As the Upper Columbia Program Manager for Y2Y, Nadine Raynolds’ conservation focus is on the North Purcell and North-Central Selkirk ranges of the Columbia Mountains where, over and above climate change, threats include forestry impacts from logging and road building, substantial loss of old growth, as well as adventure tourism and recreation.
The Wildlife Conservation Society of Canada (WCS) is heading up the process of identifying Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) across Canada, and Cranbrook-based wildlife biologist Ian Adams is leading the charge in British Columbia. Since Ian joined WCS as the BC Regional Coordinator for KBAs last June, his days have been spent locating and identifying sites where various species meet the KBA criteria, which he describes as “a very data hungry process”.
A councillor with the Shuswap Band, the Chair of the Columbia River Salmon Reintroduction Initiative (CRSRI) Executive Working Group, and the Technical Lead for the Secwepemc Nation in the ongoing Columbia River Treaty negotiations, Mark has spent the majority of his 20 plus-year fisheries career focused on salmon restoration.
The incredible on-the-ground conservation action taking place through KCP's Kootenay Connect project could not have happened without the support and guidance of Ivy Whitehorne. A Conservation Coordinator for Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Canadian Wildlife Service, Ivy coordinates and delivers the Community-Nominated Priority Places program for Species at Risk in B.C.
For many kids in the Kootenays, becoming a biologist might seem like a dream job, especially if it allows them to live and work in the beloved area where they grew up. This was the case for Jakob Dulisse, a wildlife biologist based in Nelson.
As the Program Manager of the Living Lakes Canada Columbia Basin Groundwater Monitoring Program, Carol is on the front line of “making the invisible visible”, which is the theme of this year’s groundwater-focused World Water Day on March 22.
Though she’s the organizing force behind CMI’s success, Hailey Ross isn’t a biologist herself. With an honours Bachelor of Arts in International Development Studies and Social Anthropology, and a Master of Environmental Studies, both from Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, she describes her background as rooted in the social sciences.
An extensive corporate background combined with a passion for nature is the unique combination that Wendy King brings to the Slocan Lake Stewardship Society.
Searching for rare species is not your typical day job, but over the past two years ecologists Ryan Durand and Tyson Ehlers have had the opportunity to do just that in the Bonanza Biodiversity Corridor (BBC) in the north Slocan Valley, where they have recorded over 1,000 species, some of which have never before been identified in B.C. or Canada.
When we think of Kootenay wildlife, it’s usually the iconic land mammals such as grizzlies and elk that immediately come to mind. Small, sleek amphibians tend not to have the same popular appeal, however these cold-blooded vertebrates face many of the same challenges and risks that other wildlife do — if not more, since they depend on both aquatic and terrestrial habitats. This couldn’t be more true than for the endangered Northern Leopard Frog.
