Introducing GSC’s 2026-27 Student Intern, Jasmine Eisener

By Shiao Chong, Associate Director & Jasmine Eisener, Student Intern

Jasmine Eisener is an undergraduate student at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, British Columbia. Jasmine is in her final year of a Bachelor of Science in Forest Operations, majoring in Harvest Planning and Engineering. 

Born in Nova Scotia, Jasmine grew up in Barrhead, Alberta where her family moved when she was three years old. Apparently, Barrhead has more cows than people! Jasmine grew up loving the outdoors, God’s creation, from building snow forts in the winter to adventuring through the neighbourhood woods in warmer weather. She often spends summers, along with her sister, in Nova Scotia at her grandparents’ home. Jasmine loved playing sports throughout high school, and competed in running races.

Jasmine grew up going to church with her family every Sunday. She accepted Jesus as her saviour at age 6, but, according to her, it wasn’t until she was in grade 10 that she made her faith her own without her parents’ promptings. Eventually, Jasmine was baptized at 18. 

As the oldest of three kids, leadership skills came naturally to Jasmine. After grade 6, she served as a club leader in the local Awana program, a Christian discipleship program for children and youth, for 6 years, at both the K-grade 2 and later grade 3-6 levels. She volunteered as a Sunday School teacher at her church, and helped out in her church’s media team. She also led her local Girl Guides club, helped initiate the school board to renovate the school gym and led her public school’s bible study group for two years.

Now at UBC, she co-founded the BC Next Gen Forestry Conference, which will take place in February 2027. This initiative was created to connect students and early-career professionals from across BC’s diverse forestry disciplines to share perspectives, challenge assumptions, and inspire new ideas that drive innovation within the sector. This year, Jasmine also serves as the undergraduate representative on the hiring committee for a Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) position within UBC’s Faculty of Forestry and Environmental Stewardship. 

Jasmine sort of stumbled into Forestry after her first year at UBC. In high school, Math and Science came naturally to Jasmine and she logically pursued Math and Physics in her first year at UBC. But when it came time to choose a specific major, Jasmine was drawn to the Forest Operations program. It had the balance between the technical side of forestry and the opportunity to also pursue civil engineering at the same time. It meant that she could combine her love for Math and Physics with her love for God’s creation in a way that can contribute to the environment and society. 

Through her studies, Jasmine learned that forestry exists at the intersection of environmental stewardship, economic development, shifting societal values, and complex policy decisions. It was exciting for her to see the complexities of decisions and the importance of stewarding the forests well. Jasmine earned recognition on either the Dean’s List or as a Dean’s Scholar in each of the past three academic years.

One highlight of her university experience was her 2025 summer internship in northern Finland, working for Mëstahallitus. Through this Finnish Forestry company, Jasmine was able to witness the dynamic processes involved in carrying out sustainable forestry practices throughout the northern part of the country. She was able to participate in prescribed fires, planning harvest schedules, and even some tree planting. One of her favourite memories that summer was getting to participate in one of the community reindeer herding! You can read more of her experience at UBC’s website. 

Jasmine heard about GSC from one of her UBC mentors, Jaclyn Dee, whom she met at a Science and Faith group. Jaclyn heard of GSC and suggested Jasmine to enquire about an internship. Since Jasmine has experienced spiritual growth through the mentors in her life, she was drawn to how GSC’s scholars similarly mentor students all around the world. 

Jasmine’s GSC project is to identify, interview and write up stories of students influenced by GSC scholars. Watch for Jasmine’s stories on our website. 

One thing she has learnt so far was how committed the GSC professors are to their students. From the interviews she has conducted, it was clear to Jasmine that the relationships the students had with their GSC professors went beyond the classroom, extending into their personal lives. “I have been moved by the way these professors go beyond just their vocational obligations and truly disciple, mentor and walk in friendship with their students,” said Jasmine. “Seeing the kind of mentorship that crosses cultural and language barriers and even national borders inspires me to be this kind of mentor as I continue to grow up.”

After graduation, Jasmine hopes to pursue both the Registered Professional Forester and Professional Engineer designations in BC. Her long term hope is to use her education to help communities steward their natural resources with sustainable practices that benefit their economy as well as their environment and society. She also hopes to travel around the world someday, to learn how other countries and communities steward their forests, and eventually to teach others how to do the same.

One of Jasmine’s favourite Bible verses is Zephaniah 3:17, “The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.” (NIV 2011) In her words, “over the past few years [this verse] has led me deeper into Jesus’ love for me as he comforts me and delights over me as I continue to bravely step into my calling not only in my career but also as a beloved daughter.”