On a chilly but bright February morning, Daniels Faculty students and instructors traveled to the Canadian Ecology Centre (CEC) in northeastern Ontario to resume what had been until last year an annual rite of passage for the Master of Forest Conversation (MFC) program. The Mattawa winter field camp, put on pause last year because of the pandemic, was back on schedule with the support of several local and forestry organizations.

The four-day camp started on February 24 and concluded on February 27. It featured a full slate of activities, presentations, tours and on-the-ground learning opportunities for the 22 MFC students who attended. They were accompanied by Sandy Smith, Anne Koven and Tony Ung, along with many Forestry alumni working as foresters, private land owners, research scientists and representatives of the various organizations who helped put the camp together. The group was also joined by two students visiting from Finland.

Located in Samuel de Champlain Provincial Park, about four hours north of Toronto by car, the CEC is a non-profit outdoor and environmental education facility. It is also home to the Canadian Institute of Forestry (CIF), one of the organizing partners of the camp. The mission of the CIF, the national voice of forest practitioners since 1908, includes advocating for the forestry industry, building competency within forestry professionals, and fostering public awareness of Canadian and international forestry issues.

The group departed for the CEC on the first day of the camp. On the way there, attendees stopped at the intensively managed pine forest owned by Tim Bryson and his family in Sunridge, Ontario. Bryson provided lunch to the group, and then a tour of his forest and the various operations there. Afterward, the group drove to the CEC, where it was given an overview of the CIF, followed by an evening meet-and-greet with members of the Ontario Professional Foresters Association.

Tim Bryson, pictured here facing the group, demonstrates the woodlot forest operation at his privately owned pine forest on day one of the Mattawa winter field camp. (Photo by Tony Ung)

Day two of the camp started early with an overview of the Nipissing Forest Resource Management and then a tour of the Nipissing forest, which included stops featuring a uniform shelterwood site and an active harvesting operation site. After lunch, the group embarked on a tour of Green Legacy Farms, owned by Dean Assinewe, where they snowshoed around beehives and learned about his goals of aligning the practices and plans of his private woodlot with traditional Indigenous values. The evening featured more presentations, a campfire and a wolf howl (optional) with the CEC’s general manager, Bill Steer.

Scott McPherson gives a presentation on Nipissing Forest Resource Management before the group tours the forest as the first activity on the second day of the camp. (Photo by Tony Ung)

Day three, which was the most packed day of the camp, began with a trip to the Petawawa Research Forest (PRF). Over the course of three hours, PRF staff and volunteers gave an extensive tour of the research forest’s various study areas and operations, including its history of helping with contemporary challenges such as climate change. Lunch was provided in the silviculture building, where the camp participants were also given a presentation on forest management.

Following lunch, the group ventured on a hike that involved a hardwood trail, an arboretum and a tree marking site. A couple of hours after that, they boarded a bus to visit the Deep River public library, where they were given a presentation on the Algonquin Forestry Authority.

The day winded down with a traditional lumberjack six-pie supper at the CEC, after which the group was serenaded by Steer and John Pineau (executive director of the Ontario Woodlot Association) with a campfire singsong about the history of Mattawa.

“The tradition of the MFC class visiting [us for the winter field camp] is close to 25 years old,” Pineau, one of the core organizers of the camp, wrote in the newsletter The Howler. “Thanks to the financial and volunteer support of many, it continues to give the students an excellent opportunity to see top-notch forestry operations and world-class research, plus have a lot of fun too!”

Petawawa Research Forest staff showed the camp participants the different studies and forest management approaches undertaken at the forest, including this research plot. (Photo by Tony Ung)

On the fourth and final day of the camp, the group was given a presentation of the traditional forestry data collection tools at the CEC. Their last activity before leaving for Toronto in the afternoon was a tour of the Fur Harvesters Auction House in nearby North Bay, Ontario.

The group marvel at the life-size mount of the polar bear at the Fur Harvesters Auction House on the final day of the camp before heading back to Toronto. (Photo by Tony Ung)

“It was gratifying to see ‘seasoned’ foresters and technicians passing on their knowledge of silviculture, forest health and tree marking to forestry students,” Koven wrote in her thank-you note to the CEC, Pineau and the rest of the camp’s supporters. “The Mattawa field camp demonstrated sustainable forestry in action.

