Kurt Niquidet joined COFI as Vice President and Chief Economist in May 2019.  He also is currently an adjunct professor in the Faculty of Forestry at UBC. Kurt was born in Williams Lake, British Columbia.  He holds a bachelor’s degree in forestry from UBC, a master’s degree in economics from the University of Victoria and a Ph.D. from the University of Groningen. 

Prior to COFI, Kurt was at the Bank of Canada in Ottawa, where he was a Director within the International Economic Analysis Department responsible for global commodities and emerging markets.  Kurt also spend several years as part of the Canadian Forest Service, leading a team of research economists, and lectured in Forest Economics at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand. He started his career as a forester for Makah Tribal Council in Washington state, and has consulted with forestry-related private and public organizations in B.C.

Kurt has published economic papers on several topics ranging from bio-energy, forest tenure reform, timber auctions and international trade.  

At COFI, Kurt is responsible for economic studies, financial analysis of policy options, timber pricing, carbon modelling and other projects.