EquipmentLI-6800 – Portable Photosynthesis System

Dr Meike Holzenkaempfer is a Senior Technician in the University of Canterbury’s School of Forestry, supporting teaching, research, and field‑based learning across forest science, ecology, and environmental management. She provides advanced technical expertise in laboratory and field operations, sample processing, analytical workflows, and health and safety compliance, ensuring high‑quality and reliable outcomes for staff and students. Meike’s work underpins a wide range of forestry research activities, from wood science and forest ecology to environmental monitoring and applied field techniques.

I’m interested in understanding urban trees and the critical roles they play in cities around the world. The trees that comprise urban forests face considerable abiotic and biotic stress, but help to make cities liveable, providing residents with healthy, sustainable, and desirable places to live and work. To that end, I research the growth, function, management, and ecosystem services of trees in urban environments. I also lead the ‘New Zealand Urban Forest Initiative’, which connects researchers and urban forest stakeholders, such that new research can be used to inform best practices in urban forest management in New Zealand.

I also study the spatial and temporal dynamics of New Zealand’s indigenous forests and exotic forest plantations using a range of quantitative techniques. I work extensively with remote sensing or earth observation techniques, including lidar, as well as aerial and satellite imagery. In this capacity, I'm the co-Director of the ‘Forest Observation with Remote Sensing Technologies’ FOReST research group at the School of Forestry.