Media Resources

Expertise: Forests and Global Change

Researchers at Wilfrid Laurier University are investigating how communities can address and adapt to the effects of climate change. Jennifer Baltzer, the Canada Research Chair in Forests and Global Change, is available to speak to the news media about the causes and impacts of intensifying wildfires, and to share insights from her “zombie” fire field research in the Northwest Territories.

More about Baltzer’s forest fire research.

Below, you will find high-resolution images and b-roll footage of Baltzer and her team gathering data in remote forests throughout the Northwest Territories. These assets are free to use, with credit to Wilfrid Laurier University.

Contact

For interview or imagery requests, contact:

Lori Chalmers Morrison
Director: Integrated Communications
External Relations, Wilfrid Laurier University
lchalmersmorrison@wlu.ca

For more Laurier experts, visit our searchable Experts at Laurier database.

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Quick Facts

• Northern Canada is one of the fastest-warming regions on Earth.
• Jennifer Baltzer, the Canada Research Chair in Forests and Global Change, is collaborating with the Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) to study how changing fire activity affects carbon loss, wildlife habitats and forest regeneration.
• While wildfires are a normal, healthy part of forest ecosystems, a warmer, drier climate is leading to more intense, frequent and destructive fires.
• Baltzer's research will help fire management teams predict and monitor extreme wildfires, protect northern communities and ecosystems, and support decision-making by local governments.
• Baltzer’s research team was the first to collect field data on holdover fires – also known as “zombie fires” – which continue to smoulder in peat soils, with the potential to reignite the following spring.
• While less dramatic than towering flames, the persistent smouldering of holdover fires releases huge amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, some of which has been stored in the soil for decades or even centuries.
• In addition to the GNWT’s Fire Operations team, Baltzer works closely with the territory’s wildlife managers because changes to forests mean changes to wildlife habitats.

Quotes

"I have spent the past decade building relationships with government and community partners in the Northwest Territories. My team and I have focused on understanding key drivers of landcover change that are rapidly occurring in the North with profound consequences for northern communities and ecosystem functioning."

– Jennifer Baltzer, Canada Research Chair in Forests and Global Change, Wilfrid Laurier University

"30 to 40 per cent of the Earth’s carbon is locked up below ground in boreal and Arctic ecosystems, and carbon uptake by these forests helps to offsets our global emissions. If these soils are unable to store carbon in the same way, that has major implications for the warming of our planet."

– Jennifer Baltzer, Canada Research Chair in Forests and Global Change, Wilfrid Laurier University

"Our government doesn't have the resources to investigate all of the questions that we and our residents have. Our partnership with Laurier really increases the scope and reach of what we can do to address those needs."

– Julian Kanigan, assistant deputy minister, Environment and Natural Resources, Government of the Northwest Territories

"Our focus has been on understanding these larger trends. The more we know about what the future might hold, the better it’s going to be for us to make decisions about preparedness and response."

– Richard Olsen, manager, Fire Operations, Government of the Northwest Territories

"Understanding what’s happening with changing landscapes and fires and melting permafrost – these are all critical questions about what the future of the North will hold. What excites me about our Laurier partnership is that we’re starting to answer some of those questions and we’re beginning to see a path forward."

– Andrew Applejohn, senior science advisor, Government of the Northwest Territories