Julia Alards-Tomalin

Background

About Julia Alards-Tomalin

Julia Alards-Tomalin has studied Forestry and Ecological Restoration at BCIT and has also received training in Ecological Landscape Design from Gaia College. Over the course of working nine years in the nursery industry, she has developed keen plant identification skills that span all four seasons. She currently works as an instructor at BCIT and helps teach the Renewable Resources students about plant identification, soils, digital mapping, measurements and ecosystem classification. Currently, she co-runs an ecological restoration business, Echo Ecological, which focuses on invasive plant removal and the re-establishment of native plants in urban estuaries and riparian areas. Her specialties include developing planting plans and selecting suitable tree species for each site.She has also developed and implemented planting and monitoring of intertidal restoration habitats as part of a research project to identify optimal planting strategies in these difficult environments. She has extensive experience in the mapping, monitoring and removal of invasive plants using both manual and chemical techniques. She has worked as both a crew member and a crew leader to control knotweed, hogweed, blackberry, broom, ivy, lamium and other invasives across sites all over the lower mainland. In addition to field work and teaching, she enjoys public speaking on various environmental topics at venues such as the Ambleside Coho Festival and the Riverview Tree Fest.