Our research team
The WKWC is proud to fund the research of PhD students and fellows from Dr. Younes Alila’s Forest Hydrology Lab at the University of British Columbia. Using a high resolution hydrology modelling of the watershed built from local climate and streamflow data, they are simulating a thousand years of weather across a variety of timber harvesting scenarios, from clear cuts to selective logging under are current climate and projected climates. This is the first research to isolate impacts of how forestry practices and climate change impact flood magnitude, timing, and frequency, and to evaluate how they compound on each other.
Meet our team
Dr. Younes Alila
Dr. Alila has been a UBC Professor of Forest Hydrology since 1996, following a B.A.Sc., M.A.Sc., and Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Ottawa, and several years as a Project Engineer with the Greater Vancouver Regional District. His research combines experimental, theoretical, and modelling approaches to understand how logging, land use, and climate affect floods, low flows, and watershed health.
Spencer Pearson-Atkins
Spencer is a PhD student in forest hydrology at the University of British Columbia, with a background in civil engineering and flood hydrology. His research examines how forest disturbance, climate, and watershed characteristics interact to influence flood risk in the Laird and Redfish Creek watersheds in the West Kootenays. Using statistical modelling, hydrologic simulation, GIS, and watershed analysis, his work aims to better understand how forest management and a changing climate are affecting flood regimes in managed watersheds. He is particularly interested in collaborative, applied research that can support climate resilience, community protection, and sustainable watershed management in the region.
.Habeeb Ajibola Yusuf
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.Dr. Xu Jian (Joe) Yu
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