The Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation and HCTF Education are pleased to announce our 2022 recipients of the Al Martin HCTF Conservation Fellowship (AMCF): Siobhan Darlington & Megan Buers.
The AMCF awards $10,000 annually to two graduate students who are wishing to pursue a career in fish or wildlife management and conservation in British Columbia.
The award is named in honor of Al Martin, a lifelong conservation giant who passed away suddenly in 2019. Al had an influential career with the BC provincial government that spanned three decades in fish and wildlife management and habitat conservation. After his retirement in 2010, Al continued to be a leader in the conservation community as a Board Director with HCTF and Director of Strategic Initiatives with the BC Wildlife Federation.
2022 Recipients:
Siobhan Darlington
Siobhan Darlington (she/her) is a PhD student in Biology at the University of British Columbia Okanagan working under the supervision of Dr. Adam Ford and Dr. Karen Hodges. AMCF funds will be used to support research for her thesis “The spatial ecology and foraging dynamics of cougar in the southern interior of British Columbia” as part of the Southern BC Cougar Project. In the future, Siobhan hopes to continue working with cougars and other wild felids to understand the dual impacts of climate change and human activity on their distributions and mitigate potential threats through policy, public outreach, and conservation work.
Megan Buers
Megan Buers is an MSc student at the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan campus under the supervision of Dr. Karen Hodges. AMCF funds will be used to support her thesis “Are riparian areas thermal refugia for nocturnal forest birds in south central British Columbia?” which explores how habitat characteristics of riparian areas may act to provide shelter for wildlife during periods of high heat. In the future, Megan hopes to continue working with species at risk in British Columbia and, in particular, birds of prey. She will continue to advocate for more public outreach and education on habitats and how we can work to protect these habitats through the coming decades.
If you or someone you know may be interested in applying for the Al Martin HCTF Conservation Scholarship, check out the following links:
