Northern British Columbia is blessed with a tremendous amount of untamed wilderness and UNBC Outdoor Recreation and Tourism Management Associate Professor Dr. Pamela Wright is passionate about conserving those spaces for future generations.

Dr. Wright’s research interests fall into two categories – conserving ecologically important places and connecting people to the outdoors.

Whether it is working with the staff at BC Parks to develop long-term ecological monitoring programs,supervising graduate students mapping and measuring wilderness values in the Muskwa-Kechika and Peace River Break or helping undergraduate students gain their own research experience through ecosystem restoration projects, Dr. Wright’s research is focused on finding the best conservation planning and management techniques for specific areas in the North.

As a 2017 Wilburforce Fellow, Wright will be able to continue her research in conservation planning and maintaining the ecological integrity of parks and protected spaces.

“The Fellowship will help bring focus and attention to my research activities and connect me with other researchers and interested groups working in similar areas,” Dr. Wright said. “It will help build our mutual capacity and provide support and new tools to communicate the results of that research to communities and policy makers.”

The Wilburforce Fellowship is a year-long program open to scientists working in conservation biology, ecology, environmental economics or traditional ecological knowledge. The Fellows receive training in leadership and communication to prepare the scientists to continue to engage in conservation management and policy discussions. 

Wright is the first UNBC researcher to earn the Fellowship and is one of 20 scientists in Western North America to receive a Fellowship this year.

The Wilburforce Foundation is a private philanthropic foundation based in Seattle.