The boreal region of Alberta contains extensive disturbances from natural resource extraction. Roads, well pads, seismic lines (petroleum-exploration corridors), forest-harvest areas, and other elements of human footprint exert cumulative environmental effects that influence vegetation communities, wildlife, hydrology, and carbon dynamics. The Boreal Ecosystem Recovery and Assessment (BERA) project is a multi-sectoral research partnership of academic institutions, private-sector companies, a public-sector division, and a not-for-profit organization. Our central goal is to understand the effects of industrial disturbance on natural ecosystem dynamics in the boreal forest, and to develop strategies for restoring disturbed landscapes in a system that is under pressure from climate change.