"It gave enormous opportunities for our students to experience forestry operations, to appreciate the skill of skidder and other machinery operators, and to hear the pride of the business owners.”

Banner image: The four-day Mattawa winter field camp was attended by 22 MFC students who were joined by faculty members, alumni and two visiting Finnish students. (Photo by Tony Ung)

Two Daniels Faculty members are among the recipients of this year’s Landscape Architecture Canada Foundation (LACF) grants, given out every year in support of landscape-related research, communication and scholarship.

MLA Professor Alissa North has been awarded the Northern Research Bursary and a grant of $10,000, while Sessional Lecturer Kaari Kitawi receives the Gunter Schoch Bursary and a grant of $8,650.

North was recognized in relation to the upcoming book Innate Terrain: Canadian Landscape Architecture, of which she is editor.

Featuring essays by Canadian scholars and practitioners as well as some 150 colour illustrations, the work centres on the argument that Canadian landscape architecture is distinct because of the unique qualities of Canada’s terrain and the particular relationship between Canadians and their natural surroundings.

Innate Terrain is slated be published by University of Toronto Press in hardcover, paperback and e-book form in August.

Kitawi, meanwhile, was recognized for her digital outreach project using videos of Black professionals to expose BIPOC high schoolers to the fields of design and planning.

Over the past two years, Kitawi has been giving career talks to that end at schools in her neighbourhood and abroad. To reach a wider audience, however, she recently started producing videos featuring interviews with Black professionals from around the world about their career journeys. They’re disseminated through a YouTube channel that Kitawi created, called Careers Unboxed with Kaari.

The intention, she says, is to have young BIPOC viewers see themselves reflected in these professionals and to encourage them to explore such careers for themselves.

“It is important for us to tell our stories in order to change the narrative,” Kitawi says, adding that the LACF grant “will further this work by developing a special series focused on Black professionals in architecture, landscape architecture and planning in Canada.”

For more information on the LACF grant program and other 2022 recipients, click here.

Award-winning architect and designer Omer Arbel is scheduled to speak at the Daniels Faculty on Wednesday, March 30. 

Based in Vancouver, Arbel will be presenting his latest studio and architectural work to undergraduate students in the ARC302 course (Exploring Design Practices) at 12:30 p.m. ET in the Main Hall of the Daniels Building at 1 Spadina Crescent. 

In the past, course instructors have opened in-class lunchtime lectures such as this one to other Daniels students and faculty. This will be the case with Arbel’s appearance, with attendance limited to members of the Daniels community only. 

An architect, artist, educator and experimenter, Arbel is known for his multidisciplinary approach to design, realizing projects of varying scale and across a wide spectrum of contexts. In 2005, Arbel co-founded Bocci, the design and manufacturing company that produces his acclaimed range of sculptural lighting, among other products. Last year, Phaidon published a monograph of his work. 

ARC302, which is taught by Sessional Lecturer Jeffrey Garcia, aims to engage students through a series of presentations and conversations with a variety of interdisciplinary and specialized practitioners.  

Experts enlisted have come from the fields of architecture, interior design, industrial design, digital environments, narrative and representation. 

After two years of pandemic-related restrictions, some welcome news for Daniels Faculty students who are planning to graduate this June.   

Subject to any changes in public health guidelines, the Faculty and the University have confirmed that Spring Convocation, scheduled for June 2 to 24 at Convocation Hall, will be held in person.  

The restoration applies to undergraduate students who have requested to graduate at that time, as well as graduate students who are being put forward this term. 

“I am thrilled,” says Dean Juan Du, “that this important moment for our academic community will once again be in person.”  

Further updates will be communicated through the University’s Office of Convocation as details become available. The last in-person convocation at U of T was held in 2019.  

Banner image: Graduate banners flutter at the University of Toronto's Convocation Hall. (Photo by Diana Tyszko)

Observed every year on March 8, International Women’s Day has been marked for well over a century now, ever since the first IWD gathering was held in 1911. Intended to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women, the day has also become a call to action for accelerating female equality. This year’s theme, Break the Bias, invokes a gender-equal world “free of bias, stereotypes and discrimination,” where “difference is valued and celebrated.” 

