Graduates contribute to community
In the space of a few years, Brad Collins has gone from investigating the darker side of human behavior -- as a fraud investigator with a national department store chain -- to exploring the shady world of forest ecology.
"It's fascinating to go into the forest and try to decipher what nature is telling you by what you find growing there," says Collins, who is graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Forestry with a concentration in ecology.
Collins, a Calgary native, left the criminal investigation business and transferred to UBC from Douglas College in 1995.
Since then, his interest in forest ecology has grown steadily, thanks in part to opportunities to do field work and to his role as liaison with the Association of Registered Professional Foresters.
"I came to UBC with the broad short-term goal of filling my mind and without too much thought to the future," he says. "My experience in the Faculty of Forestry has allowed me to develop interests and goals that I will pursue in the long term."
His experience at UBC has been a broad one. He has served as student-faculty liaison, and brought together forestry teams to participate in campus-wide events including Storm the Wall, the Day of the Long Boat and the Great Trek Fun Run.
An avid runner, he's spent recent months training for the Vancouver Marathon. Along the way he's also earned several awards and scholarships for academic achievement.
With his undergraduate degree under his belt, his plans include building his academic, research and professional qualifications with graduate studies in forest ecology and forest wildlife ecology.
He also plans to complete the requirements for Registered Professional Forester and Registered Professional Biologist accreditation.
Now, with the marathon and his final exams a month behind him, he is preparing for a summer working with forestry researchers. He starts work on his master's degree this fall, either at UBC or at Yale University, to which he was recently accepted.
"There's no question in my mind that forestry will continue to become more research intensive," he says. "And, with the growing recognition of the need to carefully manage the forest resource and the impact of the industry on forest ecosystems, I see a future of opportunities in forestry in B.C."