Our Team

; 3
Principal
; 3
Associates
; 3
Managers
; 3
Staff
; 3
Contractors

Bruce
Blackwell

M.Sc., RPF, R.P.Bio. - Principal

Bruce is the Principal of Blackwell Ltd. with over 36 years of experience as a Professional Forester and Biologist. He has an extensive background in silviculture, fire and forest ecology, vegetation management, urban forest planning, operational forest management, policy development, strategic planning, and research, and has provided integrated environmental and forestry consulting services to a wide variety of clients throughout BC, Alberta, and Ontario, including First Nations, government, universities, and industry.

Bruce is recognized as a Provincial expert in fire and fuels management and has managed numerous innovative projects related to fire risk identification and mitigation for both the public and private sector. He has provided expert opinion testimony and numerous interviews on the topic of wildfire in BC. He assisted in the development of recommendations for the 2003 Filmon FireStorm Report and was central to developing methodologies used for the fire iteration of the Provincial Strategic Threat Analysis. He has also applied his expertise in developing numerous wildfire community protection plans and wildfire risk assessments, risk management systems, fuel treatment prescriptions, fire management plans, and emergency response plans for municipal, federal, industry and ENGO clients. He has also delivered training and extension to fire practitioners.

Bruce's silviculture experience includes preparation of silviculture and stand management prescriptions. He has extensive experience in the assessment and auditing of soil disturbance and has developed and delivered a comprehensive training package on the subject to coastal and interior clients. In addition, he has applied the biogeoclimatic ecosystem classification (BEC) system to a number of studies related to forest productivity and forest succession.

As a past sessional instructor at UBC’s Faculty of Forestry and at BCIT, Bruce has developed and delivered courses including Abiotic Disturbance (UBC) and Applications of Fire in Ecosystem Restoration, Urban Environmental Planning and Administration, and Integrated Resource Management and Community Planning (BCIT).

Jeff McWilliams

> View Bio

Aaron Bigsby

> View Bio

Louis Orieux

> View Bio

Ben Andrew

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Bob Green

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Robert Sandberg

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Want to Join Our Team?

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Thomas 
Corbett

BScF, LFR

Thomas joined Blackwell in October 2024 after graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Forestry from the University of British Columbia. Thomas’ previous work experiences include four years of tree planting in BC, consulting for Cathro Consulting, contract firefighting in Princeton, BC, and volunteer firefighting in Maharashtra, India.

Since joining Blackwell, Thomas has been involved in FireSmart assessments for homeowners on Bowen Island and has completed his training as a qualified Local FireSmart Representative. Moving forward, he will be a part of the firm’s fertilization team, participating in aerial forest health flights and landscape level fertilization plans and implementation in all phases from reconnaissance through operational planning, treatment supervision, quality assurance, and reporting.

Thomas is planning to register as a Forester-In-Training in the near future, working towards a Registered Professional Forester designation.

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Joshua 
Sunderwald

BScF, DipTech, LFR

Joshua graduated from the University of British Columbia Forest Resource Management Program and joined B.A. Blackwell & Associates Ltd. in 2024. His previous experience includes a diploma in Forest Resource Technology from Vancouver Island University and 5 years of wildland firefighting with Alberta Wildfire.

Since joining Blackwell, Joshua has been involved with several Community Wildfire Resiliency Plans, fuel management prescriptions, prescribed burn planning, and assessments of Ministry-funded Crown Land Wildfire Risk Reduction (CL WRR) prescriptions and treatments. Involvement has included field data collection, such as wildfire threat assessments, qualitative and quantitative stand description, riparian assessments, and fuel typing; post-field data compilation; and spatial data organization. Additionally, Joshua is a certified Local Fire Representative and has conducted a number of FireSmart Assessments for the District of West Vancouver.

>Joshua is planning to register as a Forester-In-Training in the near future, working towards a Registered Professional Forester designation.

