The Team
Sophie Wilkinson
Sophie Wilkinson (she/her) is the founder of the Fire and Ecosystems Research Lab. She received her BSc and MEnv from the University of Leeds, UK., and her PhD in Ecohydrology from the School of Earth, Environment and Society at McMaster University.
Sophie has conducted extensive field seasons and has field sites across Canada. She also works with a number of research groups in the UK and Europe. She is a keen science communicator and is frequently called upon to address the media regarding wildfires and forest and wildfire management issues.
Sophie loves the outdoors and cares deeply about our planet. She is thrilled and very grateful to be able to do a job where she can share that passion with students and collaborators while progressing our understanding of fire and ecosystems.
Quinn Barber
Quinn Barber is a PhD Geography student studying remote sensing of peatland moisture and wildfire vulnerability. He worked with the Canadian Forest Service for a number of years before returning to school to complete a PhD. He is employed by the Canadian Forest Service and holds a MSc in Forest Sciences from the University of Freiburg, Germany. Quinn lives in Edmonton, and in his spare time he enjoys mountain biking with his family, including a mandatory ice cream stop.
Edmund Strachan
Edmund is the first lab member to complete his Master of Resource Environmental Management program at Simon Fraser University (SFU). Edmund has a background in fire, forest, and wetland ecology. He is passionate about increasing the resiliency of ecosystems through conservation and sustainable management practices. He is dedicated to promoting inclusive and accessible science to the general public.
Edmund holds an Associate degree in Social Service Work from Seneca College, a technical diploma in Restoration of Natural Systems from the University of Victoria (UVIC), and a Bachelor's degree with a Major in Interdisciplinary Studies from Capilano University. He is a registered biologist in training with the Alberta Society of Professional Biologists.
Tiki
Tiki is a Pacific Assistance Dog (PADs) in training. She is currently working toward becoming either a mobility service dog, hearing dog, PTSD service dog, or an accredited facility dog. Her favourite activity is dragging sticks out of forested areas one by one, helping reduce fine fuel loads on the forest floor. This is a concept she’s picked up from sitting in on our lab meetings.
Alumni
Daphne van de Wetering
Daphne is in her fourth year as a student in the Bachelor Resource and Environmental Management program. Her professional experience includes working with the BC Wildfire Service as a co-op student and as a research assistant studying carbon emissions in peatlands post-wildfire, this year she is working with Parks Canada in Jasper National Park. Daphne is interested in ecological restoration as well as the effects of climate change on ecosystems. Outside of school, Daphne loves reading and anything outdoors, especially back-country camping and kayaking.
Adam Scott
Adam is now entering his 2nd year in the Masters of Resource and Environmental Management programme. Adam graduated from the University of Guelph in 2023 with a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science, majoring in ecology. Now, Adam is studying fuel loading and fire risk in a novel fire smart treatment.
For the past three summers, Adam has worked for the Thousand Islands National Park as a part of the resource conservation team. With Parks Canada, he developed his interest in wildfire and the research questions surrounding it. Outside of the lab, Adam enjoys snowboarding, travelling, photography, camping, and raising service dogs.
Eli Hacker
Eli is a third-year student pursuing an honours degree in Resource and Environmental Management, a minor in Indigenous Studies, and certificates in Sustainable Development and Indigenous Research. He is interested in the cultural and scientific connections between Indigenous peoples and fire stewardship. He is also interested in how resource and land management policies can be improved to mitigate wildfire risks. In his spare time, Eli serves as the president of the REM undergraduate student union. He loves kayaking, cycling, camping, and travelling with his girlfriend.
Eleanore Krieger-Pottruff
Eleanore earned her BSc from the University of Toronto, specializing in Forest Conservation Science and Conservation Biology, with a minor in Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Eleanore has worked as a research assistant studying mountain pine beetle and forest fire interactions in BC and identifying fire weather ignition conditions in Alberta peatlands. She is currently working towards a Masters of Resource Management, with a thesis using remote sensing to study drivers of burn severity in extremely large fires across Canada. Outside of the lab, Eleanore has spent 5 seasons planting trees in Ontario, Alberta and BC.
