About Us

In 1988, the Alberta Chapter of The Wildlife Society emerged with a vision to foster collaboration and excellence in wildlife science and management within the province. The founding committee, comprised of passionate individuals dedicated to advancing the understanding and conservation of Alberta’s wildlife, played a pivotal role in shaping the foundation of the chapter.

The founding committee members included: Morley Barrett, Mike Dorrance, Bill Glasgow, and Bill Samuel.

These visionaries shared a commitment to the principles of wildlife conservation and recognized the need for a dedicated platform that would bring together professionals, researchers, and enthusiasts in the field. Their collective efforts laid the groundwork for an organization that would serve as a hub for knowledge exchange and research collaboration for the protection of Alberta’s diverse wildlife.

Their initiative paved the way for the establishment of a dynamic chapter that continues to thrive today. The Alberta Chapter of The Wildlife Society remains steadfast in its mission to promote the stewardship of wildlife and their habitats through science-based approaches, building upon the legacy set forth by the dedicated individuals who founded it in 1988. 

Learn more about the ACTWS history here. 

Our Mission

To inspire and empower wildlife professionals* to engage in science-based management and conservation of wild animals and their habitats.

Our Members

Wildlife biology professionals, scientists, academics, students, communicators and citizen advocates throughout Alberta and western Canada.

Our Organization

We are a non-profit Chapter of the US-based The Wildlife Society. We have over 550 members and are governed by a volunteer board and coordinated by an executive director.

Strategic Plan
2021 Annual Report

Our Activities

Create and foster a collaborative wildlife community of students, scientists, managers, and enthusiasts

Promote application of robust science in wildlife and habitat-related decision making

Enhance and empower our membership through diverse services and student supports

Develop, maintain, and model organizational efficiency

The key role of the ACTWS is to foster a professional culture among wildlife biologists that promotes science-based management and conservation of wildlife throughout Alberta.

Our Achievements

32 CONFERENCES

for wildlife professionals and students

30+ YEARS and >400 MEMBERS

advocating for science in wildlife management across Alberta

$175K+

of scholarships, travel grants, and student presentation awards given

20+ CAMPAIGNS

on wildlife and habitat issues from coal mining to species at risk management. Success in wetland policy, CWD testing, forestry planning, caribou recovery, and more

TWS LEADER

in Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

2019

TWS Chapter of the Year

Executive

Stan Boutin

Past-President

Colleen Cassady St. Clair

PRESIDENT

Paul Frame

President-Elect

Samantha Stamler

Treasurer

Marcus Becker

Secretary

Shantel Carels

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Emily Herdman

Director

Sandra MacDougall

Director

Corey Scobie

Director

Lacey Hébert

Director

Remington Bracher

Student Director & Education and Information

Ednna Stobschinski

Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion Chair

Margo Pybus

Historian

Lalenia Neufeld

webmaster

Volunteer Committees

So much of our work is addressed and accomplished with the help of dedicated members who volunteer their time and expertise to meet our mission. Our active committees are:

  • Conservation Affairs
  • Education and Information
  • Membership
  • Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.

 

Learn more about them on our Volunteer Committees page.

ACTWS Speakers Bureau

Provide a database of qualified scientists and managers to speak at an array of events and to groups of all ages. Please see our Speakers Bureau below to find a speaker perfect for your event. If you’re an expert, please sign up for our Bureau in the Members’ Area

First Name
Last Name
City
Discipline
Areas of Expertise
Website
Email
Murugan
Shanthakumar
Wildlife
Ecology, Biodiversity, Ornithology
https://www.linkedin.com/in/murugan-shanthakumar-m-sc-ph-d-kset-mrsb-646459191/
guruzoology2012@gmail.com
Vidya
Padmakumar
New Hazelton
Wildlife, Forestry
Ecology, Wildlife, Biodiversity, Ornithology
https://www.linkedin.com/in/vidya-padmakumar-phd-mrsb-rpbio-rsci-pbiol-cbiol-16018a132/
vidyapkumar3@gmail.com
Tyne
Baker
Cochrane
Wildlife
- Animal Behaviour and Communication - Wildlife Ecology - Environmental Consulting - Passive Remote Detection (acoustic monitoring, remote cameras). - Large audio-visual dataset processing. - Ecological sound and photo analysis.
avianeco.com
info@avianeco.com
Jessica
Haines
Edmonton
Wildlife
My research and teaching focus on conservation biology, particularly conservation of mammals. I am collaborating with Nature Alberta to determine whether Franklin’s ground squirrel in Alberta is an endangered species. I am also exploring whether it matters how we talk about conservation biology in undergraduate classrooms. I want to know if students feel more empowered to take action if we focus on success stories in conservation rather than just discussing the challenges we face.
ABMammals.ca
hainesj5@macewan.ca
Joseph
Litke
Edmonton
Wildlife
Wildlife track identification and interpretation
https://www.fieraconsulting.ca/team-members/joseph-litke/
jlitke@fieraconsulting.ca

