Gaetan Pelletier

Executive Director

At NHRI, Gaetan manages the team and all the in and outs associated with running an applied research center. On top of reporting to the board of directors, constantly identifying new funding opportunities and developing promising partnerships; Gaetan is also a hands-on director who likes to get involved with partners, clients and supporting the team in delivering results and products.

Gaetan is a forester and forest operations manager with over 30 years experience. He spent most of his career with the forest industry where he successively held various positions related to forest operations and management. He is a technical expert in forest management, silviculture and ecology and, over the years, has developed leading edge, large-scale practices and management strategies for planted stands, natural mixed woods and hardwoods.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in management studies from University of Waterloo, a college diploma, Forest Technology, specializing in Forest Management, CEGEP de Rimouski and started a Master of Science in forestry at Université de Moncton.

Jennifer Saunders

Branding & Communications Manager

Jennifer joined NHRI in 2021, initially supporting The Leaflet publication and graphic design projects. Since then, her role has grown to include overseeing NHRI’s branding and communications strategy. As Branding & Communications Manager, she plays an important role in advancing NHRI’s knowledge mobilization efforts by creating clear, engaging content that makes complex research accessible to diverse audiences.

Jennifer led the redesign of NHRI’s website and continues to manage the Institute’s digital presence, ensuring consistency across all communication channels. Passionate about NHRI’s mission, she is dedicated to effectively communicating the Institute’s work to stakeholders and the public, bridging the gap between scientific research and practical solutions for the forestry sector.

Storm Robinson

Manager of Knowledge Mobilization | Research and Development Forester

Storm manages our team’s knowledge mobilization efforts. She is responsible for making sure the research produced at NHRI is useful, and used, by forestry professionals. Her efforts are focused on continuously improving our knowledge transfer processes with the objective of ensuring we mobilized knowledge efficiently and that our tools are effective for our clients. Her over 10 years of experience in various communications and event planning roles assist her in understanding the needs of clients.

Storm started with us as a research and development forester, and as such Storm is still responsible for leading applied research projects in collaboration with a variety of partners and clients. Storm’s current research at NHRI focuses on artificial regeneration of maple and adaptive silviculture.

Storm holds a Master of Science in Forestry, University of New Brunswick, Bachelor of Science in Forestry, University of New Brunswick, and diplomas in GIS Cartographic Specialist and Forestry Technician from Fleming College. She currently sits on the Canadian Institute of Forestry Maritimes Section board as the Communications and Events Specialist.

Marie-Pascale Keyanfe

Manager of Administrative Services

Marie-Pascale is excited to join the NHRI team as Mobilization and Administration Support. Originally from Cameroon and a newcomer to both Canada and the forestry industry, Marie-Pascale brings over eight years of experience from a French multinational company, including its subsidiary in Cameroon. Throughout her career, she has consistently contributed to the management team by ensuring efficient resource utilization through cost control and optimization.

At NHRI, Marie-Pascale is eager to apply her expertise in analysis, administrative management, budgetary control, and financial information processing to help elevate NHRI as one of the top applied forest research centers in North America. She holds a bachelor’s degree in business management from the Graduate School of Economics and Business at the University of Douala, Cameroon.

Alicia Dubé Lévesque

Project Management Support

Energetic and naturally curious, Alicia stands out for her enthusiasm and eagerness to continuously learn. Originally from Quebec, she completed diplomas in Office Administration and Business Management in Edmundston, where she built strong skills in organization and project management.

As one of the youngest recruits at the Institute, freshly graduated, she brings a fresh perspective and a dynamic approach to projects. Her communicative energy and initiative make her a committed team member, ready to take on any challenge !

Dr. Rakesh Mishra

Head of Research-Remote Sensing & AI

At NHRI, Rakesh leads the Precision Forest Inventory Services (PFIS) initiative. He focuses on cutting-edge research to improve PFIS using remote sensing and advanced AI technologies. His responsibilities include innovation and product development, managing projects, and fostering collaborations related to PFIS.

