Two of our programs have welcomed new staff to their teams this past month: A new Moose Research Initiative is officially underway as Arya and Caroline join the Caribou Team for some exciting new projects under it’s wings; and the Healthy Landscapes Program is joined by Sarah who will help lead new projects and workshops. Learn more about them below!
Arya Horon
Biologist
Caribou Program
Arya is joining the team after studying caribou migration for her master’s degree at the University of Guelph. She will be helping out on our new Moose Research Initiative project: investigating how forest management and climate factors may impact moose populations in Alberta.
Arya is excited to explore new parts of Alberta through fieldwork and to collaborate with a great team of passionate scientists and partners.
Outside of work, you can find Arya hiking, rock climbing, or reading. Asking about her favourite animal, Arya replied that the hyena is her favourite. After spending some time in Kenya, she fell in love with their big personalities, which especially came out watching the cubs play with each other!
Caroline Lesage
Biologist
Caribou Program
Caroline is also helping out with our new Moose Research Initiative project: exploring the effects of climate and forest management factors on moose in Alberta. Caroline spent the last year supporting graduate students as the lab manager for the Wildlife and Ecosystem Bioindicators Lab at UNBC. Most of her time was spent focusing on a project about endo and ectoparasites in moose.
Caroline is really excited to do interesting work alongside an awesome group of people and to be heading into the field this fall. She’s also excited to be studying moose from a different perspective than her past experiences!
Caroline loves to be outdoors! This past year, she started a few new activities including mountain biking and cross country skiing.
Asking about her favourite animal, Caroline replied that she’s a fan of river otters: they are cute, funny and very interesting to observe! Caroline has fond memories of watching otters for her master’s research, especially seeing pups learn new things.
Sarah Schmid
Program Coordinator
Healthy Landscapes Program
Sarah has joined our Healthy Landscapes Program as its newest Program Coordinator. Her background includes working for the Government of Saskatchewan as the Forestry Initiatives Advisor. She worked with executive leadership on forestry priorities and initiatives and assisted in forest education and outreach with the public. In the past, Sarah has worked for the Prince Albert Model Forest and Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society. She was fortunate enough to work with several Saskatchewan Indigenous communities, forestry companies and government on projects that focused on balancing ecological, social, economic and cultural needs and values. Sarah also helped to coordinate and attend Indigenous youth canoe and environmental trips.
In her new role, Sarah will be working on the ‘Beyond the Trees’ project. This project is focused on identifying culturally significant understory plants and exploring if/how disturbances (forestry and wildfire) could impact those plants. Her team will be working directly with Indigenous communities in Alberta and Saskatchewan, in addition to engaging with industry and government. Another priority on her list is organizing and facilitating a workshop for the HLP partners to discuss ecosystem-based management (EBM) and other relevant topics.
Sarah is most excited to work collaboratively with a variety of partners on research that focuses to support ecosystem-based management. In a time of climatic and ecosystem uncertainty, it’s critical to bring people together to discuss and implement projects with the goal to ensure the continuance of healthy ecosystems.
Outside of work, Sarah spends a lot of time with her husband and her dog canoeing and finding new areas to camp remotely.
Asking about her favourite animal, Sarah shared that she absolutely loves wolves. They work together to survive and can travel vast distances in search of food. She’s been lucky enough to come across wolves during her past field work experiences and seeing their beauty and aloofness in person was the highlight of field work.