©2020 Canadian Forest Genetics Association
Undergraduate Student Travel Awards
Pictured above are the Forest Genetics 2023 Travel Awards winners (from left to right): Denise Alano Bonacini (Université de Québec à Chicoutimi), Pier-Alexandre Grenier (Université Laval), Jesse Milani (Lakehead University), and Martin Henry (University of Northern British Columbia).
Student Travel Awards are intended to provide undergraduate students with an interest in forest genetics research and operations with an opportunity to attend a CFGA/ACGF meeting in person. Selected students will be provided with the opportunity to meet scientists, practitioners, and other students to learn of the latest developments in this specialized field. It is hoped the selected students will benefit from this experience to advance their education and pursue a career in forest genetics. The award consists of:
- Conference registration fees, including field trip and banquet ticket
- Round-trip economy transportation to/from the conference
- Accommodation based on double-occupancy
- Meal costs are not included in the program.
Eligibility:
Undergraduate students currently enrolled at or recently graduated from a Canadian university in a forestry, biology, environmental sciences, or allied-science program. An application form will be posted well in advance of the next conference.
Conference Awards
CFGA also provides cash prizes to the best student (graduate or PhD candidate) oral and post presentations at CFGA meetings.
- The Carl Heimburger Award (CDN $1000) is awarded for the best oral presentation.
- The Gene Namkoong Award (CDN $500) is awarded for the best poster.
See list of previous award recipients below.
Dr. Carl C. Heimburger (1899-1990)
Dr. Gene Namkoong (1934-2002)
More about Dr. Carl Heimburger
- Dr. Heimburger has been described by Fowler and Meagher in 2002* as the ‘‘father of forest genetics and tree improvement’’ in Canada. He was born in Russia in 1899, and studied forestry in Denmark, before coming to Canada in 1925.
- He received degrees at the University of Toronto and Cornell University before joining the Dominion Forest Service, at the Petawawa Forest Experiment Station near Ottawa in 1934, where he initiated breeding and studies on pine, spruce, poplar and maple.
- He was one of five persons present at the First Conference of Forest Tree Breeding held in 1937 – the precursor to the CFGA, where he advocated for keeping careful records, and reported on the use of hormones to root basswood cuttings.
- Fowler, D.P., and Meagher, M.D. 2002. Carl C. Heimburger 1899-1990. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Canada, Series 7, Vol. 1. pp. 129-130. – as referenced in Richardson et al (2017). https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233523647_Poplar_research_in_Canada_-_A_historical_perspective_with_a_view_to_the_future
More about Dr. Gene Namkoong
- Gene Namkoong was born in New York where he received his bachelor and masters degrees at Syracuse, before obtaining his PhD in at North Carolina State University in forestry and quantitative genetics in 1963. He subsequently worked for the US Forest Service from 1958 to 1993. He subsequently served as Head of the Forest Sciences Department at UBC’s Faculty of Forestry until 1999 – where he was instrumental in establishing the Centre for Forest Conservation Genetics.
- Gene was recognized as the world’s leading authority in forest genetics and received the prestigious Marcus Wallenberg prize in 1994. He published broadly in theoretical and empirical population and quantitative genetics, breeding theory and strategies, gene conservation, extension, and disease resistance – and ethics.
- His last work “The Misunderstood Forest” was published posthumously in 2005, thanks to Alvin Yanchuk: https://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfd/library/documents/bib108790.pdf
Forest Genetics 2023
Congratulations to the following students for winning the best student (e.g. Masters and PhD candidates) oral and poster presentation awards:
Award |
Prize |
Winner |
Title |
University / Affiliation |
| 2023 CFGA Heimburger Award for Best Student Presentation | $1,000 CAN | Adam Gilewski | Physiological and Transcriptomic Responses to Drought in Ponderosa Pine | Simon Fraser University |
| 2023 WFGA Critchfield Award for Best Student Presentation | $700 USD | Samuel Grubinger | Multispectral vegetation indices from drone remote sensing quantify clinal adaptation to climate in provenance tests of Picea englemannii x glauca | University of British Columbia |
| 2023 CFGA Namkoong Award for Best Student Poster | $500 CAN | Emma Hayward | Composition of the Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) foliar mycobiome and its role in Swiss needle cast severity for a breeding population | University of Victoria |
| 2023 WFGA Critchfield Award for Best Student Poster | $300 USD | Raiany Dias de Andrade Silva | Exploration of climate as a potential factor driving sex distribution of mature aspen trees in an active tree improvement region in Alberta. Raiany also received a student travel award from the Poplar and Willow Council of Canada | University of Alberta |
2021 Virtual CFGA-WFGA Symposium Award Winners
Additional awards were presented by CFGA, WFGA and Forest Genome BC. Thank you to our sponsors and attendees for supporting these additional students in this virtual format.
