Features
Next-gen leaders: Meet Calvin Lee

This year marks the 10th edition of CFI’s Top 10 Under 40 award, where we celebrate the bright young champions of our industry. We are very proud to present our industry’s top of the crop – the young leaders, innovators, change-makers, mentors who achieved so much at a young age, inspiring others, and giving back to their communities.

To acknowledge and highlight each winner’s contributions, CFI will feature one of 2022’s winners every week for the next 10 weeks.

This time, we introduce our readers to Calvin Lee, operations engineer for Teal Jones in Surrey, B.C.

Just 26, Calvin is a registered professional forester responsible for applying technology to engineer and monitor cutblocks, roads, waterway protection, and silviculture.

In the last year, he has found that using drones with video and photo capabilities allows them to map out slopes, roads, waterways, trees, and other data to generate 3D models that can be viewed on computers back in the office, instead of hiking and manually mapping from the ground.

“Calvin’s application of drones, cutting-edge 3D mapping, and other technologies is playing a huge role in the modernization of our approach to how we work in the forest,” his manager John Pichugin says. Calvin is working with the company’s geographic information system specialist to develop standardized digital forms for inspections. By moving to a digital form, foresters can enter reports in a standardized manner on a tablet right at the site, which avoids errors and standardizes reporting.

“Calvin is part of the next generation of foresters carrying that approach into the future. His knowledge is benefitting Teal Jones today and will carry us into the future.”

Next week we will showcase the achievements of winner Maxime Lessard.