Stories from Women in Wood

#moiaussijaimelaforesterie FR - Éditorial tiré du Couvert boreal (Volume 15, numéro 1) - ENGLISH Les grandes oubliées La pénurie de main d’œuvre dans le domaine forestier est l’objet de toutes les attentions ces derniers temps. C’était d’ailleurs la thématique du congrès de l’Association forestière de l’Abitibi-Témiscamingue auquel j’ai assisté en novembre dernier. J’y ai écouté attentivement les solutions proposées par les conférenciers : attractivité pour les jeunes, prog

Desneiges Larose is the General Manager of Hearst Forest Management Inc. It wasn’t easy getting everyone together, finding that moment at the end of the day between the ladies getting out of the blocks and those trying to get to daycare in time, but a few of us did hold still for a snapshot of Women in Wood on the Hearst Forest. All smiles. When I asked these women about their experience in the forestry sector, they were overwhelmingly positive. We seem to have collectively b

Faye Johnson graduated with an HBSc in Forestry from Lakehead University. Her 35 year career has been divided between public and private practice, mostly in forestry related fields. Starting as a tree planter she worked her way up to the Director level. Most of her experience is in the area of business and economics including: timber pricing, international trade, fibre procurement and operations planning. Earlier this year Faye stepped back from her role with the Ontario

Katrina Van Osch-Saxon teaches at Fleming’s School of Environmental and Natural Resource Sciences. She has been there since 2012 and teaches Forest Health, Tree Health Management, Greenspace Management along with other courses in the Urban Forestry Technician, Arboriculture and Forestry programs. Prior to this, she was an arborist and owned a tree care business. When I began working as an arborist and business owner in the tree care industry, I was the only woman on the jobsi

Anne Koven graduated with a Ph.D. from the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Forestry where she is an instructor and adjunct professor. She served as Vice Chair of the Ontario Environmental Assessment Board where she conducted the Class Environmental Assessment Hearing for Timber Management on Crown Lands in Ontario. She has also been actively involved in the former Ontario Forestry Association and Trees Ontario Foundation, the Ontario Professional Forester Association, the

My beginnings in arboriculture is a similar story to many who are in the field as it happened by chance. I was attending Sir Sanford Fleming College for parks and recreation as I wanted to get into adventure tourism. After I finished that program I started taking Forestry as I realized there really wasn't much of a career in adventure tourism. At the beginning of the Forestry semester I saw a bunch of students climbing the rafters in the school pub demonstrating climbing an

The Women in Wood network is growing! Since Women in Wood’s website, Facebook group and Twitter launched in 2015, the online community has grown in Canada, the US and around the world. Our Facebook group now boasts over 600 women from around the world representing a diversity of fields including foresters, forest technicians, urban foresters, woodworkers, education, research and policy. Regardless of their background, it is clear that women are here to support other women. T

Marie Rauter is the first female graduate from the Faculty of Forestry at the University of Toronto and first female member of the Ontario Professional Foresters Association. She was formerly with the Ministry of Natural Resources, and manager and President of the Ontario Forest Industries Association. She also was the Chair of the Forest Physiology Committee for IUFRO, Chair of the Canadian Tree Improvement Association, and board member of Wildlife Habitat Canada, Nature Con

When I graduated from Lakehead University in 1992, there were six women in a class of approximately 30 students. After some reflection, I can say that I was not particularly confident in my own potential during this time, considering myself an average student next to those who outperformed me for grades. It was only once I entered the workforce that I started to appreciate what I was capable of. After graduation, I moved to Cochrane into a job with the Ministry of Natural Res

Kathryn is the Executive Director of Dovetail Partners and a forester by training. She has worked on development and forest management issues in a range of roles. Her work has included natural resource inventories, comprehensive planning, environmental impact assessments and the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS). She has also developed and managed a group certification project for family forests and worked to increase local capacity to provide forest management and

2017 was a busy year for WIW! We thought it was time to bring you all up to speed on what’s been happening. It’s been just over a year since the Women in Wood website and Twitter account launched, and what a great year it has been! Since we first launched Women in Wood in 2016, the community has grown, and we wanted to take a minute to reflect back on 2017 together, and update you on what’s been happening. Maria Church, Editor at Canadian Forest Industries and Canadian Bi

The gender balance has recently started to tip in British Columbia's forestry industry as more women occupy leadership positions and complete post-secondary studies in one of the province's key sectors. Sally Aitken, associate dean of forestry at the University of British Columbia, has noticed the shift in the classroom. Gender equality and diversity require culture change says consultant John Horgan's cabinet sends message that experience matters Forty-seven per cent of und

The Canadian forest industry is not a big employer of women, even though they represent a significant pool of potential employees that could help the industry address its projected labor shortages. According to the Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC), the industry through its Vision 2020 initiative has set a target of refreshing its workforce by hiring 60,000 new workers by 2020, including more women, Aboriginals, and new Canadians. At present, however, there is limi

Christine Leduc is the Direcor of Public Affairs with EACOM Timber Corporation. Women who work in, with, and for the woods. I know many such women: with Jess Kaknevicius and Lacey Rose, to start. Kudos to both for founding Women In Wood (WIW) and offering a platform where we can share information and experiences, as well as support each other as we work to achieve our collective goal of sustainable and healthy forests. Today, this group reaches hundreds of women, students an

We are always happy to hear of like-minded organizations representing women in different trades, industries and professions. One such encounter we have been lucky to have recently was with Lana Norton, who founded Women of Powerline Technicians (PLT) in September 2016. We recently caught up with Lana, who joined us at a WIW event in Renfrew, ON (more on that in an upcoming blog post!). We took the opportunity to share experiences and plans for the future, and learn a little

Kathy Abusow is the President and CEO of the Sustainable Forestry Iniative Inc. Check out Kathy Abusow's TED Talk "The power of sustainable forests" Congratulations to Lacey Rose and Jessica Kaknevicius for starting Women in Wood! I suppose great minds do think alike, several years ago the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) partnered with Habitat for Humanity for an SFI Women in Wood Build Day. It brought women together from across the forest sector to help build a Habit

Hello! I’m Susan Gesner, the President of Gesner & Associates Environmental Learning. I started Gesner & Associates Environmental Learning (GAEL) in 1997 with a notion to integrate my blend of environmental knowledge, facilitation expertise and management skills. The projects that my colleagues and I undertake reflect my interest in the interface between learning and engagement, change management, facilitation and strategic planning. Canada has 397 million hectares of forests

We can all relate to the feeling of gravitating towards a friendly face at a work event. Someone who stands out, like you. United by never having to wait in line for a bathroom at a function or meeting. This is how I met Jess, crossing paths at forestry events, always excited to see her, even more excited for a chance to work with her on forestry outreach and education projects. On one such occasion, while brainstorming ways to take over the world, we decided to make it offi

Women in Wood (WIW) was created to bring together a variety of women from across Ontario and Canada who are out in the woods working passionately every day. While it began with a focus on those in forestry, it quickly broadened to include any woman working with, in and for the woods. The goal of WIW is to bring together women from across sectors including forestry, woodworking, arts, urban forestry, arboriculture and conservation to learn from each other and look for opportu