Thu, 5 Oct 2023
Tags: Education / scholarship / t4w / together for wildlife

2023 Together for Wildlife Scholarship Recipients Announced

HCTF in partnership with the First Nations-B.C. Wildlife & Habitat Conservation Forum and the Province of British Columbia’s Together for Wildlife Initiative (T4W) are proud to announce the recipients for the 2023 Together for Wildlife academic scholarships; Alexia Constantinou, Harry Yiduo Zhang, Jamie Clarke, Jeffrey Nishima-Miller, Julia Bizon, Lindsay Whitehead, Megan Winand, Persia Khan, Tyler Jessen, and Westin Cryke.

The Together for Wildlife scholarship is awarded annually to 10 master’s and Ph.D. candidates conducting research that will have a positive impact on stewardship, management, policy, or decision-making of wildlife in BC. The aim of this scholarship is to support reconciliation and collaboration, diversity of perspectives, and building community among Indigenous communities and rural areas of BC.

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2023 Recipients

Alexia Constantinou

Alexia is a Ph.D. student at the University of Victoria working under the supervision of Dr. Jason Fisher, sponsored by Dr. Joanna Burgar at the Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship. Her research focuses on British Columbia’s southern interior fisher population, its decline, and ways to improve fisher habitat by working with First Nations and industry.

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Harry Yiduo Zhang

Harry (Yiduo) Zhang is a Ph.D. candidate of Earth and Environmental Science at the University of British Columbia, Okanagan Campus. He is a member of the Complex Environmental System Lab under the supervision of Dr. Lael Parrott. His research interest is to apply GIS and model simulation to solve practical environmental management problems in complex socio-environmental systems.

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Jamie Clarke

Jamie Clarke (she/her) is a master’s student at the University of Victoria, working under the supervision of Dr. Jason Fisher and in collaboration with Holger Bohm, BC’s Ungulate Specialist. Jamie will be testing different camera trap density models and comparing them to aerial ungulate surveys – an industry-standard, but imperfect, survey method.

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Jeffrey Nishima-Miller

Jeff Nishima-Miller is a PhD Candidate at the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan campus. Jeff works out of UBC Okanagan’s Centre for Environmental Assessment Research under the supervision of Dr. Kevin Hanna. Jeff’s research focuses on conservation planning, including setting population objectives, conservation goals, and management action design.

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Julia Bizon

Julia Bizon is an MSc student at the University of Northern British Columbia in Prince George working under the supervision of Dr. Samuel Bartels. T4W funds will be used to support research for her thesis “Ecosystem Memory and Ecological Restoration of Wildlife Forage and Understory Diversity in a Young Pine Monoculture Plantation in Central-Interior BC”. Julia’s research focuses on the response of forest understory vegetation to a suite of restoration treatments involving stand-thinning and artificial canopy gaps.

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Lindsay Whitehead

Lindsay is a master’s student at Thompson Rivers University, working under the supervision of Dr. Karl Larsen. Her research focuses on understanding the impact of natural disturbances, particularly wildfires, on the Western rattlesnake population—a blue-listed and threatened species at risk.

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Megan Winand

Megan Winand is an MSc student at the University of British Columbia under supervisor Dr. Tara Martin, focusing her studies on wetlands, amphibians, and reptiles. Megan is studying the effects of mitigation translocation on Columbian spotted frogs.

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Persia Khan

Persia Khan (she/her) is an MSc student in the Applied Conservation Science Lab at the University of Victoria and works with the Heiltsuk Integrated Resource Management Department (HIRMD) and the Raincoast Conservation Foundation. Persia holds a BSc Honours in Geography from the University of Victoria, and is excited to continue her research in coastal systems and wildlife ecology.

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Tyler Jessen

Tyler is a PhD student at the University of Victoria. His thesis aims to advance knowledge on the causes and consequences of climate change on the BC coast, while also providing data that are critical to the successful management of coastal mountain goats, grizzly bears, and black bears.

