help restore nature. The reality is much more complicated. I recently 
What do northern communities need to make bioenergy projects successful? That was a key question addressed during the Arctic Bioenergy Summit and Tour in Yellowknife earlier this week. Hosted by the Arctic Energy Alliance and Wood Pellet Association of Canada, the event began with a day-long tour of buildings in Yellowknife that use biomass heating systems followed by a two-day conference at the Chateau Nova Hotel. “We’re the lead jurisdiction in Canada in terms of adoption of biomass for space heating and wood pellets,” Mark Heyck, executive director of the Arctic Energy Alliance, told Cabin Radio. “We want to continue that conversation, see where the future of that fuel source is going here in the Northwest Territories, but also learn from other jurisdictions in Canada and around the circumpolar world about what they’re working on.” …Following the conference, the Arctic Energy Alliance hosted a biomass boiler operator training course. 