Bryan Mood

Soil Science

Bryan grew up in Kesputwitk, Mi’kma’ki (southwestern Nova Scotia) spending most of his summers getting lost in forested wetlands where he developed a love for them. Throughout his education and career, he has sought to look at forests and their values through multiple Ways of Knowing. Prior to joining the University of Saskatchewan, Bryan was a Climate Scientist for Stantec Consulting Ltd. and Land Conservation Specialist for the Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment. His graduate work focused on developing long-term paleoclimate records of snowpack and streamflow for southwestern British Columbia to support resource management. If you can’t find Bryan, he’s likely lost in the woods, running on the Meewasin Trails, or baking with his two children and dog.

My research interests broadly intersect between forest ecology, climate science, ecosystem services, and hydrology owing to my career background and education. My long term aims and research goals seek to document when, why, and how long trees are affected by environmental disturbances (droughts, insects, fires, etc.). Complementing this, I also conduct research marginal lands in agricultural and forested environments such as shelterbelts, tree copses, and muskegs (peatlands) to understand their intrinsic values to ecosystem services, climate resilience, and sustainable land management.  These research avenues provide direct, evidence-based support for resource management policies and planning as it relates to climate change impacts.

Ph.D. (Physical Geography) University of Victoria, 2019
M.Sc. (Physical Geography) University of Victoria, 2015
B.Sc. (Environmental Science, honors), Mount Allison University, 2013

Schwitzer, M. D., Cline, A., Akter, R., Shafeian, E., Khazaei, M., Fogel, A., Weflen, H., Canning, C., , B.J.,& Laroque, C. (2026). Trembling aspen biomass equations and carbon estimations for southern Saskatchewan copses. Canadian Journal of Forest Research. DOI: 10.1139/cjfr-2025-0212

Shafeian, E., Mood, B. J., Belcher, K. W., & Laroque, C. P. (2025). Assessing spatial distribution and quantification of native trees in Saskatchewan’s prairie landscape using remote sensing techniques. European Journal of Remote Sensing, 58(1), 2438638. DOI: 10.1080/22797254.2024.2438638

Sorenson, P. T., Mood, B., & Shirtliffe, S. (2025). Future canola yields under different climate scenarios in Saskatchewan, Canada. FACETS, 10, 1-15. DOI: 1139/facets-2025-0121

Mood, B. J., & Laroque, C. P. (2024). Forward modelling of white spruce radial growth at trailing edge demonstrates high plasticity. Science of The Total Environment, 957, 177695. DOI: 1016/j.scitotenv.2024.177695

Mood, B. J., Bonsal, B., Howat, B., & Laroque, C. P. (2021). Multi-year white spruce drought legacies in southern Saskatchewan. Forest Ecology and Management, 491, 119144. DOI: 1016/j.foreco.2021.119144

Dean's New Teacher Award 2024

USSU Teaching Excellence Award 2024-25

SLSC 460.3: Forest Soils
RRM 302.3: Agricultural and Environmental Geomatics
RRM 215.3: Identification of Saskatchewan Plants and Soils