Day in the Life: Brad Binges

Surrounded as we are by the Pacific Rim’s temperate rain forest, it’s only natural that the field of forest biology would flourish at UVic. At the program’s roots is Brad Binges, a problem solver with a green thumb, who has helped to nurture and grow forest biology at UVic over the past two and a half decades. 

Binges manages the Bev Glover Greenhouse Facility and field research compound for the UVic Centre for Forest Biology. 

To coordinate the research projects of graduate students and faculty members in the greenhouse, Binges must understand the basics of their research plans—space requirements, type of plant material, timelines. But he’s quick to point out that this does not mean he’s heavily involved in the projects themselves. “If I helped with the research itself, I would have earned 30-40 PhDs at this point!” 

Binges is not exaggerating the numbers of researchers he has helped in his many years as manager of the facility. At any one time the Glover Greenhouse has at least six graduate-level research projects, a few undergraduate projects and courses, and some staff and faculty projects on the go—all of which are made possible by Binges’ careful planning and coordination.

This work is a far cry from how Binges first joined UVic as an undergraduate biology student in the mid-‘80s. At that time, there were only a few botany professors at UVic, including pioneering forest biologist John Owens. “I took a course with Dr. Owens on micro-technique in my final undergraduate year,” says Binges. “We learned to take samples, preserve them, and section them for research slides. The following summer, Dr. Owens offered me a summer job to help collect and preserve samples for his tree reproductive biology research.”

This summer job laid the roots for Binges’ career in forest biology at UVic. Shortly after the completion of his BSc, Binges was working full time at UVic, coordinating projects in forest biology and providing support to Dr. Owens’ research. 

The UVic Centre for Forest Biology was established in 1988 and was originally based in the Cunningham building. Binges fondly recalls their efforts in those first few years to lobby for more space on campus. “We would place potted research plants in and around walkways behind the Cunningham building to demonstrate we were outgrowing our space.”

Their efforts did not go unnoticed and the Centre was given a research plot nestled beside a research cornfield beyond Mystic Vale on the Cedar Hill Corner property. A more longterm fenced area was established soon after the move, along with the addition of an official Environment Canada weather station. Binges still helps to maintain this Forest Biology Compound, which houses a mix of potted and planted research specimens, as well as a mini arboretum of research trees. 

In 2002, the Glover Greenhouse Facility was built across Ring Road from where the Bob Wright Centre is now—and Binges took up his new office space and responsibilities as facility manager. The facility boasts six state-of-the-art climate-controlled greenhouses, a nutrient mixing system, a small laboratory, and 17 growth chambers that support research on diverse topics ranging from seedling physiology and disease resistance to tree genomics and molecular biology. 

Binges now spends his days training students to safely propagate, plant, grow and irrigate research specimens like native conifers and poplar. When he isn’t orienting new students or coordinating space in the facility, he monitors current environmental conditions both inside the greenhouse (temperature, supplemental light, irrigation and humidity) as well as external factors like sunlight and wind to keep as steady a climate as possible for the facility’s plants. He also manages maintenance projects, inventory, equipment installation and the Centre’s motor pool vehicle.

“The greenhouse has one full-time occupant and you’re looking at him,” says Binges. You might think that a set up like that sounds a little lonely, but not according to Binges. “I think my favorite thing about this job is the people. Our students come from all over the world to study forest biology. They, along with the outstanding trades people in Facilities Management and the strong leadership at the Centre make for a really enjoyable place to work.”