Brigitte Leblon

Amid a stark increase in forest fires in recent years, a global project led by Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ont., aims to determine how woodland areas can adapt to climate change. Natural resource management experts at Lakehead are leading the $1.67-million global research project, which includes other Canadian universities and one in Germany. The multi-year research is being funded by the Eva Mayr-Stihl Foundation in that western European country. “The forest is made of wood, and the first thing wood is doing is burning,” lead researcher Brigitte Leblon of Lakehead told CBC News. “Fires become more and more intense and huge because of climate change. More drought means more intense fires, and when the fire is more intense, automatically, large areas are burned.” …They’ll be examining tree genetics, ecosystems, policy and land-use planning, as well as how biological, ecological and social systems interact to shape forest health in a changing climate.