Upper Penticton Creek Researcher Biographies
Project Leads
Sheena Spencer PhD (2020-present)
Research Section, BC Ministry of Forests, Thompson-Okanagan Region
Rita Winkler PhD, RPF (1991-2020)
Research Section, Ministry of Forests, Thompson-Okanagan Region
Jack Cheng PhD, PEng (1982-1991)
Research Section, Ministry of Forests, Thompson-Okanagan Region
Current Researchers
Diana Allen PhD, PGeo
Dept. of Earth Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver
Diana’s research interests include groundwater-surface water interactions, groundwater recharge and aquifer vulnerability, fractured rock hydrogeology, modelling sub-regional to regional scale groundwater systems and climate change impacts on groundwater.
Qiang (John) Li PhD
College of Forestry, Northwest Agricultural & Forestry University, China
Qiang’s primary research interests and expertise are in water resources sustainability under the changes in climate and land use or land cover, which has been applied at scales ranging from a watershed to the globe.
Dan Moore PhD
Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver
Dan’s research focuses on the effects of forest disturbance on hydrology, stream temperature and suspended sediment, surface-subsurface interactions, runoff generation, and riparian management and its influence on stream temperature, microclimate, and in-stream wood.
Sheena Spencer PhD
Research Section, BC Ministry of Forests, Thompson-Okanagan Region
Sheena is the new coordinator of the Upper Penticton Creek Watershed Experiment. Sheena’s research interests include the impacts of forest disturbance and forest regeneration on water quality, water quantity, shallow groundwater, groundwater/surface water interactions, and runoff generation processes in headwater catchments.
Adam Wei PhD
Department of Earth, Environmental and Geographic Science, University of British Columbia, Okanagan
Adam’s research interests centre on eco-hydrological processes, interactions between forest, water, and aquatic habitat, cumulative effects on forest disturbance on hydrology and forest carbon, the influence of climate variability on disturbance effects, and applying GIS and remote sensing to watershed hydrology.
Past Researchers
Younes Alila PhD, PEng
Faculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia
Younes’s projects at the Upper Penticton Creek Experiment included development, testing and application of distributed hydrology models to understand and quantify the effects of forest practices on watershed scale functions such as flow regimes. His research also includes the use of models to predict the effects of climate and land use change in larger basins.
Sarah Boon PhD
Dept. of Geography, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge
Sarah’s current research focuses on Arctic glacier and mountain hydrology including studies of the effects of mountain pine beetle and wildfire on snow accumulation and melt and the influence of snowmelt on temperature in groundwater-dominated streams.
Jack Cheng PhD, PEng
Research Section, Ministry of Forests, Thompson-Okanagan Region
Jack was the original champion of the Upper Penticton Creek Watershed Experiment. He worked towards establishing the watershed experiment in the early 1980s and focused the research on quantifying the effects of forest disturbance on streamflow quantity and understanding hydrological processes in the southern interior.
Tim Giles MSc, PGeo
Research Section, BC Ministry of Forests, Thompson-Okanagan Region
Tim’s research interests include the effects of forest development on sediment production, stream channel forms and processes in a wide range of environments, and the relationships between hydrological and ecological processes on floodplains.
Brian Heise PhD
Dept. of Natural Resource Science, Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops
Brian’s research focuses on aquatic ecosystems and includes studies into the effects of logging on aquatic insects and dissolved organic carbon in headwater streams, stream recovery post-wildfire, and the response of wetlands to cattle grazing.
Graeme Hope PhD, PAg
Research Section, Ministry of Forests, Thompson-Okanagan Region
Graeme’s research focuses on the effects of harvesting and site preparation practices on long term soil and site productivity, including studies into the effects of changing forest cover on soil productivity and nutrient cycles of both soil and stream networks.
Robert Hudson PhD
University of British Columbia, Faculty of Forestry
Dave Spittlehouse PhD, PAg
Research Branch, Ministry of Forests, Victoria
Dave’s research interests centre on the water balance of coastal and interior forests, currently focusing on changes in interception, evaporation, soil moisture and drainage with forest disturbance, re-growth and climate change.
Rita Winkler PhD, RPF
Research Section, Ministry of Forests, Thompson-Okanagan Region
Rita has coordinated the Upper Penticton Creek Watershed Experiment since 1991. Rita‘s research centers on the relationships between inland forests, land use and water supplies, with a current focus on changes in streamflow and water quality post logging and in snow hydrology post mountain pine beetle and with forest regrowth.