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Matt
Day

DipTech For, SAS

Matt is an accredited silviculture surveyor with 33 years of experience working in the natural resource sector, including over 28 consecutive years focused on silviculture related field work in BC. Matt began his silviculture career working as a tree planter and taking part in other stand tending contracts outside of the tree planting season before becoming a crew foreman and camp supervisor responsible for the day-to-day field operations of silviculture crews working on various reforestation and stand tending projects.

Matt has extensive experience working with tree planting and manual brushing crews and has been involved in planning, logistics, hiring, training and quality control. Matt started carrying out silviculture surveys in 2003 and has since gained many years of experience working as a silviculture survey contract field supervisor, senior surveyor, and crew leader responsible for daily field operations including preparation, planning, logistics, training, and quality control. Matt is experienced in collecting data and completing compilations and prescriptions for a broad range of silviculture surveys and stand tending treatments for a variety of clients in both the public and private natural resource sectors.

Matt has worked with Community Forests, First Nations woodlands license holders, private industry licensees, BCTS, and MFLNRORD to carry out silviculture field work in numerous Forest Districts. Matt has conducted surveys in the Cariboo annually since 2016 with extensive experience conducting post-wildfire assessment in managed stands. Additionally, he has conducted post wildfire stocking and salvage surveys in unmanaged stands in the DQU under the Forests for Tomorrow (FFT) program, as well as post-wildfire stocking assessments and reforestation prescription and planting supervision in the Chilliwack District (2015-2016).

Matt has a long-standing working relationship with Blackwell, since 2012, including silviculture and wildfire management/rehabilitation project work under PwC recipient agreements.

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Simon
Murray

B.A., RFT, ISA Certified Arborist, TRAQ

Simon is a Registered Forest Technologist with 34 years of forestry experience. He has extensive experience with forest management, project supervision and contract management. Prior to joining Blackwell in 2023, Simon provided professional consulting services ranging from preparation of site plans, stand management prescriptions, and forestry operations management, to tree risk assessments, forest health surveys, and tree health inspections.

Simon’s years of experience on the BC coast has given him expert knowledge of silviculture practices and coastal terrestrial ecology and a well-developed network of colleagues and contractors in the coastal forest industry. Recent urban forestry work for Blackwell has included extensive tree risk assessment (TRAQ) of hemlock looper impacted trees, layout, and arborist supervision of tree removals in Stanley Park; supervision of tree protection and removal related to mountain bike trail development on Grouse Mountain; and preparation of arborist reports and wildfire hazard assessments for new home construction as required by wildfire hazard Development Permit Area (DPA) bylaws and Building permits.

Simon has also completed tree risk assessments (TRAQ) and windthrow hazard assessments for a Streamside Protection and Enhancement Area in the City of Coquitlam including a prescription for tree removals and modifications. He is also a Riparian Areas Protection Regulation Qualified Professional.

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Kasia 
Humphreys

BScF, LFR

Kasia joined Blackwell in June 2024 after graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Forestry Operation from UBC. She has had a number of years of relevant experience prior to joining Blackwell: she has trained and worked as a trail builder in the Kinbasket Region, funded by the Columbia Trust Basin; she was part of a unit crew with BC Wildfire Services in 2020; and, in 2021, she worked as a Silvicultural Assistant, which involved silviculture surveying and report writing for Northpac Forestry Ltd.

Kasia was also an intern for FP Innovations, on their Wildfire Operational Research team, in 2022. In this role, she was responsible for data collection and compilation with their Instand Microclimate project, and research block layout and data collection in Pelican Mountain, Alberta, and Fort Providence, Northwest Territories.

For Blackwell, Kasia has been involved with several Community Wildfire Resiliency Plans, fuel management prescriptions, prescribed burn planning, and assessments of Ministry-funded Crown Land Wildfire Risk Reduction (CL WRR) prescriptions and treatments. Involvement has included field data collection, such as wildfire threat assessments, qualitative and quantitative stand description, riparian assessments, and fuel typing; post-field data compilation; and spatial data organization. Additionally, Kasia is a certified Local Fire Representative and has conducted a number of FireSmart Assessments for the District of West Vancouver.

