Robin Churchill - M.Sc. Candidate
Robin received his B.Sc. in Biology from the University of Western Ontario in the spring of 2009. Since 2008 he has worked on a number of research projects associated with Long Point Waterfowl and spent a season nest-searching and flying aerial surveys for Delta Waterfowl. Robin began his M.Sc. at the University of Western in September 2009 after working with Long Point Waterfowl for the summer.
Robin’s Master’s is addressing the changes in the distribution and abundance of submerged aquatic vegetation and Dreissenid mussels in Inner Long Point Bay – Lake Erie over the last 15 years.
Taylor Finger – M.Sc. Candidate
Taylor received his B.Sc. in Wildlife Management and Biology from the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point in the spring of 2010. Since graduating he has conducted research as a technician on energy expenditure of Black Ducks and Atlantic Brant in coastal New Jersey. He has also worked as a technician with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources raising Cinnamon Teal for the purpose of researching Blue–winged Teal decline in the Great Lakes region.
Taylor began his M.Sc. program at the University of Western Ontario in January of 2012. His Master’s will focus on how weather conditions affect the timing of Scaup migrations, and the impact of industrial wind turbines.
Everett Hanna - Ph. D. Candidate
After receiving a Fish and Wildlife Technician Diploma in 2007 and an Advanced Diploma in Fish and Wildlife Technology in 2008 from Sir Sandford Fleming College in Lindsay, Ontario, Everett went on to earn his B.Sc. (honours in biology) from Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario in 2009. He has worked with Ducks Unlimited Canada as a nest search technician in southern Alberta for 2 years, with the North Dakota Game and Fish Department trapping/banding Mourning Doves, and with the Colorado Division of Wildlife nest searching and trapping/banding waterfowl.
Everett’s M.Sc. research investigated the expanding population of Sandhill Cranes breeding, staging, and migrating along the North Shore of Lake Huron, Ontario, including Manitoulin and St. Joseph’s Islands. Primary objectives included attaining a population estimate, determining local recruitment through age-ratio surveys, and establishing the migratory behaviour of both local and migratory cranes in the late summer and early fall using PTT-based GPS transmitters. Everett is transferring from the M.Sc. program to the Ph.D. program at the University of Western Ontario to lead further research on cranes in Ontario. Everett enjoys hunting, fishing, trapping, wildlife photography and training his Labrador retriever, Tank, for hunting.
Lena Vanden Elsen - M.Sc. Candidate
Lena received her B.Sc. in Ecology and Evolution from the University of Western Ontario in spring 2010. While completing her undergraduate degree Lena volunteered with Long Point Waterfowl on numerous research projects and in 2011 she worked for Ducks Unlimited Canada on their Spatial and Temporal Variation in Nest Success of Prairie Ducks (SpATS) study, as well as their Northern Pintail brood survival study.
Lena began her M.Sc. in May 2012 and she will be investigating factors that influence autumn-winter distributions of dabbling ducks in the Atlantic, Mississippi, and Central Flyways of North America. Lena will use available waterfowl survey and nearby weather station data to develop species-specific weather threshold indices for dabbling ducks such as Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal, and Northern Shoveler. These models, called Weather Severity Indices (WSI), predict when dabbling duck species are expected to migrate from northern locales with relatively severe weather to more southern latitudes where weather conditions are milder. A WSI has been developed for Mallards but additional species-specific weather threshold models will enable conservation planners to understand how changes in climate may influence species of dabbling ducks differently and which species may be most at risk under a warming climate. The weather models for each dabbling duck will be used to predict future distributions of dabbling duck species using future climate change scenarios.
Katelyn Weaver – M.Sc. Candidate
Katelyn completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Western Ontario in 2010 where she received her Honours B.Sc. in Conservation Biology. During her time at UWO Katelyn volunteered with Long Point Waterfowl by assisting with numerous graduate projects and the Youth Hunting and Conservation Course. Katelyn also studied European Starlings for her Honors Thesis and spent a summer as a field technician in Long Point and Algonquin Park.
Katelyn began her M.Sc. in Biology with Long Point Waterfowl in January 2012. Her M.Sc. research will focus on seasonal aquatic and terrestrial habitat selection in Eastern Population Tundra Swans during the non-breeding period. Information from habitat selection studies are used to set conservation goals and to create or manipulate foraging habitat at waterfowl staging areas and in wintering regions. Knowledge of seasonal habitat selection will help inform conservation strategies for the Eastern Population Tundra Swans.
Philip Wilson – M.Sc. Candidate
Philip was born and raised in the city of Toronto, where he quickly learned that he was not meant to live in an urban environment. Bedazzled by the natural environment, he took to the woods and learned rapidly about the interconnectedness of our environment. He fell in love with Georgian Bay and considers this his true home, the place where his mind was set free to learn.
Philip attended Sir Sandford Fleming College and graduated in 2005 from the Fish and Wildlife Technology program. He then transferred to Trent University on a scholarship and graduated in 2007 with an honours degree in Wildlife Biology. His main focus was and remains to be wildlife management. Since that time, Philip has worked in various places including Cuba, the Albertan Rocky Mountains, northern, central and southern Ontario, Jordan, and most recently finished working a two year contract with Environment Canada.
Philip is currently embarking on another academic journey as he prepares for a M.Sc. in Biology at the University of Western Ontario. His focus is on the movement patterns and habitat selection of an arctic breeding species, the Long-tailed Duck, while found wintering at Lake Ontario. Efforts from his research will be utilized by industry when planning offshore wind development projects.