President's Message
Adam Sprout
President CSTWS
MSc Candidate, Department of Biology
University of Regina
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Greetings Fellow Wildlifers,
As we’ve moved through spring and now into summer, I’ve been excited to watch the return of wildlife as animals either come out of hibernation, or return from their winter migrations. It’s always about the little things with wildlife in my daily life for me. First, the birds began to migrate back north and as the leaves have begun to fill out on the trees so too have their songs begun to fill the air. Next, a few mammals, whether snowshoe hares and raccoons in the cities or deer and coyotes in the country begin to call. And squirrels, I swear there are
squirrels chattering everywhere I go. Next, I see the amphibians come out to lay their eggs and - if you live in the right parts of Canada – the reptiles who sunbathe late into the day. And not to mention, it’s the time when all the little young ones begin to leave the nest or burrow ... I don’t think it’s not possible not to smile when a gaggle of goslings waddle across the sidewalk in front of you.
I came across an interesting study recently showing how bird diversity is related to human happiness (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800920322084). Being a mammalogist by trade, I don’t see how this wouldn’t apply to all our critter-y friends, and I find it’s something that helps spot the little joys we take for granted. My neighbour has a feeder set up, and I’ve been impressed with the variety of birds that I now see stopping by our yards; I’ve needed a project for the past while, so I think I’ll look into setting up my own.
Society-wise, the big news is that we have been excited to launch our search for our new Executive Director. This is an engaging position with ample opportunity for growth with the Society and the Board are excited to put in place the next stages of our long-term plan. The competition closes at the end of the month, so if you are interested or know someone who may be, check out our job ad on workcabin: https://www.workcabin.ca/job/canadian-section-
of-the-wildlife-society-cstws-7-executive-director/
Have a safe, fun, and wild summer folks!
Regards,
Adam Sprott
President
Canadian Section of The Wildlife Society
“Seeing, in the finest and broadest sense, means using your senses, your intellect, and your emotions. It means encountering your subject matter with your whole being. It means looking beyond the labels of things and discovering the remarkable world around you.”
-- Freeman Patterson
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Canadian Representative to
TWS Council
Dr. Evelyn Merrill Ph.D., CWB®
CSTWS Representative to Council
Professor, Department of Biological Sciences
University of Alberta
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Summer is just about upon us, and I for one am so looking forward to getting out and about. Slowly but surely, we seem to be heading toward the end of the intense COVID period, and none too soon. I want to hug someone… so watchout!!
TWS Council will be having a virtual Special Meeting in early June to talk about current issues. On the agenda are approvals of renewals of position statements, DEI Strategic Plan, FY22 Operations Budget, and decisions for key new and continuing funding requests for the next year. I will provide updates in the next newsletter. As mentioned previously, TWS members will be asked to vote on Bylaw changes. Look for summaries of the changes in recent copies of the eWildlifer and The Wildlife Professional, in an accompanying document that will be sent to you and email me if you have questions (emerrill@ualberta.ca). On the publication side, soon-to-be announced are the two Associate Editors that are recognized each year for their long-term diligence to reviewing papers for TWS, an essential service key to keeping TWS’s peer review rigorous. Thanks to those who step up for this duty. Also, look for the new journal formats to take affect this fall. Most recently is the TWS’s new Webinar Series, with the first seminars organized by TWS working groups. Coming up soon are topics related to Molecular Ecology and Invasive Species.
We now have the first approved TWS student Chapter in Norway. They are a very active group and trying to find the means to attend the 35th International Union of Game Biologists (IUGB) Congress in August. The IUGB is an international, non-profit organization based in Switzerland that seeks to “promote the sustainable use of wildlife resources, stimulate research and technical cooperation in many areas in the world of conservation, promote awareness of wildlife values, and encourage the sharing of knowledge between allied scientific disciplines”. The group meets every other year. As with many other events, they are on the cusp of deciding on a virtual or in-person conference in Hungary on 21-24 September 2021. The topic is Wildlife Management in the Anthropocene (if interested see: http://www.cic-wildlife.org/2019/08/29/35th-iugb-congress-to-be-hosted-in-hungary-in-2021-29-august-2019/). TWS supports the conference, and President, Carol Chambers, will be providing a plenary talk, as I understand it.