“International Women’s Day acts as a reminder,” says Dean Juan Du, “on how far we have progressed, and how much more we still need to achieve, toward the basic human right of equality in all genders. Misogyny and discrimination against women still exist in creative, scientific and professional fields, but today and every day is an opportunity to #BreakTheBias, both within our communities and around the world. With Daniels Faculty’s diverse community, we continue to contribute by educating future scientists, artists, architects, designers, city builders and world changers, while celebrating the individual uniqueness of various genders and identifications.” 

In honour of the occasion, four groundbreaking faculty members from the Daniels Faculty’s diverse divisions took the time to share what IWD means to them — and what more can be done to further women’s progress. 

Fiona Lim Tung 

Designer and educator Fiona Lim Tung received her Master of Architecture degree at Daniels Faculty, where she is now in her fourth year as Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream. Earlier this year, Lim Tung served as project supervisor for the Faculty’s winning contribution to Winter Stations 2022: a bright red student-designed pavilion conceived as a meditation on pandemic-era insularity. Her own research practice deals with issues of representation and feminism, while her design work focuses on the potentials that exist in the overlap between high- and low-tech fabrication methods in contemporary craft. Lim Tung’s projects have been widely featured in magazines, books and galleries. 

What have been some of your professional highlights this year? 

Winter Stations was a highlight. Working closely with the students to see them bring their design from sketch to built form, then seeing the public laughing and enjoying the pavilion, was a great and fulfilling experience. The entire team was amazing, but I would like to give a special acknowledgment on IWD to the female team members who overcame stereotypes that women don’t take part in construction. 

What are you working on personally? 

In my own work, I am presenting at a number of conferences about drawing as an act of resistance. It has been great to spend my days looking at images and thinking about how the way we draw can help to build a more equitable future. 

What does International Women’s Day mean to you? 

International Women’s Day is so important, especially in a profession that has been historically male-dominated. The women who taught me, particularly those who were also BIPOC, were inspirational, opening the doors of what I thought possible. I hope to encourage the next generation in the same way. 

Jane Wolff 

Associate Professor Jane Wolff was educated as a documentary filmmaker and landscape architect at Harvard University. Her activist scholarship uses writing and drawing to decipher the web of relationships, processes and stories that shape today’s landscapes. Last year she had not one but two books published: Bay Lexicon (a field guide to the San Francisco Bay Area’s shoreline) and Landscape Citizenships (a 14-chapter survey, co-edited with Tim Waterman and Ed Wall, of “the growing body of thought and research in landscape democracy and landscape justice”). Currently on research leave, Wolf teaches in both the BAAS and MLA programs at Daniels Faculty. 

You published two books last year. What’s next on your research agenda? 

I was awarded an SSHRC Connection grant to fund the installation Toronto Landscape Observatory, co-curated by Susan Schwartzenberg, at the 2022 Toronto Biennial. I am now working toward the project’s opening on May 1. 

What do you like most about teaching? 

My favourite thing about teaching is that it’s a chance to keep learning. 

What does International Women’s Day mean to you?  

In my calendar, every day is Women’s Day! 

Sally Krigstin 

Assistant Professor Sally Krigstin teaches in the Faculty’s various Forestry programs, and is the Coordinator of the Master in Forest Conservation program. Over the past several years, the wood and biomass materials expert has been instrumental in resurrecting one of U of T’s most unique academic troves: its so-called Empire Collection, an extensive collection of woods from across the former British Empire. “When the Faculty of Forestry moved from its longtime home at 45 St. George Street to the new Earth Sciences Building back in the 1990s,” she says, “the 3,000-plus-piece wood-sample collection was packed up in boxes and remained dormant for more than 25 years. With the help of a number of students, the collection has been organized and catalogued, and is now being actively used to teach students about the diversity and qualities of wood from around the world.” 

What does International Women’s Day mean to you? 

To me, International Women’s Day supports women’s endeavours to be recognized as unique individuals whose contributions, large or small, are valued on their unique merits.   

Have you had to overcome stereotypes as a woman in your field? What are some of the best ways to combat them? 

Before joining the University, I worked in the pulp and paper industry, which has been and remains a male-dominated industry. During a performance review by a supervisor at my first job, he said to me, “Don’t ever let the industry or others change who you are.” In other words, don’t be tempted to take on the characteristics of your male counterparts; continue instead to think differently and behave differently. It was the best piece of career advice I received. 

What do you like most about teaching? 