Rakesh is a leading expert in spectral science, advanced AI, multi-sensor data fusion, and computer vision. He has over 15 years of experience managing teams of scientists and engineers to create innovative AI-based geospatial products using remote sensing data. Rakesh is also an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Geodesy and Geomatics Engineering at the University of New Brunswick. He supervises graduate students and guides their research in remote sensing and advanced AI.

Rakesh holds a B.Sc. degree in Physics and Mathematics from the University of Allahabad, India, an M.S. degree in Computer Science from U.P. Technical University, India, and a Ph.D. in Remote Sensing from the Department of Geodesy and Geomatics Engineering at the University of New Brunswick, Canada.

Elizabeth White

Research Forester in Geomatics

Elizabeth White is one of NHRI’s latest additions to the long list of young minds who have chosen to work on research projects related to our mission. She is currently working on mapping and modelling tolerant hardwood species regime preferences across New Brunswick. The ultimate objective is to develop a geospatial tool that can predict high quality hardwood potential sites across New Brunswick.

Originally from Moncton New Brunswick, Elizabeth completed a bachelor’s degree in environment and natural resources from the University of New Brunswick and she is currently enrolled in the Master of Science in forestry, also at UNB. She is part of the Forest Watershed Research Center at UNB, and her research work is being completed under the supervision of Dr. Paul Arp.

Madison White

Research Forester

Madison is currently researching late successional old growth (LSOG) forests as part of NHRI’s Remote Sensing Based Mapping of LSOG in New Brunswick project. She is very passionate about sustainable forest management, climate-adaptive silviculture and ecological forestry. Madi is a forester-in-training awaiting her registered professional forester designation.

Madison holds a Bachelor of Science in Forestry and a Master of Science in Forestry from the University of New Brunswick and is a Registered Professional Forester (RPF). Madi is a part-time graduate student researching the environmental drivers of the Appalachian Hardwood Forest (AHF). Her research is in partnership with the Nature Trust of New Brunswick which aims to characterize the unique structure, composition and landscape features of this rare forest type. Her research will identify the abiotic and biotic factors associated with the AHF and their influence on the recovery potential of disturbed forest communities to guide restoration efforts.

Taylor Bottoms-Cau

Research Forester

Taylor Bottoms-Cau is a new research forester at NHRI. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Honours Biology from Nipissing University, and is currently pursuing her Master of Science in Forestry at the University of New Brunswick. Her graduate research examines the interactions of drought and neighbourhood crowding on water deficit in white spruce trees through the lens of drone-based multispectral imaging.

Taylor’s interest in the environmental field began while she was working as a park ranger with Ontario Parks. Since then she has worked as an undergraduate research assistant on projects relating to disturbance ecology, plant defense mechanisms, and dendrochronology; as well as working within Ontario Parks helping with public education on various environmental topics and monitoring of species-at-risk. In the final year of her undergraduate degree Taylor led her own Honours thesis project, studying the recovery of bryophyte diversity and cover on inactive roads in the Nipissing Forest.

After she completed her undergraduate degree with a Certificate in Forest Resource Management and Conservation, Taylor moved to New Brunswick to start her Master’s degree at UNB, where she was trained as a drone pilot and developed an interest in remote sensing.

Taylor is excited to use her knowledge and experiences to help meet the NHRI’s goals of promoting research innovation and sustainability in the forest sector.

Chloe Larstone Hunt

Research Forester

Chloe Larstone Hunt is a new Research Forester at NHRI. She is also in the process of completing a Master of Science in Forestry at the University of New Brunswick. Her graduate research involved constructing and maintaining a large-scale drought experiment in a 16-year old white spruce plantation to investigate how neighbourhood crowding, managed through pre-commercial thinning, can reduce the vulnerability of white spruce to drought.

Before beginning her graduate studies, Chloe completed an Environmental Technician diploma and went on to earn a Bachelor of Science with Honours Specialization in Environmental Biology and Technology. During her undergraduate studies, she developed a strong foundation in forest ecology, plant identification, and silviculture, earning a Certificate in Forest Resource Management and Conservation.

