FERG student Mackenzie Mihorean has been given the Weston Family Award in Northern Research for her Master’s level research. You can learn more about the award on the Weston Foundation website
Mackenzie is investigating the implications of a deadly
fungal pathogen, aspen running canker, on future forest
transitions. Accelerated warming has increased wildfire
frequency and severity, challenging the recovery of spruce
and supporting an increase in aspen forest cover. Warming
has also led to drought, making trees more susceptible
to pathogen outbreak. As a result, the future trajectories
of these aspen forests are now uncertain. Mackenzie is
identifying which forests are most vulnerable to aspen
decline to support ecological forecasting; this will provide
an improved understanding of the future availability of
caribou habitat in the central Yukon.