Witnessing your students’ positive impacts on the world is your reward for being a teacher. 

Sukaina Kubba 

Sukaina Kubba is a new Sessional Lecturer in Visual Studies at Daniels Faculty, currently teaching undergraduate painting and printmaking. From 2013 to 2018, she was a lecturer and curator at the Glasgow School of Art, and is presently working on at least three art and research projects, including a multimedia study of Iranian rugs called an An Ancillary Travelogue. “I am interested in feminist theory and practice that comes from the experience and motivations of women in indigenous, colonial and queer contexts, as opposed to feminism imposed or applied from without,” she says. “Women’s liberation cannot be extricated from injustices of colonialism, capitalism and occupation.” 

What does International Women’s Day mean to you?  

This year, it is important to state solidarity with trans women and trans men who are facing new legal and academic challenges from powerful reactionary groups, especially in the U.K. and the U.S. 

Have you had to overcome stereotypes as a woman in your field? What are some of the best ways to combat them? 

I don’t believe there are many stereotypes per se for women to overcome in terms of practicing, studying or teaching in visual arts, but there are definitely class issues. As an educator, I wish to advocate for secondary and higher education in the arts to become much more accessible to students (of all genders) from less privileged backgrounds in terms of class and ethnicity.   

What do you like most about teaching? 

I value conversations with students about their motivations and ideas. Studio practice also allows a space for student collaboration and for forming a creative community.   

Their work co-designing a groundbreaking Indigenous wellness centre in the Northwest Territories has garnered Daniels Faculty architecture professor Mason White and lecturer and alumnus Kearon Roy Taylor a prestigious 2022 Architectural Education Award, which they share with Lola Sheppard of the University of Waterloo. 

White, who directs the Master of Architecture Post-Professional program at Daniels Faculty, is a co-founder with Sheppard of the Toronto design practice Lateral Office, where Roy Taylor is an associate partner.  

The collaborators have won a Faculty Design Award, one of the various Architectural Education Awards handed out annually by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) in partnership with the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS). It is for their work on the Arctic Indigenous Wellness Centre — a soon-to-be-constructed wellness and cultural facility for Indigenous people in Canada’s North — that they’re being recognized. 

Earmarked for a prominent perch of Canadian Shield adjacent to Frame Lake in Yellowknife, the project as envisioned now began as a research studio at Daniels Faculty, where White first led efforts to define its program, siting and form. At the time, he met and talked extensively with Elders leading the initiative, visited possible locations for the centre, and developed an understanding of the key cultural priorities behind it.

The resulting design is a “de-institutionalized,” camp-like facility organized into three distinct yet unified glulam-spruce volumes “closely tuned to the environment, climate and ground conditions” of the setting. In accordance with the wishes of the Elders, no rock will be blasted or excavated to construct the complex, which will also include an outdoor fire circle, site-wide medicine gardens, and multiple connection points to surrounding trails and landmarks. 

Gallery: Construction of the award-winning Arctic Indigenous Wellness Centre, comprising three site-sensitive glulam-spruce volumes in a lakeside network of trails, gardens and amenities, is scheduled to begin in Yellowknife this year.

Fittingly, the Lateral Office team won the Faculty Design Award (which acknowledges work that, among other things, “centres the human experience”) in the Excellence in Community/Research category. All of the 2022 Architectural Education Award winners will be celebrated, on March 18 and 19, at a ceremony in Los Angeles.

The ACSA award isn’t the first prize bestowed on the project. This past fall, the Arctic Indigenous Wellness Centre was also recognized with a 2020-2021 Holcim Award for Sustainable Construction, taking Silver for the North America region at a ceremony in Venice, Italy. 

At the same presentation, held during the International Architecture Biennale, a team led by associate professor Aziza Chaouni of the Daniels Faculty won a Global Holcim Award, taking Bronze for a proposed music school and ecotourism centre in Morocco.

Called Joudour Sahara, the project prioritizes environmental and social sustainability through the programmatic overlapping of the music school, an eco-lodge and an anti-desertification testing ground. Among the complex’s defining features are courtyards that promote passive cooling and user collaboration, outdoor reed canopies that enable active use of the site during North Africa’s hot summers, and multi-use spaces (such as shared administrative facilities and an outdoor auditorium) that reduce the built footprint and maximize resources. 