A final reminder that The Wildlife Society’s 28th Annual Conference will be held virtually 1-5 November. The abstract submission deadline is past. There were more submissions this year than last in terms of symposia. The conference is a great place for wildlife students and professionals to meet with their colleagues, present their science and enhance their interdisciplinary skills. I want to highlight that each year Workshops are held with reduced prices for students. This year there is a broad range of topics from ebird workings, bat acoustics, continuous time movement modeling, how to speak forestry for wildlife biologists, and how to use of Google Earth more efficiently, among others. Pre-registration is required and this year they are virtual (see https://twsconference.org/workshops/). I am sure there is a Workshop for you!!
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Certification Committee
Don Barnes M.Sc., CWB®
Retired Lakehead University Thunder Bay ON
ON Representative CSTWS Certification Committee
Member CSTWS Education Committee
Member TWS Conservation Education Awards Committee
President-Elect OCTWS
Chair OCTWS Membership and Recruitment Committee
Email: CSTWSCertificationCommittee@gmail.com
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SCTWS Virtual Certification Workshop (May 13, 2021)
This one-hour virtual Certification Workshop began with my overview of TWS Certification from a Canadian perspective followed by a panel discussion and question and answer session. The panelists included:
- Adam Sprott, University of Regina MSc Candidate working on his AWB®, CSTWS Incoming President
- Sara Patterson AWB®, Lakehead University MSc Candidate
- Al Arsenault CWB®, CSTWS representative of the TWS Certification Review Board, member of Certification Committee
- Dan Chranowski CWB®, Member-at-Large, Certification Committee.
Despite some technical glitches, I feel that attendees were provided with the opportunity to learn more about TWS Certification.
Vacancies on the Certification Committee Membership
CSTWS Board Rep—Erin McCance stepped down from her role as CSTWS Board Representative because she is no longer the CSTWS Executive Director. I have approached the Board about selecting another member to take her place.
SK Chapter Liaison Officer—Adam Sprott stepped down from his SCTWS Liaison role when he took on the CSTWS Presidency. At their next June meeting, the SCTWS Executive will be seeking Adam’s replacement.
I would like to thank Erin and Adam for their contributions to the many initiatives undertaken by the Certification Committee over the past few years. They will be missed.
CRC Task Team Reaching out to Post-Secondary Institutions Across Canada—This team is made up of Dr. Everett Hanna (Lethbridge College), Dr. Rick Baydack (University of Manitoba) and Don Barnes (Chair, CSTWS Certification Committee). We are in the process of populating an ad hoc CSTWS Curriculum Review Committee. In designing the committee’s structure, we will be reaching out to 11 professors at select post-secondary institutions across Canada. The intent is to have them assess their respective courses and submit an AWB application to TWS Certification Review Board (CRB). To aid these targeted institutions, we have included 4 consultants from institutions who have had their respective curricula successfully approval by CRB i.e., Dr. Mike Gillingham (University of Northern British Columbia), Dr. Brian McLaren (Lakehead University), Dr. Everett Hanna, and Dr. Rick Baydack. The intent of the CRC is to assist more colleges and universities to meet TWS certification standards, thus allowing students to more easily pursue their AWB.
Ashlyn Herron’s Certification Committee Student Representative Update
Ashlyn has reached out to roughly half the student chapters listed on the CSTWS website and plans to give presentations to these chapters in the fall. She will continue to reach out to the remaining clubs, along with follow-ups to those she has not heard back from.
On April 8th, Ashlyn delivered a “zoom” presentation to 10 members of the UBC Vancouver Campus Chapter of TWS. I have seen a copy of an earlier PPT she gave to her Lethbridge College Student Chapter, and I was very impressed. I was happy to hear that her presentation was recorded and distributed to the UBC Vancouver Campus Chapter membership. From all reports, the students were interested in learning about AWB®/CWB® certification and were particularly interested in the mentorship program. In fact, her presentation resulted in one member being paired up with Dr. Wini Kessler. In my follow up conversation with Wini, she indicated that they had touched bases, and was very impressed with the student.
Once the CSTWS Board has chosen their Student Chapter Representative, Ashlyn will be poised to be a vital part of this student network. I see her as being instrumental in keeping student chapters informed as well as providing them with a means to have their concerns and ideas addressed by the Certification Committee. I feel this type of “go-between” function is necessary and crucial.
She has promised to provide more updates which I will share with all CSTWS members in the next newsletter.
On a personal note, I can say that our committee, CSTWS, and TWS are very fortunate to have such a motivated student member as Ashlyn Herron. Keep an eye on her; she is destined for greatness.
