People

baerwald@unbc.ca

Phone: 250-960-5664

Campus: Prince George

Dr. Erin Baerwald is an assistant professor in the Ecosystem Science and Management Program at the University of Northern British Columbia in Prince Gorge, BC. She received a BSc in conservation biology from the University of Alberta, a MSc in conservation biology from the University of Calgary, a PhD in Ecology also at the University of Calgary. She followed this up with a post-doctoral research fellowship at the American Wind Wildlife Institute and a NSERC Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Regina. Dr. Baerwald’s research interests are in the conservation and ecology of migratory animals, particularly bats. Her research has primarily focused on the effects of wind turbines on migratory bats and she has published extensively on the issue. Dr. Baerwald is an active member of the IUCN’s bat specialist group, COSEWIC's Terrestrial Mammal Specialist Sub-Committee, and a migratory-bat expert for the United Nation’s Convention of Migratory Species. In 2015, she was awarded the American Society of Mammalogist’s William T. Hornaday Award for excellence in conservation of mammals and their habitats as a student.

Dr. Kristin Jonasson is a physiological ecologist that examines how bats find and allocate resources during migration and hibernation. Her work aims to find applied conservation solutions that target bats outside of the maternity season.

She received a Masters from the University of Winnipeg for work on how sex affects the hibernation energy expenditure of little brown bats. Her doctoral thesis at the University of Western Ontario focused on the movement ecology of tree-roosting bats. After graduating, she studied foraging ecology of the endangered ʻōpeʻapeʻa (Hawaiian hoary bat) on Maui, and worked with Bat conservation International on a supplementary foraging intervention (Fat Bat) to help bats survive hibernation with the devastating fungal disease White-nose syndrome. 

dana.green.eco@gmail.com

Website: https://www.danagreeneco.com/

Campus: University of Regina; Co-supervised by Dr. Mark Brigham

For her doctoral research, Dana will describe “migratory syndromes” for some of North American bats through a cross taxa comparison of morphological, physiological, and behavioural data. Additionally, using acoustics analysis and ArcMap, she will build models depicting areas of high activity during fall migration across a large geographic area to help inform industry of high risk locations.

Tory is working on a project investigating the feasibility of using scent detection dogs to locate bat hibernacula during the swarming season. Additionally, using camera traps to capture video footage, she hopes to create a behavioral model relating observed bat behaviors to site primary use. She aims  to differentiate swarming and hibernacula sites from sites with other observed bat activity. Tory is broadly interested in conservation biology and animal behavior, and she is specifically interested in anything that involves spending time with dogs.

Olivia received her BSc in Biology from McMaster University. Her current project will use trail cameras to study the abundance and occupancy of free-roaming domestic cats in the Southern Okanagan Valley. She will place trail cameras in a variety of landscapes to help identify if cats occur in areas with species at risk and areas of high bird abundances. She will also use trail cameras to examine cat behaviour outside bat roosts 

Brett completed a BSc honours project with Erin examining how bat activity in Prince George varies with different land-uses, and as a MSc student, he is exploring how air quality influences aerial insect and aerial insectivore communities.

Tina joined the lab as a MSc student in the summer of 2023. She is exploring how personalities of bats influence their response to extreme heat across a spectrum of climates. 

Quirin Bartl completed his in BSc. Landscape Conservation and Management at UNBC and did an undergraduate research project with Erin on on the potential to use taste-aversion in River Otters (Lontra canadensis) to lessen predation pressure on the threatened sturgeon populations being released from hatcheries. He started his MSc. September 2023.

Emily received her BSc in Molecular Biology and Genetics from the University of Guelph. Her project will look at seasonal changes in roosting ecology and tree use by Silver-haired bats and how we might improve forestry prescriptions to preserve critical roosting habitat.  Emily is broadly interested in conservation biology and the effects of human activity on animal behaviour.

Working with Dr. Erin Baerwald and Dr. Mark Brigham, Erin is using acoustics to determine if migratory tree-roosting bats follow specific corridors and/or landscape features during autumn migration in southern Saskatchewan. If there are consistent discernible patterns, this information can be used to inform wind energy siting decisions. Erin is generally interested in how animals respond to human activity and how we can improve our activities to better conserve biodiversity.