Gallery: Prioritizing social and environmental sustainability, Morocco's Joudour Sahara Cultural Centre by Aziza Chaouni Projects is a music school, eco-lodge and anti-desertification testing ground in one.

Chaouni was born in Morocco and is the founder of Aziza Chaouni Projects, her multidisciplinary design firm based in Toronto and Fez. At Daniels Faculty, Chaouni leads the collaborative research platform Designing Ecological Tourism (DET), which investigates the challenges faced by ecotourism in the developing world.

Her win in Venice marks the second Global Holcim Award for Chaouni, whose practice won Gold in 2009. The 2020-2021 Bronze comes with $50,000 (U.S.), as does Lateral Office’s regional Silver. 

Banner images: From left to right in the first image, Daniels Faculty architecture professor Mason White poses with Holcim Foundation board member Kate Ascher and Jean Erasmus of the Arctic Indigenous Wellness Foundation during the presentation of the 2020-2021 Holcim Awards for Sustainable Construction in Venice, Italy. Recipient of a Global Bronze, Daniels Faculty assistant professor Aziza Chaouni (left in the second image) talks with jury member Meisa Batayneh Maani after her win. 

Ja Architecture Studio, the Toronto-based practice co-founded by Daniels Faculty assistant professor Behnaz Assadi with architect and alumnus Nima Javidi, has been singled out as one of 2022’s top Emerging Voices by The Architectural League of New York. Every year a jury assembled by the League chooses eight emerging practices as winners of its by-invitation Emerging Voices competition. Landscape architect Assadi co-founded Ja with Javidi, a former professor at Daniels Faculty, a decade ago. Their work was cited by the League for representing “the best of its kind,” addressing “larger issues in architecture, landscape and the built environment.” 

“We are extremely honoured to have been named one of the eight 2022 Emerging Voices by The Architectural League of New York,” says Assadi. “No other recognition could have given more meaning to the past decade of our practice or make us look forward to the next.” 

The Emerging Voices award spotlights North American firms and individuals “with distinct design voices and the potential to influence the disciplines of architecture, landscape design and urbanism.” The jury reviews significant bodies of realized work and considers accomplishments within the design and academic communities as well as the public realm. Among the illustrious practitioners recognized by the League as Emerging Voices in the past are Steven Holl (in 1982), Toshiko Mori (1992), Jeanne Gang (2006) and Tatiana Bilbao (2010). 

This year the selection process involved a two-stage review of work from approximately 50 entrants invited to submit their portfolios. Paul Lewis, a jury member and the president of The Architectural League, was struck by the breadth of the submissions. 

“Rather than indicating a fracturing of our discipline,” Lewis noted, “this year’s winners were united in how they each clarified new types of agency and new notions of value motivated by an optimism about what an architect could and should do.”  

Assadi and Javidi’s work, which explores “how iconographic, geometric, formal and tectonic pursuits relate to broader contexts such as politics, construction, landscape, and urbanism,” ranges from creatively executed residential and commercial projects on tight city plots to ambitious international competitions that draw on the collective repertoire of their multidisciplinary firm. 

Ja Architecture Studio's 2015 design for the Bauhaus Museum in Germany came in fourth out of hundreds of submissions.

Over the past several years, Assadi has been teaching and coordinating two of the foundational core studios in the Daniels Faculty’s MLA program, as well as a number of graduate and undergraduate courses in both the architecture and landscape architecture departments. Former Daniels Faculty member Javidi is currently the Gwathmey Professor of Design at Cooper Union in New York City.

As part of the Emerging Voices program, winners are invited to present their work through a series of lectures. Assadi and Javidi are to join fellow winner Tsz Yan Ng of Michigan to discuss their projects in a moderated Zoom discussion on March 17.  

Revitalizing streetscapes is a Ja specialty. The cafe/bakery at left is housed in a former mechanic shop on Toronto's Queen Street West.

Among the other practices recognized by the League this year are Estudio MMX of Mexico City, Borderless Studio in Chicago and Felecia Davis Studio in State College, Pennsylvania. 

For details on the Emerging Voices award and lectures, visit archleague.org. To learn more about Ja’s work and principals, visit jastudioinc.com. 

Banner image: For a residence on a quiet Toronto sidestreet, Ja proposed a sinuous yet sensitive brick addition. The work of co-founders Javidi and Assadi (pictured) combines "the rootedness of a local architecture firm with the broad interests of an international design studio."