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Membership Committee
Merlin Shoesmith, Ph.D., CWB,
Retired, Manitoba Sustainable Development
Chair Membership Committee
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The Canadian Section of the Wildlife Society currently has 366 active members. The active membership
is made up of:
- 2 Family memberships
- 3 Honorary memberships
- 19 Retired memberships
- 223 Professional memberships
- 109 Student memberships
- 10 Other memberships
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Dear CSTWS Members,
We hope you are all staying healthy and enjoying the warm spring so far. In the last CSTWS newsletter, we highlighted our 2021 Ian McTaggart-Cowan award recipient, Dr. Ian Stirling. In this newsletter, we are excited to highlight another outstanding candidate, Don Barnes, who has received a 2021 TWS Fellows Award.
We hope that the summer season is filled with great adventures and wildlife for all. If anyone is interested in joining the CSTWS awards committee, please let us know by emailing cstws.awards@gmail.com. We are always looking to add more individuals to our team.
Wishing you all the best,
CSTWS Awards Committee
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TWS Fellows Award
The TWS Fellows Award recognizes individuals who have been TWS members for at least 10 years and have substantially contributed to advancing the wildlife profession through their actions. They are individuals who serve as ambassadors to The Wildlife Society on many levels, including engaging in various activities that benefit and promote TWS and the wildlife profession. This award is appointed for life.
The CSTWS Awards Committee is pleased to announce that Don Barnes has received a TWS Fellows Award this year. We truly believe that Don Barnes is an exceptional candidate for this award, for his many years of service to both TWS and the Canadian Section. Although Don has contributed to the wildlife profession in many ways, his contributions to the CSTWS Certification Committee are most notable. Don is always willing to discuss the certification process with anyone and has held several workshops at chapter and conference events, providing valuable information to all on becoming a certified wildlife biologist. Don is also actively involved in many other CSTWS committees and is the current president of the Ontario Chapter.
Thank you for your hard work and devotion to improving the wildlife profession.
Congratulations on this achievement!
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Conservation Affairs Committee
Chantal Maclean
Interim Chair of the Conservation Affairs Committee
MNRM Student
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The Conservation Affairs Committee (CAC), has been working on position statements regarding wild pigs in Canada and chronic wasting disease. Recently, the committee authored a letter to Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, regarding recent changes to the US Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Membership will be made aware of any responses we receive on this front through newsletter updates and social media. The committee is also working on obtaining representative membership across Canada. The weekly Conservation News continues to be produced from within the CAC, and has recently expanded to include a section specifically for climate change, following committee policy priorities.
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Alberta Chapter
With our annual conference behind us, we have turned our attention to our regular operations over the past couple of months. Here’s our brief update from Alberta:
- Our new strategic plan from 2021-2026 has been presented to our Executive Board and should be approved at our next board meeting in June. Once approved, it will be shared to our website and with our members.
- Our Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion committee has been working with our Executive Board to create a Terms of Reference. This ToR should be approved shortly. Our EDI Committee is also working with several corporate donations and creating programs to further EDI related programming for the chapter.
- Our Conservation Affairs Committee has been invited to participate on a caribou recovery task force for the Berland population in northern Alberta, has met with the Alberta Energy Regulator about coal mining approval and monitoring processes, and is discussion the possibility of presenting to the Coal Policy Committee as part of their public consultation process.
- Our first webinar in our Hot Topics series shared the latest grizzly bear population and behaviour research. It generated rich discussion and was well attended. Our next webinar will be a 2-part series sharing research describing the impact of coal mining on wildlife and the successes/challenges of reclamation. We’re still finalizing speakers, so if anyone has any recommendations, please email our Executive Director at execdirector@actws.ca.
- Our Education and Information committee is discussing the possibility of a “Wildlife Expo” in September.
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Manitoba Chapter
We have an exciting year planned for the Manitoba Chapter and I am so looking forward to accomplishing some great things with this executive boards. Our focus for this coming year is our membership. We want to find out what draws people to the Manitoba Chapter, what keeps them coming back and even what causes some members to drift away. We are working on a short survey to ask some of those questions and get feed back on what members may want to see more of.
We are also developing an expanded slate of awards to give more opportunities to recognize the important work of Manitoba wildlifers. We were so pleased to present the first new one to Don Sexton recognizing his decade of service to the Chapter at our AGM this spring.
