Fish and Wildlife TWS Student Chapter 2018-2019 Events
Annual Student Chapter Sponsored Speaker
The 2019 Student Chapter Annual Speaker was Dr. Bob Clark (Environment Canada and the University of Saskatchewan) who talked on March 28th in room 7-150. Dr. Clark is an applied avian ecology who links ecological theory to real-life problems. His work includes the assessment of factors affecting habitat use and reproductive success in birds, and their relation to habitat management programs. The event was co-sponsored by NUGSS.
AGM and Quiz Bowl
The 2019 edition of the Student Chapter’s AGM and Quiz Bowl took place on Friday March 29th in the Bentley Centre (7-172) — it was a great success! Congratulations to the winning team of Brennan Bantle, Landon Birch, Janelle Cole, Brittney Reichert, and Emily Gavey!
Graduate Student Presentation: Jake Bradshaw
Brown Bag Lunch on TWS Certified Wildlife Biologist Program
Distinct from the BC College of Applied Biology Certification, The Wildlife Society offers a Certified Wildlife Biologist Program, which is recognized in many parts of Canada and throughout the US. On Tuesday March 19th from 12:00 to 13:00 (room 5-177) Mike Gillingham will describe this TWS program and offer suggestions on how to complete an application to the TWS Certification Review Board.
Certification presentation by the College of Applied Biology
On Thursday March 21st at 9:30 am in room 5-121 we will be hosting a presentation by the College of Applied Biology of BC about the certification of registered professional biologists. If you plan on working as a biologist, this would be a great presentation to go to. Clcik here for more information about changes to certification for biologists in Briish Columbia.
Canadian Section of TWS Annual General Meeting (Canmore)
The Canadian Section of TWS will hold its 2019 AGM from March 22nd to 24th at the Coast Hotel in Canmore Alberta. Visit http://cstws.ca/canadian-section-agm/ for more details, but please contact tws@unbc.ca to let us know if you are interested in attending.
Brown Bag Lunch with Conservation Officers
Thursday March 14th, we held a BBL with local conservation officers! All attendees had a great opportunity to learn about this career path and ask lots of questions! Watch for this event again next year.
Bake Sale Fundraiser for the Saltwater Fish Tank
The Student Chapter 2-day bake sale in support of the saltwater fish tank on the 3rd floor of the lab building (March 11th and 12th) was a huge success. Over $480 was raised to support new additions to the tank!
Graduate Student Presentation: Cale Babey
British Columbia Chapter of TWS First Annual General Meeting in Kelowna
The BC Chapter of The Wildlife Society (BCTWS) held its first Annual General Meeting from March 1-3 (2019) at the Royal Anne Hotel in Kelowna. The BCTWS is dedicated to sound wildlife management and conservation worldwide with a focus on the rich wildlife heritage of BC. The intent of this meeting was to create opportunities to meet, interact, and share information with other BCTWS members and wildlife professionals, and to be better informed about current and changing provincial issues. Three students from the UNBC TWS Chapter were able to attend the BCTWS meeting!
Annual Wild Foods Potluck
This year’s Wild Foods Potluck was held at the Spruce City Wildlife’s Hatchery (at 1384 River Road, Prince George) on Saturday March 9th at 1800. As usual, a great turnout for this popular annual event!
Picnic and Snowshoe
We held our very first winter picnic and snowshoe adventure on March 10th. The snowshoe in Eskers Provincial Park was great fun and all attending enjoyed the hot dogs and hot chocolate.
Brown Bag Lunch on working in Government and with Consulting firms
Brown bag lunch presentation on Summer Jobs
We held our ‘annual’ Brown Bag lunch on Summer Jobs on Thursday (January 31st @ 2:30, room 5-158). This event was an informal presentation given by some of our current and past executive members about their summer job experiences and how to get them!.
Winter 2019 Meet and Greet
The 2019 Winter Meet and Greet was held on Monday January 21st, and it was very well attended. We had lots of people sign up for all of our various activities and volunteer opportunities. David Breault, an MSc candidate in Biology at UNBC. provided an overview of his research on the habitat and diet ecology of Pacific marten on Haida Gwaii.
Graduate Student Presentation to the Student Chapter
On Wednesday November 21st, Jeannine Randall (a PhD candidate with Dr. Russ Dawson) gave a presentation on her research. Jeannine is currently studying how unstable environmental conditions influence the breeding outcomes of tree swallows. Using examples from her own research in avian ecology, Jeannine discussed how to come up with interesting research questions and how to approach answering them.
Trip to the Northern Lights Wildlife Shelter
Over the weekend of November 10 – 12th, members of the Student Chapter participated in the annual work trip to the Northern Lights Wildlife Shelter where they volunteered to help out on a number of projects around the Wildlife Shelter. As alwasy, particpants had a great time!
The 2019 Calendars are now on sale!
Graduate Student Presentation to the Student Chapter
On Wednesday October 31st, Paige Wilson (a MSc candidate with Dr. Mark Shrimpton) gave a presentation on her graduate research. Paige is researching kokanee salmon genetics and demographics within the Williston Reservoir. Her talk will focussed on the origins of kokanee in general, and on the geographic origins of the Williston kokanee.
Visit to the Nechako White Sturgeon Conservation Centre
This year on Saturday October 24, twelve students traveled to the Nechako White Sturgeon Conservation Centre. The tour was led by former employee and TWS member Cale Babey, who showcased the life history of white sturgeon, the history and operation of the conservation center, and the on-going work to study and preserve the species. Fish from small juveniles up to two-and-a-half-meter, wild-caught brood-stock were all on parade. On Saturday October 27th members of the Student Chapter will visit in Vanderhoof.
2018 Kennedy Siding Caribou Viewing Trip
This year’s Kennedy Siding Caribou was held on Saturday, October 20th. Under blue skies, Doug Heard led 28 Student Chapter members to Kenneday Siding and introduced students to conservation issues and management challenges facing these Central Mountain caribou and described the goals and results from his feeding trials and remote camera work. And yes, we saw lots of caribou!
2018 TWS Photo Contest
The 11th annual photo contest was held on October 18th and 19th, and was a great success.Here are your winners! The TWS 2018-2019 Calendar with many of the submitted photos will be available in early November!
Fulton River Spawning Travel Trip (Sept 28-30)
We had a great time at the Fulton River Spawning Channels! The fish were lively and the eagles were busy! With 350 thousand sockeye salmon in the channels and river, there was a lot to see, and the unique river features made for some great shots. Two nights of braving the cold was worth it to all who came out, as that just made the campfire that much better of a place to hang out around in the off time. The mouth of the river also had some special sites to share, with some of the eagles soaring only 10 – 15 meters above our heads on the wind coming off of the 153-km long Babine Lake. Bear tracks, and other wildlife signs were plentiful as well, not to mention the moose, deer, and black bears seen on the way! We hope to see you all out here next year!
Mugaha bird banding station near Mackenzie to band migratory songbirds (Sept 14-15)
Between September 14th -15th seventeen UNBC Fisheries and Wildlife Student Chapter members visited the Mugaha bird-banding station near Mackenzie BC. Students had an opportunity to learn the process of banding, from weighing, measuring size, measuring body fat, how to put on the bird tags on the legs, and how to handle and release birds. It also gave a great opportunity to learn how to identify native songbird species.
Fall 2018 Annual Meet and Greet
On September 26th, we held our annual meet and greet. At this event we went over a schedule for the semester, held an ice breaker event, and supplied a pizza dinner. We had over 50 students show up, and there were sign-up sheets for some of our upcoming trips.