Daniels Faculty sessional lecturer Abdi Osman’s video installation Shadowboxing (2021) has been selected as part of the Berlinale Forum program at this year’s Berlin International Film Festival. This is the first time the Toronto-based Somali-Canadian artist’s work has been featured at the festival, also known as Berlinale.

“It feels amazing to have my work included at a such a prestigious festival where people from around the world will get to see it,” says Osman, who attended the February 9 premiere in Germany.

Osman’s Shadowboxing is being shown as part of the group exhibition of films and installations in the Forum Expanded: Closer to the Ground segment of the Berlinale Forum. Showcasing international filmmakers and artists, the Forum is an event within the film festival organized by Arsenal – Institute for Film and Video Art. The group exhibition will conclude on March 13.

Shadowboxing (2021) features various shots of parks and landmarks from across Toronto. (Video stills provided by Abdi Osman)

Osman describes Shadowboxing as a public installation that builds on his ongoing research into the “gaps between experiences and representations of queer cruising, space- and place-making in the city.” He goes on to explain:
 

“A projection of lush, green park environments that I have documented from sites across [Toronto] appears on the screen. My holdings and records of queer, locational fortitude speak to the countless compounded sites around us where bodies have forged connections in time and space in spite of the continued realities of homophobia, racism and white supremacy that exist in Toronto and beyond.”
 

The projection is augmented by an online audio work featuring local oral histories about queer cruising from the perspectives of Black, queer and trans community members, recorded by the artist.

As well as appearing in the Berlinale Forum, Shadowboxing has also been nominated for a Teddy, an official festival prize. First established in 1987, the Teddy Award recognizes and celebrates works of art with a focus on LGBT+ artists and themes. Osman has been nominated under the category of Experimental Film.

The Teddy Award ceremony will take place on February 18 at 9 p.m. CET (3 p.m. EST). To learn more about the awards and to view the event online, please click here.

Banner image: This marks the first time that the Toronto-based artist’s work has been featured at the Berlin International Film Festival. (Photo by Gelek Badheytsang)

The need for more green space in low-income urban settings. Why contemporary forestry needs to be interwoven with Indigenous knowledge. The history and future of China’s eucalyptus trees.

These were just a few of the wide range of subjects elucidated during the 2021 Capstone presentations by students in the Master of Forest Conservation (MFC) program. Held on December 14 and 15, the hybrid presentations took place in person at 1 Spadina Crescent for students and examiners, with external audience members joining in virtually.

A total of 22 MFC students individually presented their work, the projects organized under the themes of forest management, forest health, monitoring, policy, wildlife, mass timber and urban forestry.

“The hybrid format allowed a broader range of external examiners, from places like Oregon and Barcelona, who would not have been able to participate if we were 100 per cent in person,” says Professor Patrick James, the Capstone course coordinator. “The success of this first hybrid presentation event has potentially opened doors for broader participation in the future.”

The 2021 presentations showcased a diverse mix of issues and case studies. Aditi Chanda’s Capstone project, for instance, focused on the harvesting impacts of Indigenous traplines on marten habitats in northeastern Ontario. Through her presentation, she demonstrated why it is critical for Indigenous knowledge to be woven into forestry.

“It is important to focus on Indigenous perspectives not just because they had been silenced, but because they provide generational knowledge of concepts that are championed in forest management today, such as sustainability or adaptive management,” Chanda says. “Given the often-fraught relationship and history between First Nations and the Canadian forest industry, I firmly believe it is irresponsible for us to do otherwise.”

During his presentation, James Marcucci discussed how social housing can be spaces for urban forest stewardship. “There is a measurable inequality of urban tree-canopy cover in Toronto neighbourhoods that is directly related to median household incomes,” he says. “Non-profits such as Local Enhancement and Appreciation of Forests (LEAF) have identified this issue and are partnering with the City of Toronto to empower Toronto Community Housing tenants to plant and steward trees in their communal green spaces.”

Qinyu Chen, meanwhile, spoke on the history of eucalyptus trees in China, the importance of having species diversity there, and how this could be achieved through the planting of three alternative eucalyptus species. “Globally, China ranks first in plantation area, of which eucalyptus is the most widely planted tree species,” Chen says. “Making even small improvements in terms of diversity will have a significant impact on the whole timber industry and country.”