Matthew Syvenky
Matthew is studying towards an Honours Bachelor of Environment, with a major in Resource and Environmental Management, a minor in physical geography, and a certificate in Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Matthew is passionate about how invasive species influence post-fire ecosystem succession and fuel loading. Outside of the lab, Matthew enjoys scuba diving, backpacking, and camping. He is involved in many community initiatives and won the 2025 Faculty of Environment Changemaker Dean’s Choice Award.
Elizabeth Arango Ruda
Elizabeth Arango Ruda obtained her bachelor's degree in Forestry in 2014 from the National University of Colombia. Shortly after, she worked as a Forestry and GIS professional in various roles, including leading reforestation projects and monitoring urban planting initiatives. She also performed GIS spatial analyses for green areas in urban environments and transportation systems.
In 2019, Elizabeth graduated with a master's degree in Hydrology from the same university. A month later, she moved to Canada to pursue an internship at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM). In 2024, she graduated with a PhD from McMaster University, where her research focused on changes in the components of the water cycle in forests of varying ages and species compositions.
Currently, Elizabeth specializes in ecohydrology, specifically studying the capacity of the Peat Moisture Code to explain burned areas in peatlands. Additionally, she examines the impact of agricultural practices on the water quality of watercourses flowing into Lake Erie.
Amanda Bakalarczyk
Amanda is pursuing an MSc in Remote Sensing, with a focus on quantifying the drivers of burn severity and below-ground carbon loss from smouldering combustion in managed peatlands. Amanda has a varied background, including many years of working as a chef, undergraduate degrees in fine arts and computer science, and a stint in the fire group with the Canadian Forest Service. In her spare time, Amanda enjoys knitting, thrifting, travelling, and making terrariums.
Nata Culhane
Nata is a first year in the Masters of Resource Management (thesis) program. She graduated from Carleton University with a BSc in Physical Geography and a Geomatics minor.
Nata has had many fun research and education jobs, focused on topics including NWT peatlands, provincial park zoning carbon impacts, Gray Ratsnake population health, stream restoration, carbon-focused national park management, and forest school/ parks nature interpretation. This inspired an interest in ways to better manage northern forests in a changing climate, with carbon, wildfire and recreation values in mind.
In REM, Nata is studying the impacts of FireSmart treatments on carbon storage in treed boreal peatlands in Northern Alberta. Outside of school, she loves camping, canoeing, birding, photography and nature journaling.
Emma Tutt
Emma is starting her first year in the Masters of Resource and Environmental Management program. She graduated from McMaster University in 2024 with an Honour's Bachelor of Science, where she completed the Integrated Science program with a concentration in earth and environmental science. She previously worked as a research assistant in the McMaster Ecohydrology Lab where she developed her interest in peatland wildfire research. Emma's thesis will focus on the parametrization of the newly-developed peat moisture code (PMC) to different peatlands types and ecozones across Canada. Outside of the lab, Emma enjoys skiing, camping, hiking, and travelling.
Logan O’Reilly
Logan is working on a Master’s of Resource and Environmental Management (MRM) focussing on wildfire risk reduction through fuel loading in coastal forests near communities. Recently working for BCWS on an Initial Attack crew in the South Okanagan, Logan developed first-hand experience in the world of wildfire and its behaviour.
With a B.Eng from UVic, Logan brings his background in Mechanical Engineering to the lab with goal of developing or improving the equipment and technology used by natural science and environmental researchers. His past experiences working in the aquaculture industry and designing instrumentation for researchers has created a broad range of skills; but tinkering and technology aside, he’ll gladly spend his days stomping through mud in the field or out on a kayak cruising along the coast.