Award |
Prize |
Winner |
Title |
University / Affiliation |
| 2021 WFGA Critchfield Award Best Student Poster |
$300 USD | Kaylee Rosenberger | Creating practical sampling guidelines for endangered IUCN Red List Oak species through simulation | Northern Illinois University/Morton Arboretum |
| 2021 WFGA Critchfield Award Runner-up Student Poster |
$150 USD | Aaron Onufrak | Variation in Juglans nigra phytobiome driven by geographic and host genotypic variation has implications on Thousand Cankers Disease severity | University of Tennessee |
| 2021 WFGA Critchfield Award Best Student Oral Presentation |
$700 USD | Francois Du Toit | Use of Remote Sensing Technology for Phenotyping in Tree Improvement Programs in British Columbia, Canada | University of British Columbia |
| 2021 WFGA Critchfield Award Runner-up Student Oral Presentation |
$350 USD | Eddie Lauer | Broad-spectrum resistance genes in the co-evolved fusiform rust-Pinus taeda pathosystem | North Carolina State University |
| 2021 CFGA Gene Namkoong Award Best Student Poster |
$500 CDN | Lorinda Bullington | Above and belowground fungal symbionts alter tree defenses, with potential consequences on resistance to fungal pathogens and disease | University of Montana/ MPG Ranch |
| 2021 CFGA Gene Namkoong Award Runner-up Student Poster |
$250 CDN | Bronwyn Moore | Economic return of planting improved coastal Douglas-fir at four initial planting densities | University of British Columbia/Natural Resources Canada |
| 2021 CFGA Carl Heimburger Award Best Student Oral Presentation |
$1000 CDN | Susan Mcevoy | Genomic characterization of two maples highlights genes involved in the stress response to acidic soils across seasons | University of Connecticut |
| 2021 CFGA Carl Heimburger Award Runner-up Student Oral Presentation |
$500 CDN | Heather Dun | Sudden larch death – variation in host response to infection | University of Oxford |
| 2021 Forest Genetics Postdoc Award Best Poster |
$500 CDN | Sam Belton | GeneNet: mapping the genetics of Ireland’s native forests in a European context | National Botanic Gardens, Dublin, Ireland |
| 2021 Forest Genetics Postdoc Award Best Oral Presentation |
$1000 CDN | Antonio Castilla | Genetic rescue by distant trees mitigates qualitative pollen limitation imposed by fine-scale spatial genetic structure | Michigan State University |
| 2021 Forest Genetics Postdoc Award Runner-up Oral Presentation |
$500 CDN | Claire Depardieu | Integrating dendroecology and genomics approaches to identify genes underlying drought adaptation in white spruce | Laval University |
| 2021 Forest Genetics Genome BC Award Best Student Genomics Poster |
$300 CDN | Cynthia Webster | Comparative Transcriptomic Analysis of Juvenile and Adult Leaf Morphologies in Conifers | University of Connecticut |
Award |
Prize |
Winner |
Title |
University / Affiliation |
| 2019 CFGA Carl Heimburger Award Best Oral Presentation |
$500 CDN | Hughes La Vigne | The DeLeaves Drone, A Device for Efficient Tree Canopy Sampling | Université de Sherbrooke |
| 2019 CFGA Gene Namkoong Award Best Student Poster |
$300 CDN | Rafael Candido Ribeiro | Drought Tolerance in Douglas-fir: Are Populations Locally Adapted? | The University of British Columbia |
| 2017 CFGA Carl Heimburger Award Best Oral Presentation |
$500 CDN | Ian MacLachlan | Selective Breeding for Growth in the Interior Spruce Hybrid Zone Maintains Adaptation to Climate |
University of British Columbia |
| 2017 CFGA Gene Namkoong Award Best Student Poster |
$300 CDN | Bianca Sacchi | In situ Quantification of Blue Stain Fungi in Jack, Lodgepole and Hybrid Pine |
University of Alberta |
| 2015 CFGA Carl Heimburger Award Best Oral Presentation |
$500 CDN | Adriana Suarez-Gonzalez | Evidence that allelic introgression from Populus balsamifera (balsam poplar) underlies local adaptation in P. trichocarpa (black cottonwood) |
University of British Columbia |
| 2015 CFGA Gene Namkoong Award Best Student Poster |
$300 CDN | Juliana Senda | Adjusting to Water Stress: Dehydrins Genes in White Spruce |
Université Laval |
| 2013 CFGA Carl Heimburger Award Best Oral Presentation |
$500 CDN | Adriana Suarez-Gonzalez | Population genomics in Populus trichocarpa (black cottonwood) reveals a candidate gene for local adaptation |
University of British Columbia |
| 2013 CFGA Gene Namkoong Award Best Student Poster |
$300 CDN | Mebarek Lamara | Coexpression network analysis of candidate genes related to wood physical traits in white spruce |
Laval University |
| 2011 CFGA Carl Heimburger Award Best Oral Presentation |
$500 CDN | Ashley Thomson | Comparative phylogeography of Betula alleghaniensis, B. Lenta, and B. papyrifera in eastern North America: influence of introgression, niche breadth, and glacial history |
Concordia University |
| 2011 CFGA Gene Namkoong Award Best Student Poster |
$300 CDN | Patrick Lenz | Radial variation of wood traits – pathways for their genetic interpretation | Université Laval. |
| 2008 CFGA Carl Heimburger Award Best Oral Presentation |
$500 CDN | Karolyn R. Keir | Beautiful, charismatic but lacking diversity: The story of Pacific Dogwood (Cornus nuttallii) as told through microsatellite and chloroplast sequence data |
University of British Columbia |
| 2008 CFGA Gene Namkoong Award Best Student Poster |
$300 CDN | Julie Gravel-Grenier | Utilization of family genetic variability of white spruce (Picea glauca) to improve rooting of plant cutting root systems |
Université Laval |
| 2006 CTIA Carl Heimburger Award Best Oral Presentation |
$500 CDN | Marianela Ramirez | Assessing genetic resistance of American beech to the beech scale insect | University of New Brunswick |
| 2006 CTIA Gene Namkoong Award Best Student Poster |
$300 CDN | Erin Hamanishi | The accumulation of anthocyanins in juvenile Pinus contorta dougl. ssp. latifolia seedlings: Are phenotypic differences among provenances due to an adaptation to local environments?” |
University of British Columbia |