Selkirk College opened a forestry major more than 50 years ago. It fits the advantages of Canada’s rich forest resources and has trained a large number of professionals for forestry companies. The forestry major of Selkirk College is recognized by the Canadian country and is well-known throughout the country. The major is registered as forestry technical expert of the BC Forestry Professionals Association. Recreational fisheries and wildlife majors are also recognized by the Canadian Technical Experts and Technical Committee (CCTT).
Selkirk College was established in 1966 and is the first public community college established in British Columbia. It is a Canadian public college recognized by the Canadian government and the Chinese Ministry of Education. The college has sufficient government funding and attaches great importance to applied research and innovation. The college has a total of 9 campuses and is the only college in the West Kootenay community of West Kootenay in BC that participates in the Canadian federal RNIP immigration program.
Location
Located amidst the breathtaking beauty of southern British Columbia, Selkirk College is home to 60-plus nationally recognized programs serving about 2,700 full-time learners per year in certificate, diploma, bachelor degree, co-operative education and continuing education programs. With eight campus locations in six different West Kootenay and Boundary communities.
Programs
Forest Technology (Diploma)
- Instruction by practicing resource professionals;
- Maximization of outdoor learning opportunities in real forest environments;
- Collaboration with industry professionals to provide exposure to current practices in all aspects of forest management;
- Familiarization with current forest technology used by industry employers; and
- Commitment to student success in a fun and close-knit learning environment.
Career Pathways
- Forest ecology
- Forest road location
- Harvesting techniques
- Wildlife habitat identification
- Silviculture systems
- Surveying
- Timber cruising
- Hydrology
- Forest health
- Wildfire management
- Digital mapping
- Data management
- Forest policy
- Relationship-building with First Nations communities
Geographic Information Systems
- GIS applications and automation
- Remote sensing
- Internet mapping
- Database development and management
- Customized application programming
- Global positioning systems (GPS)
- 3D visualizations
- Data management techniques
- Open source, open data, and related software applications
- Drone data collection and utilization
Career Pathways
- Business like market driven banking, ultimate client service, asset management
- Engineering like transportation planning, disaster management, use of historical data, terrain analysis
- Urban, rural and community planning
- Climate research, flood damage estimation
- Wildlife conservation, natural resource planning, water management
- Resource development and land management
- News and Entertainment support, telecom and network services
- Government administration, taxation
- Health and medical research
- Law enforcement, accident analysis
Integrated Environmental Planning (Diploma)
- Air and water pollution chemistry analysis
- Applied hydrology
- Data analysis and presentation
- Earth science
- Ecological systems and ecological restoration
- Ecology
- Environmental planning and management
- First Nations
- Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
- Hydrology
- Land Use and resource planning
- Microbiology
- Sustainability
Career Pathways
- Environmental field technologists
- Geomatics
- Government land use and Resource management Agencies
- Non-Profit (NGO) advocacy
- Planning and environmental consulting firms
Recreation, Fish and Wildlife (Diploma)
- Computer systems for environmental technologies
- Ecosystem health and management
- Fish and wildlife identification and management
- Parks and recreation management
- Avalanche awareness
- Backcountry navigation and travel
Advantage
Whether you love nature and want to play a role in preserving our environment or have an interest in visually identifying relationships, patterns and trends through mapping, Selkirk College have a program to fit your needs, allowing students can focus on experiential, hands-on outdoor learning in our nationally-accredited environmental science programs.
