Frog water for breakfast!
Spring has sprung and that means that in British Columbia the Oregon spotted frogs are waking up from their hibernation. Here at the Fraser Valley recovery program, over 100 Oregon spotted frogs spent the winter comfortably resting at the base of large tubs at the...
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Raising for Release
Raising for Release: a Guide to Growing Wild By Lisa Horn In our daily lives, jumping into things without proper preparation might leave us kicking ourselves for not planning ahead. You can have all the equipment you need for a successful camping trip, but...
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To sting, or not to sting?
To sting, or not to sting? Well, that depends on a few different things… At the Native Pollinator Initiative, we are often asked if bumble bees can sting, and if they really do die after stinging you. We’d like to take this opportunity to answer some of the more...
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Good Fences Make Great Neighbours!
The Ojibway Prairie Complex and Greater Park Ecosystem is home to a small population of eastern massasauga rattlesnakes. These rattlesnakes and other at risk snakes in the area are threatened by residential development, habitat fragmentation, road mortality, and...
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They’re Back!
Yesterday was packed with excitement- in the early afternoon of Tuesday, April 9th we received a call from a citizen scientist with the first confirmed 2019 sighting of a loggerhead shrike in Ontario! The individual was spotted near our Napanee release...
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An M.Sc of “What are you doing?”
When I first started working for Wildlife Preservation Canada it was as an assistant to the Lead Biologist for the Fraser Valley Wetlands Wildlife program, Andrea Gielens. Andrea has been working with reptiles and amphibians for fourteen years and I knew she would be...
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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.
Maja Hampson
Acting Lead Biologist – Fraser Valley Wetlands Program
Maja focused her career and Master’s thesis on captive wildlife, specifically big cats in captivity, until Andrea Gielens brought her over to the world of reptiles and amphibians. While Andrea is on leave, Maja will be leading the Oregon spotted frog, Western painted turtle and Taylor’s checkerspot butterfly recovery programs.
Genevieve Rowe
Lead Biologist – Native Pollinator Initiative
Genevieve manages the native pollinator recovery programs across Canada. She has worked with renowned experts in the fields of pollinator ecology, taxonomy and systematics, and has taken part in various species at-risk monitoring and recovery programs, both nationally and internationally.
Hazel Wheeler
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.
Jane Hudecki
Conservation Breeding Coordinator – Eastern Loggerhead Shrike Program
Hannah McCurdy-Adams
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.
Jennifer Barden
Lead Reptile Recovery Technician – Ojibway Prairie Reptile Recovery
After living in Southern Ontario for most of her life, Jennifer moved to British Columbia and had the opportunity to work with the northern pacific rattlesnake in the South Okanagan, BC. This year she is back in Ontario working with the eastern massasauga rattlesnake as part of the OPRREC field team.
Liam Graham
Regional Field Biologist – Native Pollinator Initiative
Liam started with Wildlife Preservation Canada in 2016 raising yellow-banded bumble bee colonies in the lab, and was immediately hooked. This spring Liam became the Regional Field Biologist for Sudbury and the surrounding area, conducting bumble bee surveys and looking for yellow-banded bumble bee queens for our conservation breeding program. I’m looking forward to spending some time with the bees in their natural habitat!
Michelle MacKenzie
Endangered Species Technician – Fraser Valley Wetlands Wildlife, Taylor’s Checkerspot Butterfly Recovery
Michelle was born and raised in Alberta where she graduated from the University of Calgary with a bachelor’s degree in Zoology. She recently made the move to BC to continue to pursue her dream of being a conservation biologist. She is very excited to be working on the Fraser Valley wetlands wildlife recovery team as well as with the native pollinators team.
Hayley Tompkins
Ontario Program Biologist – Native Pollinator Initiative
Hayley has worked for the Native Pollinator Initiative in a variety of roles since 2016, and has had a passion for bumble bees ever since. She is currently pursuing a Master of Science degree at the University of Guelph, studying the nesting ecology of bumble bees in Ontario.
Andrea Gielens
(On leave) 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.