After over 25 years with the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development (FLNR), Rita Winkler has retired. Rita has made tremendous contributions to the Upper Penticton Creek Watershed Experiment (UPCWE) over her career. Inferences made from this watershed experiment have informed government policy and best practices to sustain forest and water resources. She was also instrumental in supporting watershed assessments and post-wildfire risk assessments. We would like to thank Rita for all her incredible work and the legacy she has left behind as a forest hydrologist.
With Rita’s departure also comes the arrival of the new research lead for the UPCWE, Sheena Spencer. Sheena has joined FLNR as the new Research Hydrologist, based out of the FLNR office in Penticton. She has a PhD in Forest Hydrology from the University of Alberta. Her PhD research focused on runoff generation processes in the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains to help infer how the watersheds may respond to forest disturbance. Over the last few years, Sheena has also worked with the forWater Network, a pan Canadian watershed research network addressing source to tap issues for drinking water treatability. We’d like to extend a warm welcome to Sheena! We look forward to the research program you build as Phase 2 of the UPCWE.