Our People
Meet the Cultural Team
Jorge Avila
senior grower
Jorge started at the nursery in 1973 when we were growing fruit trees and evergreens for “Oliver Nurseries”. In 1984 he started growing forestry seedlings under the name of World Silviculture (now K&C Silviculture). One billion trees or so later, he still arrives early in the morning with a smile on his face.
Henry Yang
grower
Assistant grower
TBD
Meet the Production Team
Roopinder Bains
Chief Operating Officer
Roopinder has a Bachelor of arts degree and has been serving the company for 30 years. She oversees and is directly involved in the operation. Her philosophy is keeping consistency, being a part of others success and having fun along the way. Her vision is building and planting for next generation.
Maria Marques
Production supervisor
Since 1994, Maria has been supervising different aspects of production from sowing to harvest.
Rob Goertzen
Maintenance Manager
Capital Project Manager
Rob has been proudly serving the company for more than 3 decades. He is providing essential support to our Cultural Team to ensure quality seedlings get produced for our clients.
Manjeet Ghadu
lab supervisor
Manjeet organizes and plans lab experiments and tests to ensure the quality of our crops. Manjeet began working for our company in 2001 as a production worker. Her close attention to detail, great understanding and ability to effectively work with a team allowed her to get promoted to the Supervisor position. Manjeet grew up in a farming environment in India, and has been helping her family with different activities on their fruit farm for over 20 years.
Meet the Client Team
Henry Yang
Client Relations Manager
Angie Kuysters
Alberta liaison
Angie completed her Forestry Degree at Northwestern Polytechnic in Grande Prairie, AB and has worked throughout the province for the last 25 years. As a partner and forester with Incremental Forest Technologies, Angie’s passion is in silviculture and her work with K&C Silviculture provides the opportunity to stay closely connected to the continual improvement in the reforestation industry. Angie helps K&C coordinate their shipping program and completes field tours with their Alberta and Northwestern BC clients.
Abbie Acuff
US LIAISON, CONTRACTOR
Abbie graduated from Washington State University in Pullman WA with a BS in Forest Management. Her work experience includes 20 years managing a conifer seedling nursery, management of conifer seed orchard, seed procurement and sales. Abbie’s long term goal is to provide quality conifer seedlings for reforestation programs.
Meet the Admin Team
Katie Kraus
Controller
Katie holds a bachelor degree in Business (University of Alberta), a CPA, CMA certificate and has over 20 years of experience. She started with K&C in 2019. When she is not working, you will find Katie enjoying the lake life.
Changming Wang
Senior IT Manager
Since 2000, Changming has been with K&C Silviculture, as the Systems Administrator, then as the IT Manager and Developer, responsible for the computer systems, the development of the database programs (ERP and other information management systems) and the development of the web site (www.silviculture.com).
Wei Liu
IT analyst / programmer
Having worked as a translator for 15 years, Wei decided to follow his passion in IT. After graduating with distinction from BCIT, he joined K&C Silviculture in 2021. He works with Changming on updating the company website and database programs. He looks to grow and prosper with the company for many years to come.
Sharon Otke
Accounts Payable
Sharon has a Bachelor of Science in Plant Biology and Ecology. In 2002, she started at K&C as an Irrigation Tech under our grower, Jorge Avila. Since that time, she has managed the on-site lab, organized our Health and Safety program, been involved in client billing, chaired management meetings and assisted in various certification/planning processes. Her most recent area of experience within the company has been to assist our Accounts payable department.
Meet the rest of the K & C Crew!
Safety is our top concern.
K&C Silviculture is dedicated to safe working practices and providing a healthy working environment for all employees and customers.
We practice strict COVID safety protocols including social distancing, increased cleaning and sanitization, and mandatory masks while on site.