Program
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New Professional Workshops
New professional workshops focus on soft skills and career development to help students and recent graduates transition into the workforce with confidence.
After general registration, delegates will be contacted via email regarding workshop selection.
Workshops have limited capacity and will be reserved on a first-come, first-served basis. You may attend more than one workshop; however, some workshops overlap with other workshops, Conference events, or sessions. Please review the Conference schedule here.
Workshop 1 – Seeing the Forest for the Trees: How to Translate Technical Knowledge and Communicate with Clarity for Impact
September 29, 2026 | 12:40 pm – 1:55 pm (MT) | Salon 3
Audience: Young Professionals
Format: 75 minutes, interactive
*This workshop is scheduled during the lunch break.
Lunch will be provided
Sponsored By:
Facilitators:
- Erin Fraser-Reid, PhD, RPF; Senior Forestry Advisor, Northern Forestry Centre, Canadian Forest Service
- Denyse Dawe, Wildland Fire Knowledge Exchange Liaison, Canadian Forest Service
- Jennifer Klutsch, Research Scientist, Natural Resources Canada
Speaker:
- Sarah Nason, Principal, Wapiti Studios
Forestry is a science-based discipline full of technical details, all competing for importance and attention. Communicating such complex, dense information quickly and effectively to managers and audiences with limited time can feel overwhelming.
Join us for a workshop that breaks down how to tackle data-heavy complexity and translate it into clear, evidence-based messages that resonate. Using theories of effective knowledge mobilization, we will discuss and practice strategies to increase the clarity and impact of the technical work that early-career foresters and academics are often called upon to do. This workshop will help you “see the forest for the trees” by identifying big-picture messages from masses of data and learning techniques to help these messages come across clearly. Achieving this clarity of communication is a key element of career success and advancement for young and new forestry professionals.
Workshop 2 – From Experience to Impact: Building Career Paths and Resilience in the Forestry Sector for Women and Allies of Underrepresented Groups
September 29, 2026 | 8:15 am – 9:25 am (MT) | Salon 3
Audience: Young Professionals
Format: 70 minutes, interactive
Facilitators:
- Nicole Galambos, Director, Forest Ecology, Alberta Forest Products Association
- Lee Woodham, RPF Director of Forest Health, Adaptation and Reforestation, Alberta Forestry and Parks
- Laurie VandeSchoot, President & CEO, Satya Inc.
Sponsored By:
Join women leaders across the forestry sector as they share their career journeys, challenges, and successes. Through open discussion and shared experiences, this session offers practical insights into career development, leadership pathways, and navigating common challenges within the industry. Participants will engage with peers and experienced professionals to build confidence, strengthen connections, and explore strategies for growth, resilience, and long-term success in forestry.
Workshop 3 – Operational Project Management – Schedule Planning Process
September 28, 2026 | 3:15 pm – 5:00 pm (MT) | Salon 4
Audience: Professionals
Format: 105 minutes, interactive
Facilitator:
- Jeff Renton, RPF, Forstra Solutions
Speaker:
- Garry Loeper, CD, MScEng, PMP, Peng,
Tardigrade Consulting
Well-executed project management helps ensure projects are completed on time, within scope, and on budget, starting with a clear understanding of planning processes. This session will cover the fundamentals of project planning, including the relationship between scope, schedule, and budget, and introduce the Work Breakdown Structure as a core tool. Participants will focus on project schedule planning by defining tasks, dependencies, and timelines, supported by real-life examples using Microsoft Project Gantt charts and a basic resource and budget overview. The session will also include a breakout exercise where participants apply these concepts to a forestry-related scenario.
Workshop 4 – Difficult Conversations: Thinking On Your Feet When You're in the Pit of Your Stomach
September 28, 2026 | 3:15 pm – 4:45 pm (MT)
| Salon 3
Audience: Young Professional
Format: 90 minutes, interactive
Sponsored By:
Facilitator:
- Carla Rhyant, MAL, Executive Director and Registrar, AAFMP
Speaker:
- Tannis Grant, Certified Public Participation
Professional (CP3), Topent Ltd, The Possibility Room
Effective communication in forestry practice is a personal leadership skill. It’s not just about what you communicate, but how you do it. This workshop focuses on the behavioural side of communication when things aren’t going as planned – situations that at some point are inevitable. What do you do, how do you react, how do you pull these situations out of the fire and move forward productively? This workshop provides a frame for understanding why these situations exist, strategies to use and an opportunity to practice new ways of addressing them.
Participants will explore common workplace communication challenges, including unclear expectations, communicating with supervisors and contractors, selecting appropriate communication methods, and managing difficult conversations. Through discussion and applied scenarios, the workshop emphasizes practical approaches to improving clarity, building confidence, and maintaining professionalism across a range of situations and working relationships.
See Workshops for Students & Graduates
Learn MoreAll conference details, including but not limited to dates, times, locations, schedules, speakers, workshops, sessions, and tour offerings, are subject to change without prior notice. The organizers reserve the right to modify, reschedule, or cancel any tour, workshop, or session due to unforeseen circumstances, including but not limited to low enrollment, speaker availability, safety considerations, or logistical requirements. While every effort will be made to deliver the program as advertised, the conference organizers are not liable for any changes, interruptions, or cancellations. Registered participants will be notified of significant updates when possible. By completing registration, attendees acknowledge and accept that program elements may change and agree to these terms.