We are your partners in biodiversity monitoring.

Jim Herbers

Executive Director

Colleen Scott

Program Manager

Pamela Foster

Finance/Administrative Coordinator

Sydney Toni

Communications Lead

Dr. Erin Bayne

Director, SENSR
Academic Director, Boreal Avian Modelling Centre
Professor, University of Alberta

Dr. Erin Bayne is the Director of the Bioacoustic Unit, Co-Director of the ABMI’s Science Centre, a steering committee member for the Boreal Avian Modelling Project, and a Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Alberta. Dr. Bayne’s research combines ecology with cutting-edge techniques in wildlife monitoring, survey design, geographic information systems (GIS), and habitat modelling to support the development and maintenance of WildTrax.

Dr. Elly Knight

Operational Director, Boreal Avian Modelling Centre

Dr. Elly Knight is an applied ecologist interested in how environmental variation across temporal and spatial scales affects the ecology and population trends of wide-ranging species. She specializes in bringing together large datasets, including acoustic data, to describe the spatiotemporal patterns of bird distribution and abundance and inform when and where wildlife conservation efforts will be most effective. Elly is also an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Alberta.

Dr. Oscar Venter

Director, BC Geospatial Centre
Professor, University of Northern British Columbia

Dr. Rob Serrouya

Co-Director, Wildlife Science Centre

Dr. Rob Serrouya’s main research focus has been to test recovery options for caribou and other species by implementing broad-scale adaptive management experiments. He has worked as a large mammal ecologist in Alberta and British Columbia for 20 years. He specializes on broad-scale processes, particularly how forestry and energy extraction affect trophic interactions within ecosystems that, until recently, had little early seral vegetation. He currently works on boreal and mountain ecotypes of woodland caribou, and focuses on how the changing dynamics of other herbivores (moose and deer) and carnivores (bears, wolves, and cougars) affect the survival of caribou.

Dr. Adam Ford

Co-Director, Wildlife Science Centre
Associate Professor, University of British Columbia–Okanagan

Adam an Associate Professor and the Canadian Research Chair in Wildlife Restoration Ecology at UBC-Okanagan. His research group, the Wildlife Restoration Ecology (WiRE) Lab, works to restore important relationships in nature’s food webs, including those between people and wildlife. Some of his group’s research includes studies involving mule deer, caribou, moose, Roosevelt elk, mountain goats, wolf, bighorn sheep, bison, cougars, boreal caribou, and wolves, as well as studies on bear and human interactions, chronic wasting disease modelling, and policy analysis and numerous other studies with the federal and regional governments.  

Shira Mulloy

Chair

Shira Mulloy is the Senior Director of Conservation, Alberta with the Nature Conservancy of Canada. Shira is responsible for new land securements, and management of the existing land portfolio. She is interested in the intersection of nature, energy, sustainability, and organizational action, and has experience in multiple sectors—NGO, energy, industry associations, and environmental and management consulting.

Krista Phillips

Vice-Chair

Krista Phillips is the Director of Environment at the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP). Krista joined CAPP in 2007, originally focused on air quality and climate change policy. Her current role as the lead for the industry association on land-use policy and planning and biodiversity conservation offers her a unique perspective on Biodiversity Pathways’ value.

Krista came to CAPP – and Calgary – from Vancouver, where she was studying environment-energy policy and land use planning at Resource and Environmental Management at Simon Fraser University. Her career started at Imperial in Toronto after having completed a degree in Industrial Engineering at University of Toronto.  

Living in Calgary, Krista fills her free time exploring the wilderness with her husband and two young children. She has also participated on local Calgary boards, focusing on building communities, increasing active transportation opportunities and infrastructure, and childcare programming.

John Kolk

Treasurer

John Kolk is married to Laura and operates an irrigation and dry land farm in southern Alberta. They are blessed with four children, four grandchildren and live near Picture Butte, Alberta. Together they built and are living in an energyPlus home (straw bale, adobe flooring, rainwater collection, grey water recycling, solar water heating, wind and solar electric production, habitat project with Lethbridge Northern Irrigation District, Pheasants Forever, DU).

