BIODIVERSITY PATHWAYS - Key Persons
We work at broad spatial and temporal scales, bringing a big-picture approach to monitoring ecological systems. We develop and implement large-scale programs to fill knowledge gaps and address high-priority questions. Our work occurs at local, regional, and national levels.
Job Titles:
- Co - Director, Wildlife Science Centre / Associate Professor, University of British Columbia - Okanagan
Adam an Associate Professor and the Canadian Research Chair in Wildlife Restoration Ecology at UBC-Okanagan. His research group, the Wildlife Restoration Ecology (WiRE) Lab, works to restore important relationships in nature's food webs, including those between people and wildlife. Some of his group's research includes studies involving mule deer, caribou, moose, Roosevelt elk, mountain goats, wolf, bighorn sheep, bison, cougars, boreal caribou, and wolves, as well as studies on bear and human interactions, chronic wasting disease modelling, and policy analysis and numerous other studies with the federal and regional governments.
Job Titles:
- Co - Director
- Director
- Director, SENSR / Professor, University of Alberta
Dr. Erin Bayne is the Director of the Bioacoustic Unit, Co-Director of the ABMI's Science Centre, a steering committee member for the Boreal Avian Modelling Project, and a Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Alberta. Dr. Bayne's research combines ecology with cutting-edge techniques in wildlife monitoring, survey design, geographic information systems (GIS), and habitat modelling to support the development and maintenance of WildTrax.
Job Titles:
- Director, Human Footprint Mapping in British Columbia / Professor, University of Northern British Columbia
Job Titles:
- Co - Director, Wildlife Science Centre
Dr. Rob Serrouya's main research focus has been to test recovery options for caribou and other species by implementing broad-scale adaptive management experiments. He has worked as a large mammal ecologist in Alberta and British Columbia for 20 years. He specializes on broad-scale processes, particularly how forestry and energy extraction affect trophic interactions within ecosystems that, until recently, had little early seral vegetation. He currently works on boreal and mountain ecotypes of woodland caribou, and focuses on how the changing dynamics of other herbivores (moose and deer) and carnivores (bears, wolves, and cougars) affect the survival of caribou.
Jeff Mycock, RPF, is the Chief Forester of West Fraser's BC Operations. Jeff graduated in 1994 with a forestry technical diploma from Selkirk College in Castlegar, and later completed the ABCFP forest pupil program and became an RPF in 2006.
Jeff started his forestry career in the central Cariboo in the early 1990s and then moved to Cranbrook for six career-forming years with a progressive forest consulting firm in natural resource management. Jeff spent 20 years as a field forester working across a variety of disciplines including silviculture, operations, and forest planning. Jeff is passionate and optimistic about the challenges the forest sector faces in striving for sustainable forest management to meet the demands of society within the shifting capacities of our ecosystems in a changing climate. Jeff is a strong advocate of sustainable economic development balanced with sustainable forest resource management. Spending many years in operational programs with boots on the ground, working with First Nations, and a cross section of resource stakeholders and other qualified professionals has given Jeff a broad perspective with unique and articulate linkages between policy and practice.
John Kolk is married to Laura and operates an irrigation and dry land farm in southern Alberta. They are blessed with four children, four grandchildren and live near Picture Butte, Alberta. Together they built and are living in an energyPlus home (straw bale, adobe flooring, rainwater collection, grey water recycling, solar water heating, wind and solar electric production, habitat project with Lethbridge Northern Irrigation District, Pheasants Forever, DU).
John has served on many boards including the Alberta Water Council (AWC) and Alberta Economic Development Authority (AEDA). He is Founding Chair of the Alberta Environmental Farm Plan Company (AEFP) and County Councillor for the County of Lethbridge. He currently serves on the Agricultural Products Marketing Council.
Job Titles:
- Vice - Chair
- Manager of Land
Krista Phillips is the Manager of Land and Biodiversity at the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP). Krista joined CAPP in 2007, originally focused on air quality and climate change policy. Her current role as the lead for the industry association on land-use policy and planning and biodiversity conservation offers her a unique perspective on Biodiversity Pathways' value.
Krista came to CAPP - and Calgary - from Vancouver, where she was studying environment-energy policy and land use planning at Resource and Environmental Management at Simon Fraser University. Her career started at Imperial in Toronto after having completed a degree in Industrial Engineering at University of Toronto.
Living in Calgary, Krista fills her free time exploring the wilderness with her husband and two young children. She has also participated on local Calgary boards, focusing on building communities, increasing active transportation opportunities and infrastructure, and childcare programming.
Naomi Owens-Beek comes from the community of Moberly Lake, BC; she is a proud Cree, Dunne-Za, Treaty 8 and Canadian woman from the Saulteau First Nations (SFN) and is the honored mother of Spencer Ron Beek. She belongs to the Napoleon Family of SFN. She graduated from the Nicola Valley Institute of Technology and received a diploma in Natural Resources in 1999. She then completed her Bachelor of Science from the University of Victoria, majoring in Biology (2008) and registered to the College of Applied Biology (2009) and is a Registered Professional Biologist as of 2019. Naomi is currently the Treaty Rights and Environmental Protection (TREP) Manager for the Saulteau First Nations. She sits on the Board of Directors for the Twin Sisters Native Plant Nursery, Biodiversity Pathways, is a Society Director for the Nîkanêse Wah tzee Stewardship Society, a Board Member for the Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program, a Council Member of the Minister's Wildlife Advisory Council, and is a part of the First Nations-BC Wildlife and Habitat Conservation Forum.
Naomi's long-term goal is to make connections between biology's western science and First Nations values of the landscape. She holds high regard for the rights and Spirit and Intent of the Treaty 8 Nations.
Job Titles:
- Administrative Coordinator
- Finance
Job Titles:
- Director
- Vice President, Research and Innovation at the University of Northern British Columbia
Paula is the Vice President, Research and Innovation at the University of Northern British Columbia, and has been in that role since July 2023. She earned both a Ph.D. and an M.Eng. in Chemical Engineering from McGill University. She completed her undergraduate work at the University of Alberta and is a well-known scientist and expert in applied polymer science. Prior to her role at UNBC, she was at Concordia University, where she served in roles such as interim vice-president of research and graduate studies, dean of graduate studies, and graduate program director of mechanical and industrial engineering.
Job Titles:
- Chairman
- Senior Director of Conservation
Shira Mulloy is the Senior Director of Conservation, Alberta with the Nature Conservancy of Canada. Shira is responsible for new land securements, and management of the existing land portfolio. She is interested in the intersection of nature, energy, sustainability, and organizational action, and has experience in multiple sectors-NGO, energy, industry associations, and environmental and management consulting.