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Westin Cryke

Westin is a MSc student at the University of Northern BC. His research examines the impacts roads, namely the Jade Boulder Road has on Stone’s sheep, a species with a restricted range and that migrates seasonally.

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If you or someone you know may be interested in applying for the Al Martin HCTF Conservation Scholarship, check out the following links:

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Wed, 4 Oct 2023
Tags: Education / scholarship

2023 Al Martin HCTF Conservation Fellowship Recipients Announced

The Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation and HCTF Education are pleased to announce this year’s Al Martin Conservation Fellowship recipients: Alessandro Freeman, Oliver Holt, and Zachary Sherker.

The Al Martin Conservation Fellowship recognizes Graduate students wishing to pursue a career in fish or wildlife conservation and management in BC. The recipients receive a scholarship of $10,000 to help fund their graduate research.

Named for Al Martin, a titan in the conservation community. Al had a long and illustrious career starting back in 1977 as a biologist in Penticton BC. After a decade of working as a fisheries biologist, he moved to Victoria to take on several senior positions Manager of Fisheries, Director of the Watershed Restoration Program, Director of the Fish and Wildlife Branch, Executive Director, and Assistant Deputy Minister of the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries.

Al retired after a 30-year-long career in BC public service but continued to be a leader in the conservation community, becoming the Director of Strategic Initiatives for the BC Wildlife Federation and a board member for HCTF. Al sadly passed away in October of 2019 but his impact has lived on thanks to his integrity, humour, and passion for conserving fish and wildlife habitats for future generations.

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2023 Recipients:

Alessandro Freeman

Alessandro Freeman is a M.Sc. student of Ecological Restoration at Simon Fraser University and the British Columbia Institute of Technology under the supervision of Dr. Douglas Ransome. Alessandro’s research project titled “Determining the Accuracy of the BRAT Model for Identifying North American Beaver (Castor Canadensis) Habitat in Central Interior British Columbia” is assessing the Beaver Restoration Assessment Tool (BRAT) – a GIS-based model developed in Utah, and its ability to accurately determine watercourses of high and low quality for potential damming by beavers to create wetlands.

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Oliver Holt

Oliver is pursuing a lifelong dream of achieving a Master’s of Science from the University of Northern British Columbia. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Forestry from the University of British Columbia and has worked extensively in the forestry industry. Oliver’s research is focused on bringing to light the uncertain future of northern mountain caribou.

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Zachary Sherker

Zachary is a Ph.D. student at the University of British Columbia working with Dr. Scott Hinch. His research focuses on the impacts of floodgates on juvenile Pacific salmon habitat access. This research will be used to improve passage by synchronizing automated floodgate operations with the timing of fish movements and will provide concrete evidence for the need to replace aging floodgates and reintroduce imperiled salmon populations to their historic habitat.

More About Zachary

If you or someone you know may be interested in applying for the Al Martin HCTF Conservation Scholarship, check out the following links:

Applicant Info Apply Online

HCTF Scholarship Program

Wed, 15 Feb 2023
Tags: collaboration / Education / scholarship / t4w / together for wildlife / Wildlife

Announcing Together for Wildlife Scholarships!

HCTF in partnership with the First Nations-B.C. Wildlife & Habitat Conservation Forum and the Province of British Columbia are excited to announce the launch of the Together for Wildlife Scholarship program!

In 2020, the Province of British Columbia initiated a new provincial strategy called Together for Wildlife (T4W) which includes additional funding, proactive objectives, and improved data and knowledge, all supported by new policies, strong partnerships, and dedicated resources. The T4W strategy commits to 5 goals and 24 actions to achieve the following vision: “Wildlife and their habitats thrive, are resilient, and support and enrich the lives of all British Columbians”. Under the T4W Goal 2 – Data, information, and knowledge drive better decisions, Action 5 identifies improving support for scientific research, building stronger partnerships within research communities, and sharing results with British Columbian’s as key priorities.