John has served on many boards including the Alberta Water Council (AWC) and Alberta Economic Development Authority (AEDA). He is Founding Chair of the Alberta Environmental Farm Plan Company (AEFP) and County Councillor for the County of Lethbridge. He currently serves on the Agricultural Products Marketing Council.

Naomi Owens-Beek

Director

Naomi Owens-Beek comes from the community of Moberly Lake, BC; she is a proud Cree, Dunne-Za, Treaty 8 and Canadian woman from the Saulteau First Nations (SFN) and is the honored mother of Spencer Ron Beek. She belongs to the Napoleon Family of SFN. She graduated from the Nicola Valley Institute of Technology and received a diploma in Natural Resources in 1999. She then completed her Bachelor of Science from the University of Victoria, majoring in Biology (2008) and registered to the College of Applied Biology (2009) and is a Registered Professional Biologist as of 2019. Naomi is currently the Treaty Rights and Environmental Protection (TREP) Manager for the Saulteau First Nations. She sits on the Board of Directors for the Twin Sisters Native Plant Nursery, Biodiversity Pathways, is a Society Director for the Nîkanêse Wah tzee Stewardship Society, a Board Member for the Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program, a Council Member of the Minister’s Wildlife Advisory Council, and is a part of the First Nations-BC Wildlife and Habitat Conservation Forum.

Naomi’s long-term goal is to make connections between biology’s western science and First Nations values of the landscape. She holds high regard for the rights and Spirit and Intent of the Treaty 8 Nations.

Jolene Patrick

Director

Jolene is from N’Quatqua of the St’át’imc Nation. She has always been passionate about protecting and respecting wildlife and wild spaces, which inspired her to complete a Bachelors Degree in Animal Biology. In August 2016, Jolene joined the Coast to Cascades Grizzly Bear Initiative in the role of Conflict Prevention and Education. Jolene is promoting proactive conservation efforts by honouring the connections between St’át’imc and ta St̓alhálama (the Grizzly Bear).

Chad Swanson

Director

Chad has been a Registered Professional Forester (RPF) practicing in BC for 19 years. In 2006, he started his career with West Fraser in Quesnel as an Operations Coordinator, where he supervised multiple forest operations contractors to execute forestry plans with high standards and industry-leading practices to achieve safety, production, log quality and environmental performance targets. In 2011, he became the Operations Superintendent in Quesnel, supervising a department of seven forest professionals.

In 2015, Chad became the woodlands manager of the 100 Mile House Division with a team of 20 forest professionals in multi-disciplinary fields, and, in 2020, he led merging the 100 Mile House and Williams Lake woodlands divisions into one team responsible for large-scale forest management operations and guiding strategic initiatives. He played a central lead role in advancing relationships with several First Nations in the areas where West Fraser operated. During his time, the planning team introduced alternate forest management prescriptions based on new local science, incorporating Indigenous traditional knowledge, and community interests to balance the social, economic and environmental values on the land base for long-term sustainable resource stewardship.

Chad recently became the Chief Forester, BC with West Fraser and he is very excited about the challenges and opportunities this new role presents. He is focused on strategic engagement on leading issues related to biodiversity, climate change, and Indigenous relations to discover integrated sustainable forest management solutions for the long-term continuity and resilience of the forest sector in BC.

Paula Wood-Adams

Director

Paula is the Vice President, Research and Innovation at the University of Northern British Columbia, and has been in that role since July 2023. She earned both a Ph.D. and an M.Eng. in Chemical Engineering from McGill University. She completed her undergraduate work at the University of Alberta and is a well-known scientist and expert in applied polymer science. Prior to her role at UNBC, she was at Concordia University, where she served in roles such as interim vice-president of research and graduate studies, dean of graduate studies, and graduate program director of mechanical and industrial engineering.