Stan Boutin

Conservation Affairs Committee Chair

Stan Boutin is currently Professor Emeritus in the University of Alberta’s Department of Biological Sciences. He grew up north of Edmonton and went to school at University of Alberta (BSc) and UBC (MSc and PhD). Stan was formerly Science Co-Director of the Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute, President and Science Co-Lead for the Canadian Mountain Network, Alberta Biodiversity Conservation Chair, and NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Integrated Landscape Management. Stan’s applied research is designed to allow stakeholders to make ecologically informed land-use decisions and he has worked closely with the forestry and energy sectors in Alberta. He became involved in the study and conservation of woodland caribou in the mid nineties. Other research interests include snowshoe hare-lynx cycles and red squirrel ecology, energetics, and evolution. Stan has tortured many great graduate students along the way. Despite this, he and his students have been awarded The Wildlife Society Publication of the Year in Wildlife, Ecology and Management three times. Stan was also fortunate enough to be awarded the William Rowan Distinguished Service Award from ACTWS and he has the belt buckle to prove it.

Colleen Cassady St. Clair

Past-President

Colleen Cassady St. Clair is a professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Alberta where she has been since 1998. Prior to that she completed degrees at the Universities of Alberta (B.Sc.), Canterbury (M.Sc.) and Oklahoma (Ph.D.). She and her students emphasise knowledge and methods of animal behaviour to study problems in wildlife conservation and management with a focus on resolving human-wildlife conflict. Together, they have produced over 100 peer-reviewed papers, a dozen government reports, several magazine articles, and hundreds of presentations and media interviews. Colleen seeks to engage others in both the process and products of science with collaborative teams that include wildlife and land managers, policy makers, diverse interest groups, and members of the public. You can learn more about Colleen on her University of Alberta webpage here.

Paul Frame

President

Paul Frame has been the Provincial Carnivore Specialist with the GoA (Environment and Sustainable Resource Development, Environment and Parks, Environment and Protected Areas, Forestry and Parks) since June 2014. He started working in the wildlife research and management field in 1997 on Dr. L. David Mech’s deer and wolf study while working toward his B.Sc. at the University of Minnesota. Paul finished that degree in spring 2001, graduating with distinction. That fall, Paul started an M.Sc. program in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Alberta, which he successfully completed in 2005. While at the U of A, Paul was the 2002 recipient of the Alberta Chapter’s William Wishard Graduate Scholarship.

Paul has broad experience working with cougars, wolves, and bears in multiple jurisdictions including, Minnesota, Arizona, New Mexico, Montana, Alaska, Idaho, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, Yukon, and Washington State. Returning to Alberta in 2014 as the Provincial Carnivore Specialist was an opportunity Paul couldn’t say no to. Eleven years and lots of political changes later, he still considers it his dream job.

The Wildlife Society has always been a guiding light in Paul’s career. As such, contributing to the work of the Alberta Chapter as President Elect will add a new dimension to his experience, while providing an opportunity to give back to the Society.

Samantha Stamler

Treasurer
Samantha has an advanced diploma from Fleming College; specializing in biotechnology forensic science. She is currently a Wildlife Disease Technician with Alberta Environment and Parks and contributes to wildlife disease surveillance, monitoring, and management in Alberta, including; chronic wasting disease, avian influenza, and others. Samantha has experience in a variety of field work endeavours which spans throughout Alberta, including Jasper National Park, and her work is noted as a contributing author on two publications. Samantha has a deep-rooted love for the outdoors that stems from childhood summers spent with family; camping and canoeing around southern Ontario. She has nurtured that passion into a career and interest in conservation ever since. In her off time, she enjoys back country camping, hiking, mountain biking, snowboarding, yoga, music, travel and photography.

Brianna Lorentz

Secretary

Brianna is currently a Landscape Ecologist with the Government of Alberta (Forestry and Parks) where she helps to manage and restore habitat and biodiversity, ensure ecosystem resiliency, and guide sustainable land use across Alberta’s Crown lands. She completed her B.Sc. at the University of Alberta, Augustana Campus where she undertook undergraduate research projects studying muskrat winter habitat selection as well as inter-individual differences in Mongolian gerbil behaviour. Later, she completed her M.Sc. at the University of Alberta testing non-lethal methods of managing and mitigating human-wildlife conflict with Columbian ground squirrels. Brianna has a passion for all things nature and loves to be outdoors.

Shantel Carels

Executive Director

Shantel is a professional biologist with over ten years of wildlife research experience, and over three years of experience working as the Executive Director for the ACTWS. Shantel holds a Masters in Ecology from the University of Alberta and a Bachelor of Science degree from Dalhousie University. Shantel has work experience as a consultant, report writer and science communicator, data analyst, and GIS technician. 

