Classroom Complex Room 7133
                Phone: (604) 291-3323
              Facsimile: (604) 291-5841

                 see research summary
 
 
 
 

     I received my B.Sc. in Agriculture (resources management, land resources) from the University of Guelph in 1983. I completed my M.Sc. in Forestry (soils and site productivity) at Lakehead University in 1986. I then spent a year in Germany where I studied and worked in the Department of Silviculture and Soil Science at Ludwig-Maximillian University, Munich. I obtained my Ph.D. in Soil Science at the University of British Columbia in the spring of 1992. My PhD research concerned forest land use dynamics and soil fertility in a mountain watershed in Nepal and I travelled three times to Nepal as part of my research program. I obtained an NSERC "Science and Engineering Fellowship" for my MSc and PhD program as well as an IDRC (International Development Research Council) "Young Researchers of Canada" Scholarship for my PhD research in Nepal. I was a post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Forest Science at the University of Alberta for the summer of 1992. In the fall of 1992, I was appointed as an assistant professor in the Geography department at SFU and in the fall of 1998 I was promoted to associate professor. I am a registered Professional Agrologist (PAg).
 

Teaching:

     I teach courses in soil science and in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), including: Soil Science I (An Introduction to Soil Science, GEOG 317); Soil Science II (Forest Soils, GEOG 417); and Introduction to GIS (GEOG 354). At the graduate level, I teach Topics in Soil Science (GEOG 718, Advanced Topics in Forest Soils).
 

Research Interests:

     I am a soil scientist with a particular interest in forest soils and forest ecology. My current research interests include: the impact of hardwoods on soil properties, nutrient cycling and growth of surrounding conifers in southwestern B.C.; the impacts of harvesting and site preparation on site fertility and tree growth; and the rehabilitation of degraded forest soils. 
 

Publications:

     Macdonald, S.E., Schmidt, M.G. and Rothwell, R.L. 1998. Impacts of mechanical site preparation on foliar nutrients of planted white spruce seedlings on mixedwood boreal forest sites in Alberta. Forest Ecology and Management. 110: 35-49.

     Wardman, C.W. and Schmidt, M.G. 1998. Growth and form of Douglas-fir adjacent to persistent vine maple gaps in southwestern British Columbia. Forest Ecology and Management. 106: 223-233.

     Schmidt, M.G., Ogden, A.E., and Lertzman, K.P. 1998. Seasonal comparison of soil temperature and moisture in pits and mounds under vine maple gaps and conifer canopy in a coastal western hemlock forest. Canadian Journal of Soil Science. 78: 291-300.

     Ogden, A.E. and Schmidt, M.G. 1997. Litterfall and soil characteristics in canopy gaps occupied by vine maple in a coastal western hemlock forest. Canadian Journal of Soil Science. 77: 703-711.

     Schmidt, M.G., Macdonald, S.E. and Rothwell, R.L. 1996. Impacts of harvesting and mechanical site preparation on soil chemical properties in the mixed-wood boreal forest. Canadian Journal of Soil Science. 76: 531-540.

     Schmidt, M.G., Schreier, H. and Shah, P.B. 1995. A GIS evaluation of land use dynamics and forest soil fertility in a watershed in Nepal. International Journal of Geographical Information Systems. 9: 317-327. 

     Schreier, H.S., Brown, S., Schmidt, M.G., Shah, P.B., Shrestha, B., Nakarmi, G., and Wymann, S. 1994.  Gaining forests but losing ground: a GIS evaluation in the Himalayas. Environmental Management. 18: 139-150.

     Schmidt, M.G., Schreier, H. and Shah, P.B. 1993. Factors affecting the nutrient status of forest sites in a mountain watershed in Nepal. Journal of Soil Science. 44: 417-425. 

     Schmidt, M.G. and Carmean, W.H. 1988. Jack pine site quality in relation to soil and topography in North Central Ontario. Canadian Journal of Forest Research. 18: 297-305.