Forest and Conservation Sciences Technician

University of British Columbia - Staff; Vancouver; On-site; CAD 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

The University of British Columbia is seeking a dedicated Forest and Conservation Sciences Technician to support diverse research projects in the Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences. This role includes managing laboratory operations, coordinating research initiatives, and supervising students. Ideal candidates will have relevant educational background and hands-on experience in laboratory and field research, contributing to innovative ecological studies in a supportive and collaborative environment.

Qualifications

• High school graduation and minimum two years of related experience.
• Commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion.
• Experience in laboratory experiments and sample processing preferred.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate lab and field research activities across multiple projects.
• Maintain equipment and manage lab safety protocols.
• Supervise students and volunteers in lab and field tasks.

Skills

Organizational skills

Communication skills

Leadership skills

Project management

Education

Undergraduate degree in forestry, ecology, plant biology or related discipline

High school graduation plus additional training

Job description

Staff - Union

Job Category CUPE 116 Job ProfileCUPE 116 Salaried - Research Assistant /Technician 2 Job Title Forest and Conservation Sciences Technician Department Research | Myers-Smith Lab | Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences | Faculty of Forestry Compensation Range $4,426.00 - $4,845.00 CAD Monthly Posting End Date August 10, 2025

Note: Applications will be accepted until 11:59 PM on the Posting End Date.

Job End Date

Jun 30, 2026

At UBC, we believe that attracting and sustaining a diverse workforce is key to the successful pursuit of excellence in research, innovation, and learning for all faculty, staff and students. Our commitment to employment equity helps achieve inclusion and fairness, brings rich diversity to UBC as a workplace, and creates the necessary conditions for a rewarding career.

Job Summary

The Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences is seeking a motivated technician to join our team of diversified research groups. The technician will work with two faculty members, Prof. Myers-Smith (Team Shrub research group) who specializes in global change ecology of northern ecosystems (Prof. Myers-Smith and the Team Shrub research group) and Dr. Warren Cardinal-McTeague who specializes in plant biodiversity and Indigenous-led environmental science. The technician will support the research initiatives of both faculty including a Canada Excellence Research Chair, ERC Synergy, Canada Research Chair, and NSERC-funded research projects. The technician will work with the Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences to maintain the departmental laboratory space, equipment, safety training and facilities.

Duties performed will include project coordination, facilities management including laboratories and growth chambers, the maintenance of equipment pools, plant sample processing and data management (including the management of photo, audio and video data). Other tasks will include overseeing an ongoing growth chamber experiment of the influence of heat waves and longer growing seasons on tundra plant growth and species composition. The position will entail providing support with lab work, administrative tasks, communication between department research groups and administration, lab safety and organization and supervision of Work Learn and volunteer students. This is an one year position with the possibility of extension.

The Faculty of Forestry (https://forestry.ubc.ca/) at UBC is one of the largest of its kind globally. Its award-winning, multidisciplinary researchers explore social-ecological systems from many perspectives, including ecosystem functioning, applied resource management, conservation decision-making and policy, Indigenous knowledge, and values that human societies derive from nature. Our research continually strives to redefine and broaden our conception of forestry by addressing a wide variety of issues including biodiversity conservation, environmental justice, climate change mitigation, sustainable forest management and bioproducts development, to name a few.

Organizational Status

The position will report to the principal investigators Prof. Isla Myers-Smith and Dr. Warren Cardinal-McTeague as well as the Research Coordinator Dr. Pauline Deschodt. Additionally, the position will be supervised by the Departmental Administrator. The technician will supervise Work Learn students and volunteers and collaborate with other members of the Team Shrub research group and the research group of Dr. Warren Cardinal-McTeague and other members of the Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences.

Work Performed

Team Shrub Responsibilities (60%)

• Organize and maintain, including maintaining and ordering lab equipment and organizing stored research samples.

• Oversee the management of field-collected data, including organization and necessary post-processing such as collating and backing up the laboratory data.

• Plan and organize lab field season logistics across alpine, Arctic and boreal sites in Yukon. Work involved includes permit applications, travel, scheduling, and hiring of research assistants, etc.

• Process laboratory samples (tundra leaf, root and soil sample processing for biomass and nutrient content) and the growth chamber experiment maintenance.

