Hello forest lovers! My name is Ann Normand and in the coming weeks, I will begin taking over Cam’s role as your Work Wild contact. Thankfully he is still working with me at the Alberta Forest Products Association so if you ask any questions that I can’t answer we still have the resident forest expert … Continued
Hi everyone! I’ve had a great time writing this blog for the last couple years and traveling the province talking about forestry with high school students. I think I’ve taught people a lot, but also learned way more than I thought I would. After almost 100,000kms, speaking with tens of thousands of 15-25 year olds … Continued
This has been a pretty crazy summer so far. My place has experienced ridiculous heat, torrential downpours, small amounts of flooding and a bunch of newborn rabbits eating dandelions and my vegetable garden. Science seems to be saying that all of these extreme weather conditions are due to climate change that we’ve caused with our … Continued
NEW TECHNOLOGY I often find myself sitting with a group of people (usually the same group of people) arguing about something that’s not really that important. For instance, the constant battles I have with friends about Fantasy Football trades, is Kobe better than Lebron, and choice of hand soap (this actually happened, because one girl … Continued
I took part in a Human Resources panel session a couple weeks ago that was put on by West Fraser and the Pulp and Paper Technical Association of Canada. The theme was “Sustainability Through People and Technology”. There were four of us on the panel and the audience was supposed to “Gain insight from leading … Continued
Working in our industry is a good time. When it’s nice out, you either get to work outside or your shifts are short enough that you get 3 day weekends or can do fun stuff after work in the forest. The biggest issue for me when working/playing outside is shirt selection. There’s so many different … Continued
I write about High Level every time I’m here because it’s awesome up here. I went to bed at 11pm last night and the sun was still up. That same sun (at least I’m led to believe it’s the same sun by “science”) was shining in my open curtains at 4am this morning. It’s so … Continued
This is not a tale of people who are afraid of things in the forest. There are lots of scary things in the forest, and I’m not one to judge what someone should or shouldn’t feel comfortable with. This is a story about one of the most terrifying animals you will ever encounter working in … Continued
The forest industry is very cyclic. There’s a lot of things that can only happen at a certain time of the year. Spring has sprung (kind of, it snowed almost a foot here last week) and the birds are chirping. So what’s happening in the forest right now? THE OPERATIONS Forest companies do most of … Continued
I went and watched The Lorax this weekend. The Lorax was a book I had read many times before, and had seen the original movie a few times as well. We actually watched it in one of our University Economics classes. If you haven’t seen the original movie or read the book, you should check … Continued
I bet you will never guess what type of professional will be in the most demand over the next few years. Would you believe it’s class 1 truck drivers? Once seen as kind of an “unskilled” and “uneducated” career path, some of the richest people in the province in ten years could very likely be … Continued
This last weekend was awesome. Friday night I dressed as a ninja turtle, got on a bus with 50 of my closest friends also dressed in 90s garb, and shredded the gnar all weekend long at Kicking Horse. Sidenote: I don’t know if “shredded the gnar” was ever actually said in the 90s. Why am … Continued
If you think forestry is only important in Alberta, Canada or even North America, you’re wrong. The forest industry is a big deal all over the world and whether you’re an engineer, forester, or a log truck driver, the opportunities for you to choose where you work are pretty awesome. I went to Jamaica on … Continued
You know what I think is getting a little ridiculous? People being offended by other races/religions celebrating different types of events over the holidays. I would not be offended if we had a Jewish Prime Minister who lit a Menorah in the Legislature. It doesn’t mean we’re a Jewish province. I don’t know why it’s … Continued
There is an impending labour crunch in Alberta. You hear about it constantly, “people are retiring, average age of our industry is 48, next ten years we’ll lose 1/3 of our workforce, blah, blah, blah”. Basically what it comes down to is that anyone with any kind of experience in a natural resource industry will … Continued
Edmonton’s downtown really sucks. It’s just not that exciting down here after work. If I hit up the gym after work, by the time I leave downtown at 6:30pm, the streets are abandoned. There is not much reason to stick around after work. This week, Edmonton City Council approved funding to build a new sports … Continued
My family has been involved in the forest industry for a long time. My dad and grandpa probably have a combined 1.2 million years of wood product sales experience. My grandpa also began building bridges on forestry roads at the tender age of 14. The coolest forestry job anyone in our family had definitely belonged … Continued
Although I occasionally miss being outside, working with my hands and being in the trees, the job I have right now is awesome. My official title is “Forest Industry Liaison”. That title was chosen for me, and it kind of makes sense, but it’s basically my job to take forest industry info, and spread it … Continued
Alright everybody, there’s some big things going down with Work Wild. I don’t know if you’ve figured it out yet, but the reason Work Wild was started up in January was because we want the public to know what’s happening with the forest industry. Mostly because it’s a super-sweet sustainable industry that has many scrumptulescent* … Continued
I just spent the last weekend golfing with a bunch of my closest friends (and enemies… do you know who you are?). It wasn’t sunny all weekend, it wasn’t rainy all weekend, but it was awesome all weekend. I got into the office this morning after my long weekend vacation and realized there are some … Continued