Annual Researchers’ Forum

• Start Date: October 17, 2022
• End Date: October 18, 2022
• Time: See schedule
• City: Radium BC
• Venue: Radium Hot Springs Centre, 4863 Stanley Street
• Proceedings document available

Event Description

Image: Glenn Weimann

The Columbia Mountains Institute of Applied Ecology (CMI) hosts an annual event where we gather ecologists (of various descriptions!) to provide updates on ecological projects taking place in southeastern British Columbia, such as field trials, new restoration projects and their associated community initiatives, ecosystem monitoring and research, etc. These updates cover a wide range of topics and species. This is an informal atmosphere and everyone is invited to attend.

This event travels around the Columbia Mountains area to small communities and this year our Researchers’ Forum took place in Radium, BC in Ktunaxa territory.  This year we emphasized the theme of restoration, although all proposals sharing ecological projects in the were welcomed.

The event proceedings document can be found here

Presenters & Field Trips

Presentations

• Fire deficits illustrate a need for landscape-level restoration of fire-adapted ecosystems in the Rocky Mountain Trench. Jen N. Baron, University of British Columbia, Department of Forest and Conservation Science
• Conserving vulnerable Columbia Wetlands affected by climate change. Suzanne Bayley, University of Alberta and Kootenay Connect
• Water monitoring for watershed security in the Canadian Columbia Basin. Kat Hartwig, Living Lakes Canada
• Keeping people and wildlife safe on BC’s Rocky Mountain highways. Clayton Lamb, Universities of British Columbia & Montana
• Peckham’s seeding refurbishment project. Hanna McIntyre, Rocky Mountain District – ʔamakʔis Ktunaxa, BC Ministry of Forests
• Sun Creek wetland restoration and beaver reintroduction. Ariana McKay, Sqlewu̓le̓cw wetland restoration and beaver reintroduction, Kootenay Boundary Region, Ministry of Land, Water and Resource Stewardship
• Whitebark pine recovery in the Kootenay-Columbia. Randy Moody, Moody Tree
• Using plant-pollinator interaction networks to guide restoration in West Kootenay Camas Meadows. Rowan Rampton, MSc Student, University of Calgary and Kootenay Native Plant Society
• A wholistic approach to assessing the impacts of wildfire and forest management on future fire risk, food availability and use of forests by wildlife. Cora Skaien, Arrow Lakes Environment Stewardship Society, Ministry of Forests Forest Analysis and Inventory Branch (FAIB)
• Conservation and restoration of whitebark pine in the Mountain National Parks. Natalie Stafl, Parks Canada, Fire and Vegetation Ecologist
• Examining blister rust incidence in whitebark pine: why is Banff so different? Brendan Wilson, School of Environment & Geomatics, Selkirk College, West Kootenay & Boundary Region Vegetation

Posters

• Effects of Pesticide use on Bat Health and Ecology. Nicole Besler, Vespertine Ecological & DWB Consulting
• Re-Imagined Trail Cameras for Wildlife Science: Initial field testing of a newly designed smart camera for salmon restoration, raptor migrations, herpetofauna and insect pollinators. Doug Bonham, Field Data Technology
• The Northern Rocky Mountain Biodiversity Challenge: Uniting People Across an Ecoregion. George Gehrig, Kinnikinnick Native Plant Society
• Understand current and historic cervid populations in Shuswap Band Territory. Rhiannon Kirton, Shuswap Band
• Impacts of repeat wildfire on forest resiliency in Glacier National Park British Columbia (BC). Natalie Maslowski, Mount Revelstoke and Glacier National Park

Field Trips

There are two field trips scheduled for Tue Oct 18th commencing at 9am and finishing up no later than 2pm.  Exact scheduling details will be shared with event registrants.

*Be sure to come prepared for whatever mother nature send our way! Bring a water bottle, rain coat, change of dry clothes, etc! Bring binoculars. We’ll be going rain or shine.

Field Trip #1: Restoring connectivity to Columbia River tributaries –  Columbia Headwaters Aquatic Restoration Secwépemec Strategy (CHARS)

A site visit with the very knowledgeable and passionate Jon Bisset to the Shuswap Creek restoration project where a multiple indicator approach is being used to study fish populations, water quality, identify the total number of km’s of the stream that’s vegetative, channel morphology and to learn more about the stream habitat that’s available for fish movement as well as removing potential barriers for fish movement.

Field Trip #2: Redstreak Ecological Area, Kootenay National Park

Elana Olsen with Parks Canada will take us through the Redstreak Ecological Restoration Area to discuss restoring open-grassland habitat for Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep and a historic frequent low-moderate intensity fire regime.

Sponsor

Many thanks to Teck Resources for your financial support.