Chen had the unique experience of working at two different universities for his Capstone project: Nanjing Forestry University (NJFU) in China and the University of Toronto in Canada.

“It was great taking part in two different programs: earning lab experience at NJFU and theories knowledge through the course-based MFC program here at the Daniels Faculty,” he says.

“Having gone through the majority of the program in a COVID-required virtual format,” James concludes, “the class of 2021 deserves particular recognition for its perseverance and resilience.”

Dean Juan Du adds: “I was able to attend some of the presentations and was truly impressed by the range and depth of the students’ research. I am excited to see how this future group of forestry leaders will shape their fields in the coming years.”

Photos by Harry Choi

The complete list of the 2021 MFC Student Capstone presentations is below:

Monique Dosanjh
Forest restoration in Southern Ontario's conservation areas impacted by emerald ash borer: a case study with Credit Valley Conservation
Supervisors: Sandy Smith and Danijela Puric-Mladenovic
External Examiner: Alana Svilans
Presentation video

Guo Cheng
Improving the dissemination of pest management information for urban forest health: a case study with box tree moth (BTM)
Supervisor: Sandy Smith
External Examiner: Allison Craig

Rainer Dinkelmann
Preventing regeneration of American beech following harvest in response to beech bark disease – effects of glyphosate application to beech stumps one year after treatment
Supervisor: John Caspersen
External Examiner: Adam Gorgolewski
Presentation video

Adrienn Bokor
Are eastern grey squirrels a big problem for bigleaf maple?
Supervisor: Sean Thomas
External Examiner: Dave Shaw
Presentation video

Vanessa Nhan
The sustainability of Ontario’s wood supply for mass timber
Supervisor: Anne Koven
External Examiner: Glen Foley

Verna Valliere
Long-term impact of silvicultural treatments on the regeneration of American beech following beech bark disease outbreaks
Supervisor: Patrick James
External Examiner: Thomas McCay
Presentation video

Sylvia Jorge
The relationship between residential parcel size and permeable land on urban tree cover in Long Branch, Toronto
Supervisor: Danijela Puric-Mladenovic
External Examiner: Judy Whitmer Gibson

Zoe Bedford
Identifying forests with old growth potential in the Credit River Watershed
Supervisor: Jay Malcolm
External Examiner: Laura Timms
Presentation video

Aditi Chanda
Assessing harvesting impacts on marten habitat at the scale of Indigenous traplines – a study in support of future Indigenous consultation
Supervisors: Jay Malcolm and Ben Kuttner
External Examiner: David Flood
Presentation video

Sara Deslauriers
Effects of landscape configuration on flying squirrel occurrence and abundance in Rouge National Urban Park
Supervisor: Jay Malcolm
External Examiner: Leonardo Cabrera
Presentation video

Catherine Muir
Effect of tree landscape composition on insect communities in a temperate hardwood forest
Supervisor: Jay Malcolm
External Examiner: David McCorquodale

Qinyu Chen
Characterization of shrinkage of three alternative eucalyptus species for Chinese eucalyptus plantation
Supervisor: Sean Thomas
External Examiner: Tianyi Zhan
Presentation video

Lorraine Li
Identifying tree planting priorities for the Toronto District School Board (TDSB)
Supervisor: Danijela Puric-Mladenovic
External Examiner: Karen Dobrucki
Presentation video

James Marcucci
Urban forest stewardship potential for social housing in Toronto
Supervisors: Danijela Puric-Mladenovic and Tenley Conway
External Examiner: Brian Millward
Presentation video

Darya Shinwary
Investigating mechanical damage to trees at the Toronto District School Board (TDSB)
Supervisor: Danijela Puric-Mladenovic
External Examiner: Karen Dobrucki
Presentation video

Lauren Ohayon
Corporate stewardship of urban green space: a Sanofi Pasteur case study
Supervisor: Sandy Smith
External Examiners: Paul Scrivener and Murray Fulmer
Presentation video

Sanda Violoni
Sustainable private forest management and fair taxation in Ontario
Supervisors: Ben Kuttner and Sally Krigstin
External Examiners: Malcolm Cockwell and Mark Kuhlberg
Presentation video

