Undergraduate student explores field of environmental science with research jobs in post-wildfire natural hazards and landscape dynamics

This fall, SFU environmental science student Safiya Samji spent the semester learning about the indirect impacts of wildfires through her work as an undergraduate research assistant in the Murphy Watershed Science Lab (MWSL).

Having the opportunity to apply her studies to help solve real problems is what drew Samji to the major. “I enjoy problem‑solving and thinking through the environmental challenges we’re facing today,” she says.

Ready to immerse herself in classroom concepts and explore where the field of environmental science could take her, Samji reached out to her professors to learn more about opportunities to get involved with research.

Her first experience as a research assistant was in the Landscape Dynamics Lab at SFU led by Shawn Chartrand, an assistant professor in SFU’s School of Environmental Science. Here, she studied everything from how landscapes change in response to climate change to river restoration and mathematical modelling, and even helped plan the group’s field trip to the High Canadian Arctic.

As a research assistant in the MWSL, she contributed to data collection efforts for a post-fire natural hazards database as part of the new Burned Watersheds Assessment, Research & Education (BWARE) Initiative led by Brendan Murphy, assistant professor in SFU’s School of Environmental Science and director of the MWSL.

Samji worked with a group of students in Murphy’s lab to review hundreds of academic studies and technical reports published about post-fire natural hazards. Through their careful review of these documents over many months, Samji and the BWARE research team managed to compile essential data about when, where, and under what conditions more than 25,000 post-fire natural hazards have occurred worldwide. This database is already being used by Murphy and members of his lab to advance their research into these hazards, but they have also created an interactive, online map – the BWARE Post-Wildfire Natural Hazards Dashboard – so that anyone can explore the data and learn more about these hazards. 

“With wildfires becoming increasingly common and severe, understanding their impacts is important,” says Samji.

Through her work in the MWSL, Samji also had the opportunity to take her studies into the field — something she was keen to experience — and completed a directed studies course with Murphy.

“I spent my directed studies course testing soil hydraulic properties using a range of field and lab instruments, including a KSAT, HYPROP, SATURO and a mini disk infiltrometer,” explains Samji. “Most of my time was spent running experiments, learning how each instrument works and comparing how different methods measure soil health.”