Speakers
Your IBFRA 2026 Keynote Speakers
IBFRA 2026 is proud to welcome three distinguished keynote speakers whose work is shaping the future of boreal forest research. Under the conference theme Living with Disturbance — Resilience in Boreal Forests, our keynote speakers will offer global perspectives on disturbance dynamics, climate change, adaptive management, and the evolving relationship between people and boreal landscapes.
Representing diverse regions and areas of expertise across the circumboreal world, these leaders will help frame the scientific dialogue of the conference and inspire discussions that advance research, collaboration, and innovation in boreal forest systems.
We invite you to explore their profiles and learn more about their contributions to the IBFRA 2026 program.
Dr Jennifer Baltzer
Canada Research Chair in Forests & Global Change
Wilfrid Laurier University, Ontario, Canada
“Landcover transitions in high latitude boreal forests: wildfire, permafrost thaw, and fungi as agents of change”
Dr. Jennifer Baltzer is a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Forests and Global Change at Wilfrid Laurier University (Laurier), whose work focuses on the drivers of forest composition, structure and function and responses of these systems to global change. She has worked in a range of systems from the tropics to the tundra but currently leads an extensive boreal forest research program throughout the Northwest Territories and more recently extending into the Yukon. Her interdisciplinary research program examines the impacts of climate warming, including permafrost thaw, wildfire regimes, and biome shifts, on the distribution and function of high latitude boreal forests and its implications for northern communities. Within Canada, she works closely with the Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) through a 20-year Partnership Agreement between the GNWT and Laurier. Dr. Baltzer played leadership roles in NASA’s Arctic Boreal Vulnerability campaign as the Northwest Territories Academic Liaison, the Smithsonian Institute’s Forest Global Earth Observatory Network, and the Canada First Research Excellence Fund Program Global Water Futures.