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Ontario Chapter
Since the joint CSTWS-OCTWS AGM and Conference, we have reached out to the Lakehead University and Trent University Student Chapters and asked them to select one of their members to be part of the OCTWS Executive. Our efforts were rewarded as the Lakehead University Student Chapter assigned Brian Hardy-Cooper to be their representative. In his role as Student Chapter Representative, he will provide a value connection between the LU Student Chapter and the OCTWS Executive. Efforts are ongoing to obtain a representative from the Trent University.
Over the past year, the executive has been working hard to develop a Terms of Reference (ToR) for each of our seven standing committees i.e., Ontario Conservation Affairs, Nomination & Election, Audit, Awards, Annual Meeting, Membership & Recruitment, and Education & Information—. I am please to report that at our May meeting, our Executive approved these ToR. We are now in the process of reaching out to OCTWS membership to populate these committees. At our upcoming June meeting, we will be fine-tuning how best to store these important documents, so they are accessible to our membership. Anyone interesting to participating on these committee, please contact me, dmbarnes@lakeheadu.ca.
In addition, the OCTWS Executive is pleased to see the CSTWS Membership Committee is expanding their executive to include representatives from all Canadian provincial and student chapters. Currently, Don Barnes, OCTWS President and Chair of OCTWS Recruitment and Membership Committee, is the ON representative on the Membership Committee. Further, the OCTWS is looking for someone to represent OCTWS on the CSTWS Conservation Affairs Committee. Again, if you are interested contact me at the email address given above.
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Canadian Wildlife Pioneers 2021
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Four new Canadian Wildlife Pioneers were announced at this years AGM. This newsletter will be featuring one of the new pioneers each issue! If you want to know more check out the CSTWS website here.
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Nicholas (Nick) Stephen Novakowski is credited with the discovery of the Wood Bison as a discrete subspecies. He was also directly involved in the early period of monitoring the endangered flock of whooping cranes on their nesting grounds. Later on as a staff specialist of mammalogy at Canadian Wildlife Service headquarters in Ottawa, he became well known for his early work on species at risk both in Canada and internationally through CITES.
Nick was born on November 28, 1925, in Mundare, Alberta as the second child and eldest son in a family of 10 children. One of his quirks was to drive only Chrysler vehicles throughout his lifetime, partially because his father owned a Chrysler dealership. He was also well known for his hockey playing in central Alberta along with two brothers, Archie and Van. He was also a very good baseball player.
Nick received a BSc in Chemistry from the University of Alberta in 1950. He began an MSc program the following year in William Fuller’s Zoology Department and followed Fuller to Wood Buffalo National Park as an assistant to conduct research on wolves and beaver. In 1952, however, Fuller recommended that he transfer to the University of Saskatchewan where he completed his Masters on fish stocks in Reindeer Lake. He received his PhD at the University of Saskatchewan on the population dynamics of beaver at northern latitudes in 1965.
Dr. Novakowski continued to work closely with Bill Fuller and Don Flook during his graduate studies and after on bison, wolves, whooping cranes, beaver and northern fish stocks in the Yukon, Wood Buffalo National Park and the Keewatin District of NWT. In 1957 during aerial surveys, he discovered an isolated herd of Wood Bison in the Nyarling River area. Over 70 live specimens were trapped and tested for tuberculosis and brucellosis. Of these, 18 were disease free and transferred to a holding facility northwest of Fort Smith. Later, three calves were born to this group and all were retested and found to be disease free proving that they were distinct from the plains/wood bison hybrids found in other parts of Wood Buffalo National Park. Nick also was the first biologist to use dental annuli to estimate the age of bison and other dental measurements in aging large samples. In 1962, anthrax struck the Bison population near Wood Buffalo and Nick described the first instance of this disease in Canada.
Following the discovery of the whooping crane nesting grounds in Wood Buffalo, Nick worked with Bill Fuller and others to monitor nesting success in the mid 1950s and 1960s. In 1964, he was responsible for capturing and transporting an injured juvenile whooper to a captive breeding facility in the United States near Washington D.C. This male named “Canus” to denote its dual nationality, sired over 180 whooping cranes in captivity before it died in January 2003.
From the 1970s to the end of his career in 1983, Nick Novakowski became the lead Canadian scientist on species at risk. He helped John Heppes establish the scientific and management authorities for CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna) in Canada. In 1977, Nick was also instrumental in establishing COSEWIC (Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada). Upon his retirement in 1983, he became a scientific consultant on a wide range of topics from fish to caribou to fur-bearers.
Nick died on July 3, 2004, in Ottawa. He and his wife, Amy, a school teacher from Fort Smith, had two sons, Kent, a professor in hydrogeology and environmental engineering at Queens University and Erin Nicholas, a professor of geography and environmental studies at Memorial University.
