A professional master’s degree from UBC can accelerate your career!

By Sandy McKellar
Tree Frog Forestry News
March 11, 2020
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Graduate education – the advanced training of tomorrow’s scientists and leaders – is a critical part of the Faculty of Forestry’s mandate at the University of British Columbia. As such, they have created four unique Professional Master’s programs, an ideal way to accelerate your career potential! The Tree Frog News talked to Suzanne Hopkinson, one of the first to graduate from UBC’s Master of Geomatics for Environmental Management (MGEM) degree program. With an undergraduate degree in forest conservation from UBC, and several years of work experience in the forest sector, we talked with Hopkinson about what motivated her to head back to the classroom. “With a local focus but global outlook, I enrolled in the MGEM program to catalyze my career trajectory and within weeks of graduation I reaped the benefits”.

The program focuses on the use of geospatial data, tools, and technologies that are crucial for making informed decisions that impact environmental management. It blends landscape ecology training and quantitative spatial skills development to prepare graduates to tackle pressing environmental issues across multiple sectors. And Hopkinson agrees, “it honed my skills in GIS and statistical geospatial analysis, and provided me with the research and writing tools I need to develop technical analyses in complex natural resource management issues”.

Designed for passionate environmental stewards with an interest in emerging landscape ecology theories, geospatial technologies, computers, and coding who want to advance an existing geomatics career or transition into the field, the program was the perfect way for Hopkinson to expand her career potential. “Examples of my current portfolio include collaborating with forest professionals in developing landscape reserve designs in the Great Bear Rainforest, performing old growth cedar analysis for Vancouver Island First Nations, and leveraging drone technology to verify rare and endangered ecosystem modelling results,” Hopkinson said. “Lastly, my professional network expanded to include my classmates, professors, and research associates with whom I look forward to collaborate with as my career continues to grow. I credit the UBC program for my ongoing success.”

Application deadline for the upcoming semester is March 15, 2020. Learn more about the UBC Master’s Programs here: https://forestry.ubc.ca/students/graduate/programs/

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