Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) and Biodiversity Pathways have established an exciting four-year contribution agreement. This agreement provides seed funding through ECCC’s Canada Nature Fund for the creation of the Biodiversity Pathways and to improve science capacity for caribou research and human footprint mapping in British Columbia.
“One of the key goals of the Canada Nature Fund is to support the protection of Canada’s biodiversity through initiatives that help to recover species at risk. This partnership with Biodiversity Pathways and the work of Dr. Avgar at UBC Okanagan will strengthen the science behind caribou recovery and research in British Columbia.” – The Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change
Caribou Recovery Research at University of British Columbia Okanagan
We are excited to share that a portion of this funding has helped establish a grant-tenured faculty position at the University of British Columbia (UBC) Okanagan. This new position in the Department of Biology supports the ongoing need for sound science to inform management and policy decisions around caribou recovery that is integrated with Indigenous-led conservation.
Dr. Tal Avgar has taken up the position at UBC Okanagan and begun to build a research program in collaboration with ECCC scientists and our Wildlife Science Centre. Dr. Avgar’s research priorities include:
- Woodland caribou recovery: Caribou recovery efforts are happening amid complex predator-prey dynamics in disturbed landscapes with ongoing human uses, be they cultural, industrial, or recreational. Disentangling these dynamics will be crucial to sustaining caribou on the landscape.
- Evidence-based climate change resiliency: There is a need for up-to-date and evolving models to forecast the unprecedented large and rapid changes to wildlife habitats and populations brought on by climate change.
- Empowering Indigenous communities in environmental stewardship: Together, western science and traditional knowledge and practices can bolster wildlife management efforts, through a lens of intergenerational sustainability that considers economic, social, and environmental elements for Indigenous communities.
Almost one year in, you can learn more about Tal’s research program in this interview with UBC Okanagan’s Faculty of Science.