Our Team

Our team has a shared passion for preserving Canada’s biodiversity, and brings a wide range of experience and expertise to the organization.

Dr. Lance Woolaver

Dr. Lance Woolaver

Executive Director

Hazel Wheeler (they/them)*

Hazel Wheeler

Conservation Programs Director

Jonathan Choquette, PhD

Lead Biologist – Ojibway Prairie Reptile Recovery

Jane Spero

Jane Spero

Lead Biologist – Loggerhead Shrike Recovery

Andrea Gielens

Andrea Gielens

Lead Biologist – B.C. Programs

Taylor Kerekes

Lead Biologist – Native Pollinator Initiative



Helmi Hess

Biologist, Loggerhead Shrike Recovery

Stephanie Winton

Canadian Species Initiative Coordinator

Katie Zajac

Conservation Research Assistant

Kelly Schaus

Director of Development

Alex Bowman

Communications Coordinator

Hannah McCurdy-Adams (she/her)*

Hannah McCurdy-Adams

Reptile and Amphibian Program Development Coordinator

Jag Athwal

Assistant Biologist, Taylor’s Checkerspot Recovery



Seasonal Team and Alumni

For over 40 years, Wildlife Preservation Canada has been working to build this country’s conservation capacity by providing opportunities for young biologists to gain expertise in conservation work. Through our New Noah program and through summer student opportunities, we help to build on their educational background with hands-on conservation work experience.

You might recognize some of these faces as some of them chose to stay with WPC!

Corentin Fournier – Research Assistant, Ojibway Prairie Reptile Recovery Program

Andrea Fried  – Napanee Field Intern, Eastern Loggerhead Shrike Recovery Program (From classroom to conservation)

Rosie Heffernan – 33rd Canada’s New Noah (Meet Rosie Heffernan)

Jeremy Lambe  – Shrike Recovery Field Intern

Griffyn Leyshon – 2024 Crew Member, Mottled Duskywing Pinery Reintroduction Program at Pinery (Saving an Ontario butterfly)

Braelyn Smallwood – Bumble Bee Conservation Technician – Native Pollinator Initiative (a day in the life of endangered bumble conservation)

Lakesha Smith – Napanee Biologist, Eastern Loggerhead Shrike Recovery Program (My first month as an endangered species biologist)

Shannon Underwood – 2024 Crew Lead, Mottled Duskywing Pinery Reintroduction Program at Pinery

Elise Younie – Taylor’s Checkerspot Field Technician, Fraser Valley Wetlands Recovery Program

Metisse Arsenault – Habitat Enhancement Field Technician, Ojibway Prairie Reptile Recovery

Dolan Bohnert – 2023 Crew Member, Mottled Duskywing Pinery Reintroduction Program at Pinery

Sarah Falconer – 32nd Canada’s New Noah

Melissa Goodman – Conservation Programs Assistant, Fraser Valley Wetlands Recovery Program

Helmi Hess – Research Biologist, Eastern Loggerhead Shrike Recovery Program

Klara Jones – 2023 Crew Member, Mottled Duskywing Pinery Reintroduction Program at Pinery

Ameera Saleh – 2023 Crew Member, Mottled Duskywing Pinery Reintroduction Program at Pinery

Tyson Shank – Napanee Shrike Biologist, Eastern Loggerhead Shrike Recovery Program

Rajdeep Singh – Conservation Technician, Fraser Valley Wetlands Recovery Program

Cole Blair – Bumble Bee Parasite Research Technician, Bumble Bee Recovery Program

Stacey Evans – Bumble Bee Research and Outreach Volunteer, Bumble Bee Recovery Program

Jaclyn Franceschini – Species Conservation Planning Assistant, Canadian Species Initiative

Mitchell Gardiner – Technician, Fraser Valley Wetlands Recovery Program

Alexandra Israel

Alexandra Israel – Napanee Biologist, Eastern Loggerhead Shrike Recovery Program

Ethan Quenneville – Field Assistant, Mottled Duskywing Recovery 

Jessica Riach – Field Technician, Burrowing Owl Recovery

Ellen Richard – Bumble Bee Conservation Technician, Bumble Bee Recovery Program

Parker Smale – Lead Technician, Native Pollinator Initiative

Cory Trowbridge

Cory Trowbridge – Project Biologist, Ojibway Prairie Reptile Recovery

Ashlea Veldhoen – Carden Biologist, Eastern Loggerhead Shrike Recovery Program

Jodie Wiltse – Technician, Fraser Valley Wetlands Recovery Program

Nicole Derwitz – Conservation Research Assistant, Fraser Valley Wetlands Recovery Program

Alannah Lymburner – Eastern Ontario Contract Biologist, Eastern Loggerhead Shrike Recovery Program

Maja Hampson – Technician, Fraser Valley Wetlands Recovery Program

Tiffani Harrison

Tiffani Harrison – Ontario Program Coordinator, Bumble Bee Recovery Program

Board of Directors

© 2023 Wildlife Preservation Canada

Wildlife Preservation Canada
5420 Highway 6 North
Guelph, ON N1H 6J2

Toll free 1 (800) 956-6608
Phone 1 (519) 836-9314
admin@wildlifepreservation.ca

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Territory Acknowledgement

WPC is headquartered in Guelph, Ontario on the homelands of many nations, including the Anishinaabek, Neutral, Métis, Mississauga, and Haudenosaunee Confederacy, and on the treaty lands of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. We work across Turtle Island, and have deep gratitude to all the Indigenous Peoples who have been, and continue to be, stewards and protectors the lands on which we rely.

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89171 0535 RR0001