Toward the end of her undergraduate degree, Chloe worked as a Research Assistant, where she established vegetation plots across Northern Ontario to assess vegetation restoration and recovery of decommissioned forest roads. This experience was influential in Chloe’s decision to persue a Master of Science in Forestry, where she has expanded her understanding of drought tolerance in trees and developed a strong interest in the forestry sector in general.

Chloe is excited to contribute to the NHRI team by applying her research experience and technical knowledge to support sustainable forest management and advance innovative forestry solutions.

Haley Magee

Research Forester

Haley Magee is a graduate student, pursuing a Master of Science in Forestry, from the University of New Brunswick (UNB). She is a new addition to the NHRI team and will be working as an intern, through the Mitacs Accelerate Program, throughout her Master’s and is very excited to be a part of the team.

Haley holds a Bachelor of Science in Forestry with Honours, as well as a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Management and Natural Resources from UNB. Her Master’s project surrounds the effects of thinning on hardwood-dominated stands, focusing on identifying the correlation between climate and competition using dendrochronology.

Levi Shaw

Research Forester

Levi Shaw is a newly enrolled graduate student at the University of New Brunswick, working in collaboration with NHRI. He is working with the Flat Top Spacing Trial, which is a 45-year-old research project established by CFS outside of Nackawic. Its purpose is to assess the impacts on the growth and health of several hardwood species in response to different thinning treatments. It is being adapted to modern demands by considering climate extremes and using LiDAR to assess the effect of early stand density management on tree quality, forest structure, regeneration composition and carbon stocks using mobile LiDAR and to compare LiDAR measurements with plot measurements.

Levi is originally from Woodstock, NB and began a path in forestry at the Maritime College of Forest Technology in Fredericton in 2019. After graduating with a diploma in forest technology, he transferred to UNB to achieve a bachelor’s in science in forestry. This project is the next step.

Joanie Dubé

Doctoral Researcher

Joanie is a doctoral researcher at NHRI, where she is pursuing a PhD in Life Sciences at Université de Moncton. As part of the TransX project, she studies the performance of tree populations originating from different regions of North America and transplanted along a climatic gradient as part of an assisted migration approach. Her research focuses on growth, survival, and functional traits to better understand the capacity of tree populations to adapt to new climatic conditions. This knowledge will contribute to the development of silvicultural strategies adapted to climate change.

Originally from Edmundston, New Brunswick, Joanie holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Université de Moncton and a Master’s degree in Environmental Sciences from the Université du Québec à Montréal. She has more than 10 years of experience in ecology and environmental project management, particularly in wildlife conservation, ecosystem management, and land-use planning. She also teaches wildlife ecology at Université de Moncton.

Ankit Sharma

Doctoral Researcher

Ankit is a doctoral researcher working at the intersection of remote sensing, GeoAI, deep learning, latent representation models, and multi-sensor Earth observation. His research focuses on intelligent geospatial methods for forest fuel mapping, forest health and degradation assessment, wetland monitoring, and the characterization of late-successional and old-growth forests.

He is pursuing a Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering at Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Petroleum Technology (RGIPT), India, with research co-supervision at the University of New Brunswick (UNB), Canada. He was selected for the Mitacs Globalink Research Award, and currently working  as a researcher in UNB.

Ankit holds a B.Tech. in Petroleum Engineering from RGIPT and an M.Sc. in Mathematics from CCS University. His professional experience also includes internships with ONGC, Adani Gas, Cloakbuddy, and Robosapiens Technologies, spanning energy systems, software development, UAV applications, automation, and applied engineering.

His broader research interests include computer vision, geospatial foundation and latent-embedding models, multi-modal data fusion, digital twins, and quantum machine learning for Earth observation and environmental applications.

Rafaella Mayrinck

Assistant Professor

Rafaella is an Assistant Professor of Silviculture at the University of New Brunswick. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Forest Engineering from the Federal University of Lavras, with part of her studies completed at Lakehead University. She also holds a Master’s in Forest Engineering and a Ph.D. in Sustainability.

Prior to joining UNB, she worked in the pine resin and pulp and paper industries, overseeing silviculture, forest planning, and outreach. Her research focuses on applying adaptive silviculture techniques to promote forest productivity, resistance, and resilience in a changing climate.