Team Members
Glen Brown
Research Scientist, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry Adjunct Professor, Environmental & Life Sciences Graduate Program/Dept. of Biology, Trent University Adjunct Faculty, Graduate Program in Earth and Space Science and Engineering, York University Adjunct Professor, Department of Biology, Laurentian University I am an ecologist with research interests linking ecosystem processes, population dynamics, and individual behavioural strategies, with a current focus on wildlife inhabiting sub-arctic coastal ecosystems and the Hudson Bay Lowlands. My research is intended to inform conservation and management by addressing uncertainties in the effects of environmental heterogeneity and human perturbations on wildlife populations. Of recent interest are the effect of climate change on permafrost wetlands used as habitat for migratory water birds and other vertebrates, including arctic fox, and the resulting effects on species interactions and community dynamics. [email protected] EDUCATION Doctor of Philosophy – Zoology, 2005, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario Master of Science – Biology, 1998, Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario Bachelor of Science – Biology, 1995, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia |
Rod Brook
Wildlife Research Biologist, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry Rod is a wildlife research biologist with interests in population dynamics and community ecology of arctic breeding geese, ducks and their predators. Rod has interest in improving the knowledge and management of harvested species as well as improving conservation measures for species that share their habitats in Canada’s sub-Arctic. Rod graduated with a B.Sc. from the University of Lethbridge (1993) and received a M.Sc. from the University of Saskatchewan (2002). The title of his thesis was Breeding ecology and local population dynamics of lesser scaup (Aythya affinis) in boreal forest of western Canada. [email protected] |
Kim Bennett
Wildlife Research Technician, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry Kim is a Fish and Wildlife Technologist graduate from Sir Sandford Fleming College. She has been a research technician with the Wildlife Research and Monitoring Section since 2000 and started field work on the Hudson Bay Lowlands in 2003. She helps run the field camp at Burntpoint Creek Research Station, leads and coordinates field crews in conducting studies that include population monitoring and nesting ecology of shorebirds, lesser snow geese and Canada geese on the Hudson Bay Lowlands. [email protected] |
Greg Melvin
Wildlife Research Technician, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry Greg works on a range of projects for the team, including data management and field operations for Burntpoint and goose banding. He provides expertise in a variety of field survey techniques and has taken the lead on our water chemistry sampling and integration of digital technology for data recording and management. For his M.Sc. work at Trent University, Greg studied the effects of invasive Typha on muskrat habitat use. |
Kapillesh Bala
Research Biologist, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry Kap is leading a climate change vulnerability assessment for the Hudson Plains ecozone in Ontario. He is synthesizing information about the sensitivity, exposure and adaptive capacity of representative terrestrial vertebrates to climate warming using climate change projection models. The work will help us identify the relationship between species vulnerability and conservation status for a suite of taxa. Kap completed his M.Sc. at Queens University, where he used a paleolimnological assessment of ecological response in lakes to climate warming. |
Chrystyn Jones
MSc candidate, Trent University Chrystyn is using GPS telemetry to investigate how habitat quality and availability affect the movement and habitat use of whimbrel and Hudsonian godwit (Species at Risk) during the breeding period. Remote sensing and drone imagery are being used to map high resolution habitat features that affect resource availability and predation risk. The work is in collaboration with Dr. Erica Nol and Dr. Anne Ausems at Trent University, and we have field sites near Churchill, Manitoba and the Burntpoint research station in Ontario. These species have shown large declines in abundance. Chrystyn’s work will fill information gaps about breeding range in the Hudson Bay Lowlands and contribute knowledge for recovery planning. Chrystyn completed her B.Sc. degree at the University of Guelph, where she worked with Magnetawan First Nation to investigate the impacts of roads vs rail lines on wildlife. |
Dorothy Travis
MSc candidate, Trent University Dorothy is studying how climate and habitat characteristics affect the diversity, distribution, and abundance of arthropods in wetlands near Hudson Bay. Insects and other arthropods have a critical role in ecosystem functioning, including nutrient cycling, soil structure, and food for other species, including shorebirds. The timing and magnitude of insect emergence is closely linked to temperature, and Dorothy’s work will test how arthropods may serve as an indicator of climate warming impacts to northern ecosystems. |
Mihika Hegde
MSc candidate, Trent University Mihika is studying processes of density dependent habitat selection that affect the distribution and abundance of small mammals, an important food source and herbivore in the arctic and subarctic. Mihika’s work will provide new information about how the detection of cycles in small mammals can be affected by grain of assessment and spatial variation in both habitat and predator activity. Population cycles in small mammal prey have significant impact on their predators (e.g. fox), as well as, predation risk for alternate prey (waterfowl and shorebirds). Mihika’s work will clarify how variation in habitat and predator activity affect cycles in small mammals. |
Matthew Poppleton
MSc candidate, Trent University Matthew is studying methods in the optimization of survey design for generating robust indices of status and trends from aerial transect surveys for waterfowl. He is assessing how precision of population estimates are affected by habitat heterogeneity and sampling effort, using methods including ratio-based estimators, empirical bayesian kriging, and model based estimates that incorporate habitat condition. He is working in collaboration with partners from the Mississippi Flyway Council, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and Canadian Wildlife Service, who jointly manage populations of Canada geese that breed along the coast of Hudson Bay. |
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Richard Huang
MSc student, Trent University Richard aims to determine the potential sources of predation on shorebird nests at the southern edge of their breeding distribution in the Canadian Subarctic. He will study how the spatial distribution of shorebird nests is related to the distribution of other members of the sub-arctic food chain that could directly or indirectly influence shorebird nest predation. This study will improve understanding of the responses of animal distributions and habitat to climate change. Richard will conduct observations of nest predation in the field in addition to estimations of predation risk by integrating direct and indirect factors that may contribute to nest mortality. |
Former Students
Dr. Pauline Priadka (PhD, Laurentian University)
I completed my Bachelor of Science at University of Guelph in Wildlife Biology during which time I developed my passion for studying wildlife. I worked with the OMNRF as a summer student working with radio collared boreal woodland caribou (Rangifer taradus caribou), a nationally threatened species. I went on to complete a Master’s in Natural Resources Management at the University of Manitoba and had the opportunity to work with federal and provincial government to aid in boreal woodland caribou management unit delineation to support species recovery. I completed my PhD in the Boreal Ecology Program at Laurentian University. My research clarified important drivers of moose (Alces alces) abundance and assessed approaches to prioritize and optimize monitoring for wildlife that span many discrete management units. I am interested in understanding how we can reduce uncertainty in long term data to improve management decisions and optimize resources required to monitor widely distributed species. Pauline was co-supervised by Dr. Frank Mallory at Laurentian University, Sudbury.
