Institute of Island Studies presents lecture by Dr. Doug Sobey on September 16

The Institute of Island Studies’ Island Lecture Series will present an illustrated talk by Dr. Doug Sobey about the historical forest composition of PEI in the mid-1800s on September 16, 2025, at 7 pm, in the Faculty Lounge (Room 201), SDU Main Building, UPEI.

Sobey’s lecture is based on the survey books of Alexander Anderson (1795–1884), government surveyor for Prince County from the 1830s to the 1870s. Because many of Anderson’s survey lines, especially his road lines and township boundary lines, ran over land that had not yet been cleared of forest, his more than 2,700 forest descriptions are a valuable body of information on the composition of the Island’s pre-settlement forests, especially in the area west of Summerside.

Sobey’s analysis of the survey books resulted in the identification of 18 distinct pre-settlement forest types, most of which no longer occur in the region: nine are in “upland” habitats and nine in “lowland.” Upland refers to the region’s drier well-drained soils, and lowland to its imperfectly and its poorly drained soils. Sobey will reveal how the forest that Anderson encountered bears no comparison to the remnant degraded woodland of today.

Sobey has taught at various institutions in Northern Ireland for 30 years, including the University of Ulster. Eleven of his monographs on the present and historical forests of the Island have been published by the provincial government, along with historical papers in the Island Magazine. He co-authored a book on Samuel Holland’s 1765 survey of Prince Edward Island, and he contributed a chapter on the Island’s forest history to Time and a Place: An Environmental History of Prince Edward Island.

The lecture is free, and all are welcome. For more information, contact Bren Simmers at Island Studies Press, 902-566-0386, or ispstaff@upei.ca.