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Interested in learning more about conservation and land management challenges in Canada?
We encourage you to check out the Canadian Conservation and Land Management (CCLM) Knowledge Portal website. The CCLM website is divided up into 3 main sub portals: Caribou, Wetland Knowledge and Land Management! The site will certainly be a valuable source of information for all.
We encourage you to check out the website HERE.
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Saskatchewan spring birding
Photographed by Jackie Mertler
Can you identify all species? Answers at the bottom.
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Freak of Nature
By Suzanne Patricia Joyce
Bewitched am I, this my ordeal
My enchantment I cannot conceal
My eyes, my ears, no longer mine
My soul possessed by force divine
Oh Spirit, what will you reveal?
The beauty cast by dawn’s soft light
A swallow’s acrobatic flight...
I cannot tear my eyes away
Resplendence begs my gaze to stay
Why have you usurped my sight?
My ears won’t cease their listening game
Each creature seems to call my name
Their conversations overheard
I understand them word for word
Will my hearing ever be the same?
Sweet poplar leaves, mid-summer’s refrain
The subtle scent of coming rain
With each inhale, a portrait drawn
The transcendental jinx goes on
Will my senses be my own again?
Each flit of feathers in the wood
a friend within my neighbourhood
I shout out greetings out of habit
(give thanks to bumblebees while I’m at it)
But will my voice be understood?
A chickadee fledgling in my hand
Cloud shadows sail across the land
I tarry as the milk vetch climb
Spirit, how have you arrested time?
The hours are now in your command.
All eggs and nestlings now my wards
Rare and common, all adored
Unlikely guardian, protect I vow
My heart belongs to nature now
Will my old self ever be restored?
From beneath this spell will I be thrust
Or linger here, my fate entrust?
I’ll stay here if it’s up to me and
ponder how different things could be
if this Spirit lived in all of us.
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Wildlife Job Board and Opportunities
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Northeast Wildlife Biologist: Agriculture and Resource Development Wildlife, Fisheries and Resource Enforcement, Ecosystem Management Division. Thompson and The Pas, Manitoba. Deadline June 17th. More information here: https://jobsearch.gov.mb.ca/search.action
Post Doctoral position in Caribou Disease Ecology: We are recruiting a postdoctoral fellow (PDF) to bridge Traditional and scientific knowledge (TK and SK respectively) using advanced ecological modeling (Integral Projection and Integrated Population Models [IPM]) to understand and quantify the role of disease in caribou population dynamics. Arctic Wildlife Health research group at University of Calgary. Position to be filled for September 2021. To apply email a letter of introduction describing your research interests, experience, and motivation for applying to this position, as well as a current CV, a copy of transcripts, and 3 references to: Dr. Susan Kutz, skutz@ucalgary.ca, Ph: 403 210-3824.
Post-doctoral fellow in disease ecology to work with research team developing spatial harvest models for CWD in Alberta. Must have experience in wildlife population modeling and quantitative skills in GIS/spatial analyses, and demonstrated experience in working well in collaborations. See full job description on https://grad.biology.ualberta.ca/merrill/.
Post-doctoral Researcher in Quantitative Ecology: University of Minnesota. To apply: Applications must be submitted online via the University of Minnesota’s Employment website ( https://humanresources.umn.edu/content/find-job). Search for job ID 341214. You will be required to submit (1) a cover letter outlining your research interests, qualifications for the position, and long-term career goals; (2) a CV; and (3) contact information for 3 references.
Technical Advisor: Cambridge Bay, Nunavut. A Technical Advisor is responsible for implementing pre-development impact assessments and
monitoring programs for approved projects in the Nunavut Settlement Area. More information here: https://www.nirb.ca/careers
Executive Director, Canadian Section of the Wildlife Society: Application deadline on June 30th 2020. More details here:
https://www.workcabin.ca/job/canadian-section-of-the-wildlife-society-cstws-7-executive-director/
MSc / PHD position: Great-horned Owl habitat selection, reproductive success, and diet in prairie Canada. University of Regina, Saskatchewan. To apply for this position, please email a copy of your resume/CV, a short cover letter detailing previous experience and why you want to be considered for this position, and transcripts to Ryan Fisher ( ryan.fisher@gov.sk.ca). Deadline is June 25th, with expected start in September 2021/January 2022.
... and Many More!
Please check out our Facebook page and website for frequent job postings
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