Scholarships

2005/2006 Kathryn Aitken

Community structure, niche partitioning and resource variability in cavity-nesting birds and mammals
The research is being conducted on Becher’s Prairie west of Williams Lake where data has been collected on almost 3,000 nests since 1995. She is examining how cavity resources are shared among members of the community (Northern Flickers, Mountain Chickadees, Tree Swallows, Red Squirrels and other birds and mammals), how competition influences nest site selection, whether populations of species in the community are limited by availability of cavities, and how cavities change over time.

2004/2005 – Kelly Jewell

The effects of parasitism on island populations of Song Sparrows (Melospiza melodia).
In question is the brood parasite, the Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater), which invaded coastal BC in the 1950s. Previous work on Mandarte Island in the Gulf of Georgia has shown that the presence of cowbirds increases the sparrows’ rate of next failure.

2003/2004 – Alana Hilton

How salamanders respond to forest harvesting activities.
Although there are several hypotheses about why amphibian population size and species richness may decline in harvested sites, very few studies have set out to test them. She is using two large-scale field enclosures at UBC’s Malcolm Knapp Research Forest to assess the survival and growth of a common amphibian species in the Pacific Northwest, the northwestern salamander (Ambystoma gracile).

2002/2003 – Simone Runyan

The genetics and population dynamics of small populations; modeling the effect of stress and inbreeding depression on the probability of population extinction in a small isolated population.
Her work is based on Song Sparrows (Melospiza melodia) of the 6 hectare (15 acre) Mandarte Island, just east of Sidney, Vancouver Island.

2004/2005 – Thomas Munson

(Master’s student in Interdisciplinary Studies) is devoting his life to the area of ecological restoration.

2003/2004 – Lisa Levesque

(Master’s student studying ecological restoration, protected areas management, forest ecology and first peoples’ history) is a participant in the Rocky Mountain Repeat Photography Project which will be re-photographing hundreds of historical landscape photographs in Waterton Lakes National Park in order to make future management decisions within the park.

2008

• Megan Harrison - MSc Candidate, Centre for Wildlife Ecology, SFU
  Defining breeding habitat selection mechanisms for the red-listed sagebrush Brewer’s sparrow (Spizella breweri breweri)
• Joe Bennett - PhD Student, Faculty of Forest Sciences, UBC
  Assessing patterns and ecological consequences of invasive plants in the Antelope-brush ecosystem in the South Okanagan

2007

• Pat Robinson - MSc Candidate, Department of Biological Sciences, SFU
  Determining thresholds if habitat quality for breeding birds in rangeland ecosystems in the Cariboo Region.

2006

• Dr. Judith Myers - Department of Zoology and Agroecology, UBC
  Evaluation of the biological control of Diffuse Knapweed in the Southern Okanagan Valley and at the Vaseux Lake burn site
• Lita Gomez - MSc candidate, Department of Biology, UVic
  Selection of critical summer habitat and migration pathways by the Western Rattlesnake (year 2)

2005

• Kathryn Aitken - PhD candidate, Centre for Applied Conservation Research, Faculty of Forestry, UBC
  Avian biodiversity and cavity nesting bird reproduction in isolated aspen groves in the Chilcotin grasslands of the interior of BC
• Lita Gomez - MSc candidate, Department of Biology, UVic
  Selection of critical summer habitat and migration pathways by the Western Rattlesnake

2004

• Brenda Baptiste - Manager, Nk’mip Desert and Heritage Centre, BC
  Western rattlesnake (Crotalus oreganos) conservation and habitat use in the South Okanagan Valley
• Dr. George W. Douglas - Douglas Ecological Consultants
  Rare plant inventory in the South Okanagan Grasslands Protected Area
• Daniela Rambaldini - MSc candidate specializing in bat research.
  Protecting threatened Pallid bats (Antrozous pallidus) in the Okanagan Valley.
• Donna Thornton- Ecosystem Biologist, Omineca Region Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection
  Naturalness Rating System as tested in the Euchiniko Sidehills

2003

• Dilara Ally- PhD candidate in Forest Sciences
  Subject:Researching patterns of genetic diversity in Cariboo-Chilcoltin aspen stands.
• Denise Birdstone (Band administrator of Tobacco Plains Indian Band)
  Tobacco Plains Indian Reserve grasslands inventory and assessment project.
• Bruno Delasselle - Executive Director of the Grasslands Conservation Council of BC
  BC grasslands mapping project.
• Dr. Janet Marsh- Sessional instructor at the University of Northern BC
  Preliminary inventory of soil crusts (Cryptogamic) in big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) sites along an elevational gradient in native grasslands in Junction Sheep Range Provincial Park.
• Madelon Schouten - Chair of the Vermilion Forks Field Naturalists)
  Reseeding component of the Swan Lake wildlife viewing and habitat restoration project.
• Lisa Scott - Chair of South Okanagan-Similkameen Weed Committee)
  Study of diffuse knapweed biocontrol agents within the South Okanagan grasslands.