At the NWO Section’s 2021 AGM we presented Tree of Life Awards to 3 very deserving women :

• Judy Hall of the Northwestern Ontario Section
  • Judy is a registered professional forester who graduated from Lakehead University in 1981 and has had a diverse career that includes working for consultants, industry and government.  Her career began as an operations supervisor (“Strip Boss” – not what it sounds like.  Probably best to stick with Operations Forester and cull this bit in brackets!) after which she took some time off to raise two beautiful daughters.  Judy proceeded to upgrade her skills so she could re-join the work force and has dedicated much of her time since then to forest management planning.  Judy is an avid cross-country skier and volunteer and has sat on and contributed meaningfully to the Northwestern Ontario section council of the CIF for many years.
• Jean MacIsaac of the Northwestern Ontario Section
  • Jean is a Forestry Technician who graduated from Lakehead University and who has spent almost her entire career (35 years +) on the Lakehead Forest in northwestern Ontario, including having been employed since its inception by the company responsible for the management of the forest – Greenmantle Forest Inc.  The Lakehead Forest is a forest management unit at the head of Lake Superior that surrounds the City of Thunder Bay.  The forest management unit is unique due to its large % of private land as well as the First Nation reserves, provincial parks and protected areas within its boundary (which also includes the US border to the south). Jean has been responsible for all silviculture on the forest, including the planting of over 35 million trees.  Arguably, there is nobody with an equal level of knowledge about that forest than Jean.  Jean is set to retire in November 2021.
• Dr. M.A. (Peggy) Smith of the Northwestern Ontario Section
  • Peggy is a PhD graduate of the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Forestry (2007) and Professor Emerita in Lakehead University’s Faculty of Natural Resources Management.  Peggy retired from Lakehead in 2017 as Interim Vice-Provost of Aboriginal Initiatives.  Peggy’s career focused on making meaningful contributions to community forestry, co-management, forest tenure, and the views and rights of Indigenous people in relation to forests.  Most recently, Peggy has contributed to the advancement of gender equity and meaningful diversity in the forest sector through her participation in the CIF Free to Grow initiative.