Kasia is planning to register as a Forester-In-Training in the near future, working towards a Registered Professional Forester designation.

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Cait
van Vliet

B.A., DipTech, TFT, LFR

Cait joined Blackwell in May 2023 after completing a technical diploma from the Forest and Natural Areas Resource Management program at BCIT. Prior to joining the forestry sector, Cait earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature from the University of Victoria.

Her previous forestry experiences include an internship at UBC’s Malcolm Knapp Research Forest, as well as field work for Infinity Pacific Stewardship Group. These experiences provided her opportunities in public education; silviculture surveying; field data collection and compilation; report development; harvest block design and layout; planting prescription development; site plan development; and fire plan preparation.

For Blackwell, Cait has been involved in the development of multiple fuel management prescriptions and Community Wildfire Resiliency Plans. She was also participated in field work for the fuel treatment assessments of the BCWS Crown Land Wildfire Risk Reduction program. These projects involved: field data collection, such as wildfire threat assessments, qualitative and quantitative stand description, riparian assessments, and fuel typing; post-field data compilation; spatial data organization; map preparation; and document drafting and finalization. Cait has applied experience in various phases of wildfire management, including pre- and post-treatment data collection, fuel typing, FireSmart compliance, access/egress and evacuation corridors, fuel treatment prescription development, structure vulnerability, plan production, and spatial data preparation.

Cait is qualified as a Local FireSmart Representative and currently enrolled with FPBC as a Trainee Forest Technologist, working towards her Registered Forest Technologist designation.

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Esther
Dueling

DipTech, ISA-certified Arborist, TRAQ, LFR

Esther is an ISA-certified arborist and a graduate of BCIT’s Forest and Natural Areas Management program with three years of experience in urban forestry. Esther spent two seasons at the City of Coquitlam in the urban forestry department working on forest management and ecological restoration projects, including invasive species management.

Since joining Blackwell in 2023 as a Forest Technician, Esther has conducted arborist, wildfire hazard DPA and windfirming assessments for municipalities throughout the Lower Mainland, including tree risk assessments for the City of Coquitlam and arborist assessments for the District of North Vancouver.

Esther has also contributed to the Stanley Park hemlock looper response, including completing tree risk assessments, providing project management support, and site supervision. In addition to her urban forestry experience, Esther has completed field data collection, data compilation and analysis, and mapping and reporting for a range of fuels management projects, including post-treatment assessments and fuel management prescriptions. She also supports GIS activities for all Community Wildfire Resiliency Plans and fuel management projects, producing spatial data and maps and conducting spatial statistics.

In addition to her TRAQ credentials, Esther is qualified as a Local FireSmart Representative.

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Marissa
Hallaway

BScF, RPF

Marissa joined Blackwell in May 2023 and is based on Vancouver Island. She is a Registered Professional Forester with the Forest Professionals of British Columbia and a graduate from UBC with a Bachelor of Science in Forest Resource Management.

Prior to joining Blackwell, Marissa gained over 10 years of forest industry experience with Western Forest Products/Tsawak-qin Forestry Limited Partnership in Port Alberni as a Silviculture Forester. This work involved site plan and cutblock development, silviculture surveys, planting and brushing project development and supervision, as well as higher level planning and landscape reserve designs.

At Blackwell, Marissa has been a part of the firm’s aerial forest fertilization programs on Vancouver Island and the Mid Coast. This has included helicopter assessments of areas to determine treatment suitability, conducting ground assessments to identify potential prescription areas and assisting with operational planning and implementation, including monitoring and supervising. This work also includes referrals with licensees, collaborating with Ministry staff and First Nation information sharing. She has also been involved in aerial surveys for the Ministry of Forests’ annual aerial overview forest health survey program in the Coast Region.