INTRODUCTION

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My primary interest is in herpetology, but more broadly I am interested in questions related to spatial patterns of animal distributions and how the philosophy of science relates to methods of inquiry in ecology. It is my belief and understanding that effective conservation and management decisions can only be achieved by being reciprocally informed through science. Evidence-based management decisions will be more effective than doing what might be guessed to be the right approach. However, as a professional biologist I also understand the importance of working with and receiving the support and input from others, including policy makers, other academics, the public, and indigenous peoples.

 

Effective science cannot be accomplished in isolation and the role of an extended community of support may be even more important for conservation science to be effective. On this front, First Nations inputs, involvement, and partnerships are critically important for achieving conservation action. I am interested in First Nations roles in natural resource management, the history of indigenous peoples relations with amphibians and nature more generally, and I regularly meet with and communicate with indigenous members in the communities where I work.

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I have managed several projects in northern BC on amphibian populations since completing my graduate degrees. My desktop skill sets include the integration of QGIS and r-stats analysis. I'm familiar with various packages applicable to ecological science (e.g., rstats packages: unmarked, maxnet, etc) and using remote sensing data (e.g., Landsat-8, Sentinel-2, etc.). Some of my recent effort have been centered on the topic of occupancy and spatial ecological patterns of amphibians in relation to the environmental context.

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Methods must be developed to improve how we manage our natural resources and the effect of land development and resource extraction on amphibians. Amphibian populations are experiencing global declines at rates greater than any other vertebrate group. However, much of what is being done to manage amphibians is not based on effective science. Much of what is used to manage amphibians in BC is based on almost no understanding into how they are responding to what is taking place. Forestry practices in terms of how amphibians are faring are a guess at best. Mitigation salvage, where amphibians are captured and relocated away from development projects, is one of the most common management practices outside of forestry. However, there is little to no evidence that this has any beneficial outcome.

 

I believe that research is an essential part of natural resource management. However, there is a gaping hole in our understanding of amphibians, their status in the north, and how they are responding to land development in the area. The combination of data deficiency issues, not knowing how to manage for them, and attendant outcomes of climate change puts them at great risk. Research is needed to study causal processes in the ecological, behavioral, or genetic mechanisms in populations. Financial, professional, and grass-roots support for such research can better equip planners and land managers to make planning decisions in forestry prescriptions, for example, or in restoration efforts aimed to reverse or mitigate loss in the face of adverse or stressful conditions.

 

We need to know if we are loosing ecosystem functions, if patterns of distribution are being compromised, and if resilience is being lost. However, support for this type of research is lacking. A summary of initiatives and projects that I have launched or are in the planning process to garner support for these issues are described below. Please contact me if you are a UNBC biology student interested in these topics and would like to complete studies in amphibian ecology, including data entry, analysis, and potential for undergraduate projects or graduate work with funding. Some of my past presentations have also been recorded as webcasts where you can learn more about my interests in the ecological sciences. I wrote a blog on "The Importance of Amphibians" if you wish to learn more.

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AMPHIBIAN INITIATIVES IN NORTHERN BC

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Northern Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative (NARMI)

Proposals have been developed to advance a long-term research and monitoring initiative for northern amphibians. There is a data deficiency problem for many amphibians that extend into their northern range margins in BC, NWT, and YK where  the magnitude of climate change and its attendant effects are predicted to become more extreme. This project will foster collaboration between northern First Nation communities and biologists. Strategies and goals of the Amphibian and Reptile Monitoring Initiative in the US will be mirrored (including development and testing of habitat restoration or management strategies), while also utilizing existing frameworks for citizen science participation (e.g., BC FrogWatch, iNaturalist).

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Ecology of Amphibians in the Peace

I managed and supervised a four-year investigation (2015-2018) and public outreach initiative that was focused on the ecology, conservation, and management of amphibians in the Peace Region of British Columbia. The title of this project "Amphibian Wetland Connectivity Along the Williston Reservoir" was chosen to emphasize the connectivity and important ties that amphibians have with the wetlands where they breed, lay eggs, develop as tadpoles or larvae, and metamorphose into adults that sometimes remain in or near the water. However, the upland terrestrial environment is also recognized as a critical part of the amphibian life-cycle. Some species, such as the long-toed salamander and western toad spend a significant amount of time as adults in forested environments surrounding breeding wetlands.

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Six regional study sites were monitored during the course of this project. Local First Nations, including members of the McLeod Lake Indian Band, Nak’azli Whut’en, and Tsay Keh Dene First Nations were involved in various aspects of this project, either as participants in our public outreach initiatives or through employment as field technicians with overlap of study sites into the respective traditional territories. The study sites are broadly defined as: 1) Pothole Lakes near Six Mile Creek, 2) Chuchi Lakes,

3) Ole Creek, 4) Factor Ross Creek, 5) Ed-Bird Estella Provincial Park (known locally as Blue Lakes area), and 6) Middle Creek. This wide geographic coverage offered an opportunity to expand the spatial coverage of our investigations, but this came at a cost to survey design.

 

A variety of aquatic and terrestrial survey methods were trialed through the duration of this project. Surveys ran seasonally from May-June and again in July-August, to coincide with key events in the life cycle of local amphibian species. Information gathered through the course of this project has been collated into an amphibian database that shall be maintained as part of a larger goal to found a long-term ecological research program for amphibians in northern BC. Components of the data that were gathered are broken into different methodological treatments, including capture-recapture transect surveys, plot surveys, PIT tagging, larvae and tadpole growth and development monitoring, ecomorphological study, and habitat mapping and characterization.

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Although, detection and occupancy in the terrestrial plots were low, distance to roads, distance to wetlands, and class-3 woody debris volumes were identified as potential covariates influencing the presence or absence of amphibians. The entire scope of information that has been entered into the amphibian database has not been fully processed and analyzed, including data collected from wetlands. Plans are in the works to deposit the database under the care and management of the Society for Ecosystem Restoration in Northern BC (SERNbc) and to encourage student projects through the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) that could lead to more comprehensive publication of the results.

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Early-years: NAMOS BC (Northern Amphibian Monitoring Outpost Society)

Several projects have been initiated through my efforts to secure funding for amphibian research in northern BC. From 2008-2012 I founded and was president of a non-profit charity called NAMOS BC (Northern Amphibian Monitoring Outpost Society). We received funding from Mountain Equipment Co-op, Aleza Lake Research Forest Society (ALRF), BC Hydro Community Grants, and the Ministry of Environment to study amphibian populations in forested lands behind the University of Northern British Columbia and the ALRF. Summer students were hired for 3-years to complete wetland and terrestrial plot surveys to study amphibian occupancy. NAMOS BC has produced a number of public outreach initiatives, including workshops, public events, and articles in magazines. Annual reports were completed that summarized details on the efforts and research that was managed through NAMOS BC, but more analytical work is needed to put the data collected into a published collection. The database created from these early efforts remains intact and plans are under way to re-launch aspects of this initiative to build on the long-term monitoring of amphibian populations in northern range-marginal environments.

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Graduate studies

My MSc thesis was a phylogeographic investigation into long-toed salamanders (Ambystoma macrodactylum) using mitochondrial DNA. I used a GIS analysis and Mantel test to compare genetic to geographic distance. Different types of geographic distance were compared and I was able to conclude that topography has had an important role in the post-glacial migration of salamanders. My MEd thesis in multidisciplinary leadership was an investigation into the biophilia hypothesis and its effect on emotions and attitudes about amphibians if the subject matter was taught in a natural setting versus a classroom.