Applications Now Open For FPAC’s 2026 Chisholm Awards for Innovation in Forestry
The Chisholm Awards for Innovation in Forestry, awarded by Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) are now open for applications. This national recognition program highlights the innovative spirit, leadership, and research excellence of students and early-career researchers in Canada’s forest sector.
The Chisholm Awards pay tribute to young innovators whose work has the potential to transform Canada’s forest sector, from advancing sustainable forest management and clean manufacturing to breakthroughs in supply chain processes or forest-based product development.
Promoting the use and adoption of Canadian forest products through value chain innovation.
“The Chisholm Awards for Innovation in Forestry recognize research and solutions that advance the adoption of Canadian forest products through value chain innovation,” stated Derek Nighbor, President and CEO of FPAC. “We are privileged to acknowledge outstanding talent emerging throughout Canada and to highlight research that enhances the sector’s competitiveness, sustainability, and resilience,” he added.
The program is open to Canadian students and researchers who are at the forefront of developing transformative innovations within the forest ecosystem, including in forests themselves, production processes, supply chains, or through product development.
2026 Awards and Prizes
Winners of the 2026 awards will be celebrated in conjunction with the twenty-first session of the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) between May 11-15, 2026.
Selected recipients will receive a CAD 2,500 cash prize, along with national recognition of their research contributions.
Eligibility and Application
Eligible applicants must be students or researchers 30 years old or younger as of March 1, 2026, and carrying out innovative research relevant to the forest sector. The deadline for submissions is 11:59pm ET on April 3, 2026. For further details and to submit an application, visit the program page: https://www.fpac.ca/awards/chisholm-awards-for-innovation-in-forestry.
2025 recipients of the Chisholm award include:
Assira Keralta, Université Laval
Assira’s research titled “Wood stabilization in a circular economy context,” focuses on developing eco-friendly wood modification strategies to enhance durability, dimensional stability, and overall performance, with an emphasis on valorizing biobased materials within a sustainable framework.
Shayan Narani, University of British Columbia
Shayan’s Ph.D. research centers on utilizing wood byproducts as replacements for cement and aggregate in concrete, addressing both waste management and CO2 reduction—key concerns in an industry responsible for 8-10% of global emissions. His work has led to a patent-pending method that enhances cement replacement using wood fly ash while enabling carbon capture and utilization in cementitious materials.
Penghui Zhu, University of British Columbia
A 2024 Chisholm Award winner, Penghui also won first place in the 2025 international Blue Sky Young Researchers Innovation Award. His research centers on the conversion of pulp into stretchable, all-cellulose films for packaging, offering a biodegradable solution to plastic packaging materials.
About FPAC
FPAC provides a voice for Canada’s wood, pulp, and paper producers nationally and internationally in government, trade, and environmental affairs. As an industry, we contributed $21B in real GDP in 2024.Canada's forest products sector is one of the country’s largest employers—providing 200,000 direct jobs and operating in hundreds of communities across the country.
Our members are committed to collaborating with Indigenous leaders, government bodies, and other key stakeholders to develop across-Canada action plan aimed at advancing forest health, while supporting workers, communities and our environment for the long term.
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