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Marley Aikens (MSc, Trent University)
Marley studied migration strategies of semipalmated plovers that breed along the southern coast of Hudson Bay, near Churchill, Manitoba and Polar Bear Provincial Park, Ontario. She used the Motus wildlife tracking network to improve understanding of the drivers of southward migration schedules, including breeding activity, breeding latitude, and weather. Her work helped identify migration routes and stopover sites. Marley is a graduate of Dalhousie University where she studied the effects of environmental noise on nesting tree swallows. She was co-supervised by Dr. Erica Nol at Trent University. |
Gillian Muir (MSc 2022, Trent University)
Gillian studied environmental controls on active layer thermal regime in subarctic wetlands. She assessed how edaphic properties, landform, vegetation, and weather affect seasonal active layer dynamics at the southern edge of continuous permafrost in North America. The project is a collaboration with Dr. Baoxin Hu at York University. Prior to coming to Trent, Gillian completed her undergraduate degree at Concordia University where her research project was supervised by Dr. Dylan Fraser. |
Wen Zhang (PhD 2023, York University)
Wendy was a PhD student in the Department of Earth and Space Science at York University. She developed applications of advanced remote sensing technologies to improve the mapping of wildlife habitat. Sensors include LiDAR, RADARSAT, and high resolution imagery to map features such as flooded vegetation, surface water, and forest structure. She is co-supervised by Dr. Baoxin Hu at York University.
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Mikayla Stinson (Undergraduate Honours Thesis, Trent University)
Project: effects of weather on spring phenological patterns in subarctic insect emergence. Using pitfall trap and climate data collected from Burntpoint camp I plan to assess whether changing climate patterns are affecting the time of emergence and biomass of different insect families. I also plan to assess how the change in insect emergence time may affect migratory shorebirds and their diets. |
Beck Bugeya (Undergraduate student, Trent University)
Beck is a Conservation Biology student at Trent University. They used remotely sensed imagery (MODIS, Sentinel-2) to generate time-series of vegetation greenness and other indicators for use in assessment of wildlife habitat availability and quality and the effects of climate change on ecosystems. The times series of vegetation indices is used to characterize seasonal vegetation development (phenology) and its long-term change. They used the adaptive Savitzky-Golay filtering method and other smooth fitted model functions to generate seasonality parameters, e.g. beginning and end of growing season, maximum greenness values and amplitude of the seasonal pattern in vegetation. |
Andrew Collard (Undergraduate Honours Thesis, Trent University)
American black ducks (Anas rubripes) are jointly managed by Canada and the United States and managers need better information as to the factors limiting demographic rates and importance of habitat on their breeding range in Canada. Andrew is completing an Undergraduate Honours Research Thesis project at Trent University to test the hypothesis that beaver-modified wetlands affect the distribution of breeding black ducks. Beavers can exert a significant influence on wetland heterogeneity, sediment and nutrient storage, potentially increasing habitat and food availability for ducks. Through a partnership with the Black Duck Joint Venture and the Canadian Wildlife Service, Andrew is using observations of breeding pairs of ducks and beaver activity recorded during the Eastern Waterfowl Survey to assess habitat selection patterns. Andrew grew up in the Kawartha Lakes area and is a graduate of the Fish and Wildlife program at Fleming College. His main interests include waterfowl and wetland ecology but is also interested in many other aspects of natural resource management. Throughout his college and undergraduate career, he has gained experience in the field supporting various government and private programs such as waterfowl banding, protected areas management and fisheries research. |
Denin Gray (Undergraduate 4th year student, Trent University 2018-2019)
Denin is currently completing his undergraduate 4th year thesis project on red backed salamanders. He is using an extensive dataset from a provincial salamander monitoring initiative to study the importance of forest structure, forest harvest disturbance and climate to affect distribution and abundance of red-backed salamanders. The dataset includes information collected at sites distributed across the species range in Ontario and within the area of managed forest. |
Hannah McKellar (MSc , Trent University 2020)
Hannah is a Masters student being co-supervised by Dr Brown and Dr. Erica Nol at Trent University. She is studying the breeding and migration habits of whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus) in the Hudson Bay Lowlands with the hope of identifying how weather may be affecting whimbrel breeding success. Prior to joining the Brown/Nol labs, Hannah completed her undergraduate degree in biology at Mount Allison University where her honours thesis was supervised by Dr Diana Hamilton. |