Amanda Schoonmaker

Pronouns

she/her

Title

NSERC Industrial Research Chair for Colleges in Boreal Reclamation and Reforestation

Research centre

Centre for Boreal Research

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About

Amanda received a Ph.D. in Forest Biology and Management (University of Alberta) and a BScF in Forest Sciences (University of British Columbia). 

Amanda and her team work on a wide range of research topics involving forest reclamation of post-industrial sites, reforestation and forest management as well the use of native plants as passive dewatering and treatment strategy for oil sands mine-tailings. These wide-ranging research areas have allowed her team to bring creative, and in some cases unconventional, solutions to these challenging topics. Since joining the centre, Amanda has mentored over 30 students as well as several research assistants and associates, seeing many move on to other exciting roles in both the private and public sector. 

Specialization(s)

forest ecology, plant physiology vegetation management, novel nursery stock seedling approaches, reforestation and forest management.

Projects and initiatives

Published work

Schoonmaker, A., Mathison, A., and M., Mackenzie, 2023, Hitchhiker planting: mixed-species container stock planting as a novel tool to increase plant diversity on industrially disturbed sitesCanadian Journal of Forest Research.

Van Dongen, A., Jones, C., Schoonmaker, A., and H., Degenhardt, 2022, The influence of forest harvesting activities on seismic line tree and shrub regeneration in upland mixedwood boreal forestsCanadian Journal of Forest Research.

Baah-Acheamfour, M., Dewey, M., Fraser, E., Schreiber, S., and A., Schoonmaker, 2022, Assessing ecological recovery of reclaimed well sites: a case study from Alberta, Canada. Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, 5.

Van Dongen A, Jones C, Doucet C, Floreani T, Schoonmaker AL, Harvey J, Degenhardt D (2022) Ground validation of seismic line forest regeneration assessments based on interpretation of satellite imagery. Forests, 13, 1022

Chigbo C, Schoonmaker AL, Degenhardt D (2022) Use of pulp mill biosolids to stimulate forest plant growth on an industrial footprint with marginal soil. Environmental Challenges, 8, 100545,

Schoonmaker AL, Hillibrand R, Lieffers VJ, Chow PS, Landhäusser SM (2021) Seasonal dynamics of non-structural carbon pools and their relationship to growth in two boreal conifer tree species. Tree physiology

Le, K.D., Schreiber, S.G., Landhäusser, S.M. and A.L. Schoonmaker, Manipulating aspen (Populus tremuloides) seedling size characteristics to improve initial establishment and growth on competitive sites , 2020, Scandinavian Journal of Forest Research, 35 (1). 

Small, C., Degenhardt, D., Drozdowski, B., Thacker, S.,  Powter, C.B., Schoonmaker, A., and S. Schreiber, Optimizing Weed Control for Progressive Reclamation: Literature Review (pdf) , 2018, Optimizing Weed Control for Progressive Reclamation: Literature Review. InnoTech Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta. 48 pp

Schoonmaker, A., Schreiber, S., Powter, C.B. and B. Drozdowski, Optimizing Weed Control for Progressive Reclamation: Risk Analysis on Regulated Weeds in the Boreal Region. (pdf) , 2018, Optimizing Weed Control for Progressive Reclamation: Retrospective Case Study and Risk Framework. InnoTech Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta. 68 pp

Hudson, J.J., Yucel, C.K., Schoonmaker, A.L., and J.M. Sobze, Effects of cold stratification on the germination of Vaccinium myrtilloides (common blueberry) and Vaccinium vitis-idaea (bog cranberry) seeds from Alberta, Canada, 2017, Native Plants, 18 (3).