Fish and Wildlife TWS Student Chapter 2011-2012 Events
Fisheries Presentation and Discussion
On Tuesday March 20th, Drs. Allan Costello and Mark Shrimpton discussed current fisheries issues pertaining to diseases, aquaculture and management.
2012 Annual General Meeting
The 2012 Student Chapter Annual General Meeting was held on Friday March 30th at 6 pm in the Bentley Centre. Business will included annual reports from the Executive, setting of Student Chapter dues for 2012-2013, and the election of the Student Chapter Executive for 2012-2013. The AGM was followed by the 2012 Quiz Bowl.During the AGM, the Student Chapter made a presentation to Roy Rea, thanking him for all of his support to the Student Chapter over the last several years.
2012 Quiz Bowl
The UNBC Fish and Wildlife Student Chapter of TWS held its annual Quiz Bowl on Friday March 30th at 7 pm in the Bentley Centre as an end-of-semester event. A great time was had by all, especially the winning team of Mike Bridger, Adam O’Dell, Shannon O’Keefe, and Lisha Berzins!
Third Annual Ice-Fishing Derby
On Saturday March 3rd, the UNBC Fish & Wildlife Student Chapter of The Wildlife Society hosted its third Annual Ice-fishing Derby at West Lake Provincial Park with close to 40 entrants. Thanks to our sponsors (Nechako Outdoors, Books & Company, Canadian Tire and the UNBC Alumni Association for their generous support). A portion of the proceeds were donated to the Nechako White Sturgeon Recovery Initiative. Here are some of the winners and participants!
Hourly Prizes:
PAL / CORE Course
On January 21st and 22nd, 2012, the UNBC Student Chapter sponsored a (CORE) and (PAL) Course. This two day course included the full CORE course and enough additional information for you to be able to take the PAL Challenge Exam at the end of the course. The course was put on with the help of UNBC Continuing Studies.
Annual Wild Foods Potluck
The third annual Wild Foods Potluck was held on Saturday Jan 28th at the Spruce City Wildlife Resource Centre/Hatchery, 1384 River Road. Over two dozen folks showed up for this dinner and it was a great hit again this year. Thanks to Spruce City Wildlife for their hospitality.
The 2012 Student Chapter Calendar was a great seller again in 2012
The 2012 Student Chapter Calendar was a great success. We sold all 100 copies of the calendar, which contained a collection of great photographs. A portion of the proceeds went to support the Northern Lights Wildlife Shelter in Smithers. Thanks to everyone who helped with this project.
Caribou Viewing Trip
The 22 October trip to Kennedy Siding (location in Google Earth) to view and learn about caribou was a great success. Dr. Dale Seip, BC Ministry of Environment, provided the group of about 25 students with the context around the many challenges facing the declining herds of caribou in British Columbia. We examined pine stands containing lichen, and learned about management prescriptions for caribou winter range, how these prescriptions have changed with mountain pine beetle attack, followed fresh caribou tracks to feeding craters, learned about the predation pressure that caribou face, and then had a chance to observe caribou as they moved through the pine forest.
4th Annual Photo Contest Results
On Thursday, October 20th and Friday, October 21st, the Winter Garden was the site for the 4th Annual Fish and Wildlife Student Chapter of TWS Photo Contest. The event was a great success with over 50 entries!
Amphibian Walk
Our evening began at 8:30pm with a short walk behind UNBC to the parking lot of Cranbrook Hill Greenway and our trailhead. UNBC’s amphibian specialist Mark Thompson led the group, discussing the ecological role, importance and biology of Long-toed Salamanders and Western Toads. On a night when amphibian presence was unusually sparse, persistence paid off when we found a juvenile salamander followed by a male Western Toad. Our night ended with a stop to a pond where we viewed multiple salamander larvae and a short walk back to the University.
Bird Banding Trip to Mugaha Marsh
The bird banding trip to Mackenzie was a once again a great success. Thirteen members attended, spending the day collecting birds from the mist nets around Mugaha Marsh. Julian, the bird bander at the observatory demonstrated proper banding techniques and everyone got hands-on experience with how to handle and release a bird. Participants saw over twenty birds caught and banded and got to enjoy the sights around the banding station, as well as some trail hiking. We also tried to band owls as well but were unsuccessful in netting any. We had some great weather for the trip and everyone had a blast!
Fish Hatchery Trip to Pinkut Creek
On a beautiful sunny day six chapter members headed North of Burns Lake to Pinkut Creek Spawning facility. This year 26,000 female and 34,000 male Sockeye Salmon were let in the channel, with another 75,000 fish in the creek! They were still present in great numbers, even though they were half way through their spawning period. We briefly explored the area then George Chandler gave us a tour of the facilities and answered our questions.