Kunsang Ling
A look at access to green space in Toronto using the 3-30-300 rule for greener cities
Supervisor: Sean Thomas
External Examiner: Cecil Konijnendijk
Presentation video

Ben Gwilliam
A comparison of parametric and non-parametric modelling approaches for a temporally misaligned LiDAR dataset
Supervisor: Ben Kuttner
External Examiner: Murray Woods
Presentation video

Bridget Trerise
A regeneration monitoring protocol for the restoration of coniferous plantations to hardwood forests in Southern Ontario
Supervisor: Ben Kuttner
External Examiner: Aaron Day
Presentation video

Joshua Quattrociocchi
The ecological value of veteran trees in urban landscapes
Supervisor: Sandy Smith
External Examiner: Philip van Wassenaer
Presentation video

Shan Shukla
Analysis of the forestry co-operative pilot projects developed by the Ontario Woodlot Association
Supervisor: Sally Krigstin
External Examiner: John Pineau
Presentation video

A team of Daniels Faculty architecture students has begun construction on an installation titled Introspection, selected as one of six projects to be featured in the upcoming Winter Stations 2022 exhibition. The winners were announced on January 17.

“We are very proud to be representing the Daniels Faculty at this year’s Winter Stations,” says Christopher Hardy, a second-year student in the Master of Architecture program and team lead for Introspection. “This project is an opportunity for us to not only showcase our design talents and creativity but also to reconnect with our fellow peers after almost two years of remote learning.”

Illustrations of Introspection’s floor plan and interior rendering.

Launched in 2014, Winter Stations is a yearly exhibition of outdoor installations that invite the public to reenvision and interact with spaces and objects usually avoided in winter. Erected along the shoreline of Toronto’s east-end beaches, the projects are selected through a single-stage international design competition and stay up for six weeks. To date, the Winter Stations competition has received entries from more than 90 countries.

Conceived by a team of 10 Daniels students, Introspection joins a number of previous Faculty projects that have been presented at the exhibition: Midwinter Fire in 2017, I See You Ashiyu in 2017 and Calvacade in 2019.

In response to the pandemic and how people have adapted to it, the exhibition’s theme this year is “resilience.” With that in mind, the Introspection team members designed a red pavilion – plywood sheets covered with wooden slats – surrounding a lifeguard tower. The pavilion’s inner walls will be lined with mirrors. “We chose to base our design on the emotions felt throughout the past two years’ worth of quarantine and isolation,” the project description reads. It goes on to explain:
 

“Playing with the idea of reflection, we utilize mirrored walls to cast the visitors as the subjects of our bright red pavilion. While the trellis roof allows the sun to illuminate the interior and its visitors, the red lifeguard tower stands unyielding in the centre of the pavilion, reminding us of the inherent stability within us.”
 

Dean Juan Du looks forward to visiting Introspection and the rest of the installations when Winter Stations opens in late February. “This pavilion is a timely and creative expression of a theme we’ve all had to navigate intimately,” she says. “Our faculty, students and staff have come together and risen to incredible challenges these last couple of years. Both Introspection and the larger exhibition invite people to reflect on our vulnerabilities and strengths, on what it means to be resilient both individually and collectively.”

On a separate but related note, the Dean will also be hosting a symposium on April 2 titled Design for Resilient Communities. Details of the event will be available closer to the date.

Hardy and his team hope to start installing Introspection at Woodbine Beach during the week of February 7. The exhibition runs from February 21 to March 3.

“We invite Daniels community members to check out our pavilion,” he says. “It’s a space that hopefully will inspire people to not only think about what we’ve been through, but also what we’re capable of.”

The Introspection team is comprised of the following members:

Christopher Hardy - Master of Architecture
Tomasz Weinberger - Bachelor of Arts, Architectural Studies
Clement Sung - Master of Architecture
Jason Wu - Master of Architecture
Jacob Henriquez - Master of Architecture
Christopher Law - Bachelor of Arts, Architectural Studies
Anthony Mattacchione - Master of Architecture
George Wang - Master of Architecture
Maggie MacPhie - Master of Architecture
Zoey Chao - Master of Architecture

Fiona Lim Tung, Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream, serves as project sponsor and supervisor.

For more information about Winter Stations 2022, please click here.

Introspection project members assemble the pavilion at the Daniels Faculty on January 22, 2022. (Photos by Christopher Law)