Reinforcements have arrived!
Over 1200 Taylor’s checkerspot caterpillars have been released into habitat on Hornby Island to return endangered butterflies to historic habitat. Another year of conservation breeding our Taylor’s checkerspot butterflies has reached the most exciting step –...
Collaborating to save at risk snakes
📷 credits: Joe Crowley In March, the Canadian Species Initiative (CSI), co-founded by WPC and African Lion Safari, in partnership with the IUCN Species Survival Commission Conservation Planning Specialist Group successfully hosted their first integrated species...
Breeding season science
The goal of conservation breeding is to breed animals in controlled environments for the purpose of releasing them back into the wild. When it comes to breeding animals in captivity, there are usually difficulties and issues. These challenges can be the result of many...
A loggerhead shrike or a northern shrike? How to tell the difference.
In case you missed our story on Instagram last week, the Loggerhead Shrike team was out in full force last Wednesday to follow up on a report of a returning loggerhead shrike! Eastern loggerhead shrikes are among the first migratory songbirds to return to their...
Mask up!
Our friends at Maskcott.ca have developed masks based upon WPC endangered species recovery programs, past and present. A portion of the proceeds from the purchase of these masks will be donated to WPC. Swift Fox Loggerhead shrike Massasauga rattlesnake Burrowing owl...
Helliwell Provincial Park – native habitat for endangered butterflies
There are only two places in Canada where the Taylor’s checkerspot butterfly (TCB) persists in the wild. Last spring (2020), caterpillars of this species were released by WPC into Helliwell Provincial Park on Hornby Island in BC for the first time, with the goal of...
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Jonathan Choquette
Lead Biologist – Ojibway Prairie Reptile Recovery Program
Jonathan manages the recovery program for the Ojibway population of the massasauga rattlesnake in Southern Ontario. Jonathan is a habitat expert, studying both biology and landscape architecture at the University of Guelph. As an academic for many years, Jonathan has published numerous articles about the importance of habitat for reptiles and amphibians.

Sarah MacKell
Lead Biologist – Native Pollinator Initiative
Sarah manages the native pollinator recovery programs across Canada. She is a native bee specialist, with an educational background in ecology and environmental science. Sarah is finishing up her MSc at York University, where she focused on native bee conservation in southern Ontario.

Andrea Gielens
Lead Biologist – Fraser Valley Wetland Recovery Program
Andrea manages our captive breeding and release programs for the Oregon spotted frog and the coastal western painted turtle. Andrea has studied at-risk reptiles and amphibians in Canada and abroad, including a term at the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust in Jersey. Andrea also manages the Taylor’s checkerspot butterfly recovery program on Denman Island in BC.

Jane Spero (Hudecki), M.Sc.
Conservation Breeding Coordinator – Eastern Loggerhead Shrike Program
Jane holds a Master’s degree in Animal Biosciences from the University of Guelph, where she studied building collision injuries in migratory songbird species. Jane worked as a rehabilitation supervisor, where she was responsible for the care, treatment, and reintroduction of injured and orphaned wildlife, including many species at risk.

Hannah McCurdy-Adams (she/her)*
Reptile and Amphibian Program Development Coordinator
Hannah is developing the national reptile and amphibian initiative for Wildife Preservation Canada. She has worked with experts in the fields of road ecology, physiology, and genetics. Hannah has been involved in conservation projects for at-risk reptiles and amphibians in Canada for almost a decade.
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Stephanie Winton
Canada’s New Noah and Species Conservation Planning Assistant – Canadian Species Initiative
Stephanie is the 31st Canada’s New Noah and is currently assisting the Canadian Species Initiative to build capacity for species conservation planning in Canada. Stephanie holds a master’s degree in conservation biology from Thompson Rivers University where she studied the impacts of road mortality on a threatened rattlesnake species. She has extensive experience working in conservation and research for species at risk reptiles, amphibians, mammals and birds in Western Canada.

Hazel Wheeler (she/her)*
Lead Biologist – Eastern Loggerhead Shrike Recovery Program
Hazel manages all aspects of our shrike recovery program, from captive breeding and release, field surveys, and landowner relationships in Ontario, to building partnerships with shrike researchers in the US to work towards species recovery throughout North America. Hazel has been working with at-risk birds for over a decade, including a Master’s degree studying the habitat of the chimney swift.
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Michelle Polley
Endangered Species Techician – Taylor’s Checkerspot Butterfly
Michelle is a Conservation Biologist and Field Naturalist with a special interest in Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) and Herpetiles (reptiles and amphibians). Currently, she is the technician of WPC’s Taylor’s Checkerspot Butterfly program in Abbotsford, BC. She has worked with conservation projects for species at risk such as monarch butterflies and the turtles of Ontario.