Submitted by Moira Parker,
Sources of Knowledge Forum
On Saturday, October 25th, 2025, the Sources of Knowledge (SOK) forum will gather at the Parks Canada Visitor Centre in Tobermory for a full day examining how fire behaves, how we prepare, and how we can live with it wisely. Registration opens at 8:00 a.m., followed by an 8:30 a.m. welcome with an opening prayer from a Saugeen Ojibway Nation Elder, land acknowledgement, and greetings from the Forum Planning Committee with Ethan Meleg, Acting Parks Canada Superintendent, and Mayor Milt McIver.
The morning begins with a local focus, at 9:00 a.m. Sean Liipere, Parks Canada, outlines forest landscapes and their relationship with fire in Bruce Peninsula National Park. At 10:00 a.m. Natasha Jurko, a Wildfire Danger Science Specialist with the Canadian Forest Service at the Great Lakes Forestry Centre, examines “Wildfires in Canada”. This talk will look at the increasing scale and impacts of recent fire seasons, from community effects to smoke and broader economic disruption beyond local borders. There will be a stretch break at 10:50 a.m., followed by Fire Prevention/Education with Parks Canada and Municipality of Northern Bruce Peninsula Fire Department speakers at 11:10 a.m., then a lunch break at noon.
The afternoon focuses on readiness and response. At 1:15 p.m., MNBP Fire Chief Jack Burt, speaks on fighting fire/fire management in Northern Saugeen Bruce Peninsula, including potential lessons from 2024 deployments framed through the human impact of wildfire. At 2:05 p.m., Kennith Cox and Zach DeCock, Provincial Fire Advisors with Aviation, Forest Fire & Emergency Services, dig into fire mitigation and resiliency. After a 2:55 p.m. stretch, Rod Anderson, MNBP Councillor, tackles the hard choices of allocating limited resources in the face of fire at 3:15 p.m. This will be followed by Thomas Heinrich, ecology student at the University of Sherbrooke, speaking on why restoring ecological disturbance, including fire, is essential to bring back old-growth characteristics on protected lands at 3:30 p.m.
Saturday evening moves to the Tobermory Community Centre for the Forum banquet and keynote speaker. Social hour (cash bar) begins at 5:30 p.m., the banquet meal at 6:30 p.m. will be locally catered by the Princess Hotel, and the presentation of the SOK Bill Graham Award of Excellence will happen before the keynote. The evening’s feature is “Canada’s Wildfire Watch,” presented by Natasha Jurko. Her talk looks back at nearly a century of Canadian Forest Service fire science and the development of the Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System, now adapted internationally. It will then look ahead to how the system is evolving and how new tools and technology can strengthen mitigation, prediction, and monitoring of wildfires. A closing prayer from a SON Elder concludes the evening.
Jurko’s keynote draws on her day job and research focus. Based at the Great Lakes Forestry Centre in Sault Ste. Marie, she brings a background in GIS and geospatial analysis, contributes to the Next Generation of Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating Systems, and leads adaptation of this system for other regions and varied landscapes. This expertise will connect this national innovation directly to the Peninsula’s planning, preparedness, and public safety.
For the full weekend schedule and registration details, please see the Forum website, www.sourcesofknowledge.ca, we look forward to seeing you there!
