Vice-President of Logistics and Finance
Ruoxuan Wang is a fourth-year undergraduate student majoring in Nature Resources Conservation. His interest in forests originated from the descriptions of towering trees in Chinese and Western books, and since then, he has been searching for the trees and their habitats depicted in his spiritual world. This inner drive led him to explore the connection between man and nature. By studying natural resource conservation and management at FAFU in China and UBC in Canada, he has conducted an in-depth exploration of how human beings handle their relationship with nature. Now, he is working on finding further directions in conservation science.
His greatest love is to wander through the parks, taking time to perceive and reflect on the uniqueness of each park. He is also willing to participate in the actual construction of the park, joining the ecological restoration team of the Pacific Spirit Regional Park Society to help remove invasive species and rebuild native tree species.
He has worked for a recruiting firm as a Project Department Field Services and has experience organizing outreach events and other related work. He is eager to use this experience to build bridges between his peers in the forestry faculty, the community and international organizations.
Q1. Can you tell me about your experience in the Conservation Science program?
RW: During the Natural Resource Conservation Program, I learned about conservation, wildlife, fisheries management, remote sensing, forestry, and many other aspects of conservation and gained a detailed understanding of many of the conservation issues facing the world today. One of the things that benefited me the most were some of the levels of thinking at which I learned not only to think systematically but also to understand in detail how to think from multiple stakeholder perspectives.
Q2. What motivated you to take on this leadership role within IFSA-UBC?
RW: The motivations were many, the most important being two. Firstly, I aspire to use the IFSA-UBC to build bridges between my peers in the School of Forestry, the community and international organizations, creating a platform where all have the opportunity to participate and network. Secondly, I personally want to use IFSA-UBC to reach out to more like-minded people with more cutting-edge knowledge to fine-tune my own future direction.
Q3. What brings joy and laughter to your life？
RW: Animals. I especially enjoy watching video clips of various critters, including various interactions between different species. I used to be a favorite to watch videos about kittens and puppies, and lately I’ve been addicted to watching capybara and then beluga whales. Watching their adorable antics always makes me laugh.
Q4. Who is your role model and what about them inspires you?
RW: Fritz Wiktor Hasselblad, the creator of the Hasselblad camera. He had a legendary life, and one of the things that struck me most was his lifelong love of nature. He first developed the idea of the camera out of his love of bird photography, and after he retired from the business, he continued to photograph nature until he became very ill and died. His attitude of sticking to his hobby and not forgetting his original heart inspires me very much.
Q5. In your opinion, what sets UBC apart from other universities?
RW: I think it’s a wonderful view, and it’s hard to imagine seeing snow-capped mountains and ocean views in the distance while walking down the main university road. For me it seemed like a whisper: it told me to look inside the dense forest, to look at the vast coast, to look upon the high peaks.
Q6. What is the most valuable insight you’ve gained in your career journey so far?
RW: Communication is the basis for solving all problems. It reduces errors in the transmission of information, creates a meeting of minds and allows all people to participate in the same matter with different insights and achieve results. Good communication involves not only presenting one’s own point of view but also being able to listen well to others’ points of view.
Q7. What activities help you relax and rejuvenate?
RW: I favor visiting diversified parks, whether urban green spaces or national parks. I like to observe the characteristics of each park and use my phone to record them. (Yes, I have thought about getting a better camera to record these views.) One interesting thing is that I once hiked 21 kilometers just to visit a small park. Even though I was a little physically tired at times, I felt my spirit relaxing on the road.
Interviewed by: Yifan Xie, IFSA-UBC Vice-President of Media