Canadian Forest Service employee directory

Profile

Chao works on both stand and forest level forecast of wood fibre supply and valuation under uncertainties induced by various disturbance regimes, the optimal use of Canadian wood fibre and forest value chain integration through systems modeling.

At the stand level, he has been working on the development of the Wood Fibre Value Simulation Model (WFVSM), which is an integrated forestry information system that links the forest inventory (tree variable measurements within a plot) to the end product options including supply chain costs and market price system, to support the optimization of the forest value chain and the forest management and utilization decision-making at the operational level. The end product options include traditional commodities, biomass and bio-energy, and carbon and other ecosystem services.

Chao also works on scaling the results of the plot level inventory valuation up to the stand level through reconstructing stand structures of various stand types, so as to valuate forest landscape changes under different management scenarios. Chao has also been conducting the mapping of major fibre attributes, wood volume and bio-energy, carbon, and other ecosystem services at the regional level to support the strategic level forest management planning.

Current research projects

• Refinement and further development of the WFVSM model
• Reconstruction of stand structure
• Mapping major fibre attributes and forest ecosystem services
• Modeling production systems in the Boreal Plains
• Fire and forest dynamics under climate change scenarios
• Dynamic decision support systems

Education

• B.Sc. (Entomology), Fudan University, Shanghai, China, 1975
• M.Sc. (Mathematical Ecology), Chinese Academy of Sciences, China, 1981
• Ph.D. (Insect Ecology), Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, 1992

Affiliations

• Regional Coordinator, (IUFRO 8.01.02) Landscape Ecology Working Party

Publications

• Canadian Forest Service Publications

Canadian Forest Service research projects

• Reconstruction of natural fire regimes
• Biomass production and fire regimes