To achieve this outcome, T4W is now offering up to ten $20,000 academic scholarships to Master’s and PhD candidates undertaking research that will support a positive impact on stewardship, management, policy, or decision making of wildlife in BC. These scholarships also aim to support reconciliation and collaboration, diversity of perspectives and building community capacity among Indigenous communities and rural areas of BC. We encourage Indigenous students to apply because of the perspectives they contribute through diversity, inclusion, and community capacity building.

The scholarships intend to support wildlife and wildlife habitat stewardship and management research in the following areas:

• Reconciliation & Collaboration
• Terrestrial Ecosystems
• Stewardship & Management (of terrestrial ecosystems, wildlife, and wildlife habitat)
• Wildlife & Wildlife Habitat

Applications must align with the goals of the Together for Wildlife strategy. Applicants must also engage and communicate results with respective communities impacted. For a more detailed description please visit the scholarship overview.

We encourage all eligible candidates to apply for the Together for Wildlife Scholarship program by May 15, 2023.

Through the Together for Wildlife Scholarships, we can work towards a future where wildlife and their habitats thrive, are resilient, and support and enrich the lives of all British Columbians!

Overview Sample Application Apply Now HCTF’s Scholarship Program

Tue, 20 Sep 2022
Tags: birds of prey / cougar / Education / fellowship / owls / scholarship

2022 Al Martin HCTF Conservation Fellowship Recipients Announced

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.

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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.

More About Siobhan

 

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.

More About Megan

If you or someone you know may be interested in applying for the Al Martin HCTF Conservation Scholarship, check out the following links:

Applicant Info Apply Online

 

HCTF Scholarship Program

 

 

Wed, 4 Nov 2020
Tags: Education

Get Outdoors this Fall!

Get Outdoors: Exploring Autumn Changes

Join us at 10 am (PST) on Saturday, November 7th for a free online HCTF Education Get Outdoors session. Our team will provide educators and families with some fun, interactive and engaging activities that will spark wonder in students of all ages. Learn about the natural autumn changes occurring in your own backyards or close to home.

Stephanie Weinstein, Sue Staniforth & Jennie McCaffrey will take participants through interactive and engaging exploration in their own backyards, share some outdoor, socially distant activities to do with friends and family, and talk about their favorite tools for nature-based exploration that you can make at home!

Please bring a leaf (or some other part of a tree that you might find on the ground at this time of year) to the online session.

Keep the fall fun going! We will provide an online, outdoor fall focused scavenger hunt that participants can do following the session, and we encourage you to share your photos on social media! Remember to tag #GetOutdoors on Twitter and Facebook. We would like to extend a particular welcome to the NatureKids BC network, but all BC educators and families are encouraged to join in!

To register for this interactive, online learning experience please follow the link below. You must pre-register via the Zoom portal, and then you will receive your personal Zoom link in a confirmation email and a calendar reminder.

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMldeCvqzoqG9AUKzzAX0yTxsSLSAPmFCAm

Fri, 22 Nov 2019
Tags: Education

2019 HCTF-McCubbing Awards Winners Announced

The winners of the 3rd annual HCTF–McCubbing Awards were announced today at the BC Institute of Technology’s Awards Celebration in Burnaby, BC.

Four students from the Fish, Wildlife and Recreation program as well as the Bachelor of Science, Ecological Restoration program will receive a $5,000 awards scholarship to assist with their studies at the BC Institute of Technology (BCIT). The Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation (HCTF) created the award in memory of Don McCubbing, a fisheries biologist and member of our Fisheries Technical Review Committee who passed away in 2015. Don believed that education in both practical field work and technical skills training was key to developing the next generation of fisheries biologists. Don left behind a legacy of academic and professional achievements, innovation in the field of fisheries biology and science-based decision making in service of fisheries conservation throughout BC.

We here at HCTF believe that supporting the next generation of BC conservationists is key to securing the future of wildlife, fish and natural habitats in this province. The educational background, technical skills and practical experience the awards winners and their fellow students will receive at BCIT will inform conservation practices in BC for years to come. HCTF would like to congratulate this year’s HCTF–McCubbing Awards winners and wish them success in their future fish, wildlife and habitat conservation careers.