Faculty: Forestry
Program: Master of Wood Physics and Drying
Year: 2018
Country: Nigeria
Sam describes himself as a passionate youth with strong interests in agricultural development, environmental conservation, values-based leadership, and community development. Sam’s dedication to helping communities through improving their livelihood led him to join numerous community organizations and NGOs, such as the Nigerian Environmental Conservation Organization, Nigerian Society for Environmental Conservation, Nigeria Young Professionals for Agricultural Development, Gemstone Nation Builders Network, and Commonwealth Youth Peace Ambassadors Network. He is also a Core Member of ProtectOzone which is focused on improving the livelihood of marginalized people in Nigeria and the Africa continent. This zeal for giveback also drove him to co-found his own initiative committed to forestry education, climate change campaigns, tree tagging and agroforestry, called Edenworld Initiative.
Sam chose UBC for its hi-tech facilities and renowned forestry and wood science disciplines. He believes his pursuit of the MSc in Wood Science will allow him to explore and work with the newest technologies in wood science for research, and will help him comprehend how wood can be appreciated, managed and used as a pathway for fair and sustainable development. His research will focus on the application of Non-destructive technologies in evaluating the properties of Softwoods in North America. He will be using Non-destructive technologies like Near Infrared Spectroscopy and Stress wave technology in predicting the properties of Popular Softwoods (Western hemlock and Douglas-fir) in North America and understand how these technologies can be beneficial to the wood industry. Ultimately, Sam wants to be part of the solution for many problems facing his home country of Nigeria and the African continent as a whole.