I am a biogeographer and educator. My biogeographic research explores vegetation dynamics with a focus on the impacts of human activities, particularly ecosystem fragmentation, altered disturbance regimes, biological invasions and climate change, and the solutions to manage these impacts. I study plant populations in forest ecosystems of eastern North America, and in alpine and subalpine systems of the Karakoram Himalaya and BC Coast Mountains. I apply knowledge of ecosystems to produce tools for ecology education. I have created numerous virtual and augmented reality experiences and studied their pedagogical effectiveness. I also conduct and study community-engaged learning in geoscience field education. Finally, I authored a section on the “gifts of mountains to teaching and pedagogy” as an invited contributor to the Canadian Mountain Assessment, a peer-reviewed synthesis of Western and Indigenous knowledges.

2023

Chardon, N. I., Stone, P. Hilbert, C. Maclachlan, T. Ragsdale, B. Zhao, A. Goodwin, K. Collins, C. G. Hewitt, N. and C. Elphinstone. 2023. Species-specific responses to human trampling indicate alpine plant size is more sensitive than reproduction to disturbance. Plants 2 (17), 3040. doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12173040

Parlee, B.W. Pascal, A.A. Churchill, G. Desmarais, M. Dicker, E. Gavenus, M.S. Garces, N. Guo, J….N. Hewitt. 2023. Gifts of the Mountains. In The Canadian Mountain Assessment: Walking together to enhance understanding of mountains in Canada, edited by G. McDowell, M. Stevens S. Marshall et al., 179-235. Calgary: University of Calgary Press. Available here: https://ucp.manifoldapp.org/projects/9781773855103/resource-collection/download-the-pdf-by-chapter-30dc0adc-355f-40db-bc66-1d39f9c914e8/resource/chapter-4-gifts-of-the-mountains

2022

Hewitt, N. Wood, S. and B. Wilson. 2022. Ecosystem education with Augmented Reality: A flexible tool for in-field learning. Professional Geographer. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/00330124.2022.2134151

Ullah, R. Khan, N. Hewitt, N. Ali, K. Jones, D.A. and M.E.H. Khan. Invasive Species as Rivals: Invasive Potential and Distribution Pattern of Xanthium strumarium L. Sustainability 14: 7141. doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/su14127141

2021

Hewitt, N. 2021. Lab 10: BC Soils and Relationships to Vegetation and Climate. In Laboratory Manual for Introduction to Physical Geography, edited by S. MacKinnon and C. Welch. BC Campus Faculy Pressbooks.

Hewitt, N. 2021. Lab 12: Coastal Forest Virtual Field Trip. In Laboratory Manual for Introduction to Physical Geography, edited by S. MacKinnon and C. Welch. BC Campus Faculy Pressbooks.

2019

Hewitt, N., Larocque, G., Greene, D. and M. Kellman. 2019. A model of hardwood tree colonization among fragments: predicting migration across human-dominated landscapes. Ecoscience 26(1): 35-51. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/11956860.2018.1515596

Killam Teaching Prize, Faculty of Arts, University of British Columbia 2022-23.

Dean’s Award: Educational Leadership and Innovation Pilot Project, “Advancing UBC’s Interdisciplinary Climate Change Credential and Strengthening Teaching Networks among Arts and Science”, UBC Faculty of Arts. 2021-2022, https://www.arts.ubc.ca/news/deans-award-for-educational-leadership-supports-eight-new-pilot-projects-in-arts/