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I am an Associate Professor in the School of Science at Yukon University in Whitehorse, Yukon, and an Adjunct Professor in the Dept. of Renewable Resources at the University of Alberta.

I coordinate the Bachelor of Science in Northern Environmental and Conservation Sciences Program that Yukon University offers in partnership with U of Alberta.

I teach BIOL 225 Ornithology, REN R 401B Northern Avian Ecology, REN R 463 Biological Adaptation to Northern Environments; BIOL 310 Animal Behaviour; REN R 480 Applied Statistics for Environmental Sciences; COMM 193/ALES 204 Introduction to Scientific and Technical Communication; ALES 391 Critical Thinking and Advanced Communication in Science; REN R 603 Graduate Research Skills; and REN R 604 Graduate Research Seminar.

I completed my M.Sc. and Ph.D. in the Centre for Applied Conservation Research, Faculty of Forestry, at the University of British Columbia (Vancouver, BC), and my B.Sc. at Simon Fraser University (Burnaby, BC).  I also completed a Bachelor of Applied Arts degree in Radio and Television Arts at Ryerson University (Toronto, ON).

My Ph.D. dissertation was on limitation of cavity-nesting bird and small mammal populations by resource availability.  My M.Sc. thesis was on the availability of cavities for a community of cavity-nesting birds and small mammals in interior British Columbia.

Before starting at Yukon University, I worked as a Forest Bird Biologist with Canadian Wildlife Service in Whitehorse, Yukon.

I specialize in avian community and population ecology.  My research is focused on the influence of natural and anthropogenic disturbances on reproduction, habitat selection, and competition in forest bird communities (particularly cavity-nesting communities).  Other research interests include the role of resource availability in limiting animal populations; resource selection, interspecific competition, and niche partitioning; ethno-ornithology; and the effects of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) on avian communities.

I am also a member of the Board of Directors of the Canadian College and University Environmental Network (CCUEN).