In the mountains of Mexico, trees are harvested differently than in Alberta’s comparatively flat forests… Home to 138 million hectares of trees and a growing number of timber production industries, Mexico offered students a look at different types of forests and forest management, says associate forestry professor Brad Pinno. “The country has a huge variety of forest ecosystems; we saw five different forest zones going up one mountain. That’s not a level of diversity we can show students in Alberta.” The trip also included visits to the headquarters of Mexico’s National Forestry Commission, a family-run sawmill operation, a research station, a national park and university forestry labs. “By seeing different ways of practising forestry, students are able to think through and improve on the ways we are doing things,” Pinno says. “It makes you a better forester where you are.”