• Maintain soil monoliths in growth chambers, with full responsibility for plant care tasks, monitoring growth, and addressing any issues

• Supervise Work Learn Students in root sample processing, time-lapse and drone photo processing and audio recording analysis tasks

• Train lab employees and volunteers to carry out lab work to meet lab standards and ensuring adherence to protocols

• Produce a comprehensive summary report detailing field work conducted in the Southern and Interior Yukon regions during the summer of 2025, capturing key findings and insights

• Write engaging blog posts that document and share summer field work experiences on the Team Shrub website, promoting outreach and engagement

Cardinal-McTeague responsibilities (20%)

• Organize and maintain lab inventory, including maintaining and ordering lab equipment and organizing stored research samples for genomics, leaf spectroscopy, and biodiversity monitoring projects

• Oversee the management of field-collected data, including organization and necessary post-processing. This work includes but not limited to preparing herbarium specimens, shipping samples to collaborators, verifying data entry from workflows via Fulcrum and shared drives. Work will also include DNA extractions, library prep, sequencing, leaf spectral measurements, leaf shape analysis, and dry/wet weight measurements.

• Process laboratory samples and manage resulting data including updating and tracking metadata on spreadsheets, uploading data to shared drives or HPCC cloud storage

• Maintain long-term growth chamber experiments investigating the impacts of leaf degradation on herbarium spectroscopy

• Engage in Indigenous data sovereignty conversations and how to uphold OCAP Principles with lab data

• Support lab onboarding, safety training, and field safety plans

Departmental responsibilities (20%)

• Carry out safety and risk management protocols for the Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences, and act as the Departmental representative for the Joint Occupational Health and Safety Committee (both as committee member and co-chair/administrator).

• Maintain all departmental common research equipment, including but not limited to, growth chambers, autoclaves, drying ovens, and research vehicles.

• Act as the contact person for all lab related questions/operations and safety, including but not limited to field safety.

• Ensure all rooms are up to safety standards and meet any permitting requirements such as for dangerous goods, foreign soils, plant pathogens, etc.

• Maintain, review and ensure all lab and field safety plans are up to date.

• Other tasks as assigned that is appropriate for this job level.

Consequence of Error/Judgement

The Technician will report to the Principal Investigators and/or departmental administrator with issues related to work performance and employee misconduct. The Technician will be required to work independently but is expected to check in with the PIs on a regular basis. The Research Technician will also regularly interact with other members of the research groups, department and administration. Inappropriate judgment may lead to unsafe or unfunctional laboratory conditions in the department, delaying research goals or causing hazards to other lab employees. Failure to effectively follow protocols or data mismanagement will result in delays in data processing, analysis, ultimately affecting the publication of science along the timelines expected by funding bodies and stakeholders. Failure to appropriately manage laboratory facilities and follow safety protocols could lead to the removal of permitting for different laboratory activities and thus slow down progress of research within the Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences.

Supervision Received

The technician will be supervised by the principal investigator Prof. Isla Myers-Smith, Dr. Warren Cardinal-McTeague and the Research Coordinator Dr. Pauline Deschodt to collaborate on tasks related to the development of research projects for the CERC Global Change Ecology of Northern Ecosystems project, the ERC Resilience Project and other NSERC-funded research. Supervision will be provided through weekly meetings and regular communication with the Principal Investigator and Research Coordinator regarding the execution and status of work performed. The technician’s work as it pertains to growth chamber logistics and department wide lab management and safety will be supervised by Sylvia Ho, departmental administrator.

Supervision Given

The Technician will oversee the lab work of four postdocs, four PhD students, eight MSc students, three Work Learn students and a team of lab volunteers at any one time. This will entail providing training and guidance when necessary and ensuring the work of the postdocs, students and volunteers adhere to lab safety protocols and performance standards. The Technician will ensure that laboratories in the department are following safety standards and will support researchers to address any safety or organizational discrepancies.

Minimum Qualifications
High school graduation, some additional training in a related field and a minimum two years of related experience or an equivalent combination of education and experience.

- Willingness to respect diverse perspectives, including perspectives in conflict with one’s own

- Demonstrates a commitment to enhancing one’s own awareness, knowledge, and skills related to equity, diversity, and inclusion

Preferred Qualifications

• An undergraduate degree in forestry, ecology, plant biology, or related science discipline

• Experience conducting laboratory experiments and sample processing

• An ability to work independently and as a part of a team

• Excellent oral and written communication skills

• Excellent organization and time management skills

• Leadership skills and experience in project management

• Familiarity with version control and a desire to learn how to use GitHub

• Class 5 driver’s license

• Awareness of the context of research in British Columbia and The Yukon, including Indigenous research priorities

• Experience managing independent research projects including planning and conducting field and/or lab experiments, hiring lab assistants, creating lab/field work protocols, purchasing equipment, managing project budgets

• Leadership experience managing a team of 10 or more team members

• Field research experience in tundra, alpine and boreal ecosystems or a related ecosystems