Craig Dockrill, MBA, MSc

Director

Craig has devoted his career to the conservation and stewardship of some of the planet’s most remarkable landscapes—from the Canadian arctic and windswept archipelago of the Falkland Islands to the Miombo woodlands and Lake Malawi in east Africa. Craig has led transformative projects in species recovery, habitat restoration, and Indigenous-led conservation —earning recognition for his ability to unite diverse communities and perspectives around the pursuit of lasting environmental stewardship. Craig’s international journey includes several years as CEO of Falklands Conservation, where he built global partnerships to advance research and conservation priorities for the south Atlantic’s unique species and ecosystems. During his tenure with the Government of Alberta, Craig has worked in several positions in Fish and Wildlife Stewardship – primarily in northeast Alberta. Most recently, Craig served as Director of Land and Environmental planning where he led strategic land-use and species conservation initiatives across northern Alberta. He brings over 20 years of experience in wildlife and landscape management, biodiversity monitoring, research, participatory land use planning, and Indigenous co-management. Craig holds an MSc in wildlife and rangeland resources from the University of Alberta and an MBA from the University of Toronto. Known for a collaborative, systems thinking approach, he builds strong partnerships and empowers teams to deliver innovative solutions for sustainable development and biodiversity conservation. Craig has been a wildlife enthusiast since early childhood, and spends much of his free time birding, hiking, and traveling – or ideally combining all three to visit new places to watch and photograph wildlife.

Sandra MacDougall

Director

Sandra MacDougall is a biology instructor and former Biology Department Chair at Red Deer Polytechnic (RDP). Born in Thompson, Manitoba, Sandra received a M.E.Des. (Environmental Science) from the University of Calgary and a B.Sc. (Biological Sciences) from the University of Victoria. Sandra has been at RDP (formerly Red Deer College) since 1995. Her research interests include black bear ecology, sea turtle conservation and monitoring, urban ungulates and understanding human-wildlife conflicts in a variety of contexts. She is passionate about ensuring that undergraduate biology students have a strong foundation in quantitative skills and wildlife ecology. For twenty years Sandra collaborated with Parks Canada to conduct field hazard assessments and analyze human-bear conflicts in northern parks. She subsequently worked with the Government of Alberta to develop the Alberta Wildlife Watch Program, a province-wide safety program that collects and analyzes real-time animal carcass data to identify hotspots and integrate wildlife considerations into transportation planning. She and her students are currently focused on (1) studying the feeding ecology and demographic characteristics of an expanding black bear population in the Beaver Hills Biosphere, and (2) using non-invasive techniques to study urban wildlife movements and habitat connectivity in the City of Red Deer.

Corey Scobie

Director

Corey has been the Assistant Curator of Ornithology at the Royal Alberta Museum since 2014, where he prepares birds, manages the 40,000+ objects in the Ornithology collection, develops exhibits, participates in outreach activities and runs various research projects. Previously, Corey worked with Species at Risk in the grasslands of Alberta and Saskatchewan, where he focused on the influence of human development on Burrowing Owls. Outside of work, he enjoys growing food on almost every square meter of his yard in Edmonton as well as hunting and camping with family and friends. 

Julien Gullo

Director

A self-described late-bloomer, Julien finished a technical diploma at Selkirk College in Castlegar, BC in 2018. After working contracts in fisheries and ecological monitoring in BC and Alberta, he landed a career-changing role as a fisheries technician for the Redfish and Kokanee Creek spawning channel program in Nelson, BC, where he gained the experience with community engagement and public management of wildlife that inspired him to continue his skills development and education. Since earning his Bachelor degree in Natural Resource Science at Thompson Rivers University in 2023 and nearing completion of his MSc in Ecology at the University of Alberta, Julien has made great gains in his technical and soft-skills, while developing an optimistic outlook and confidence during the process. He hopes to one day blend his love of working with people, his curiosity in wildlife behaviour, and his interest in problem solving into a unique career. These days, you might find Julien catching a show off of Whyte Ave, making something tasty in the kitchen, or freezing his cheeks off in a tree stand.

Norbert Nguyen

Student Director

Norbert is a fourth-year student at the University of Alberta, wrapping up an undergraduate degree in Conservation Biology. On an everlasting mission to build stronger relationships between people and wildlife, he serves as both the Special Events Coordinator for the Environmental and Conservation Sciences Students’ Association (ECSA) and President for the University of Alberta Chapter of the Wildlife Society. For the past two years, Norbert has acted as the coordinator for the ACTWS’ student hunting and ice fishing programs, helping to foster hands-on wildlife experiences for countless students across the province. He has also worked for the Canadian Forest Service assessing caribou habitat since 2023 and is the acting Fundraising Coordinator for the Alberta Amphibian and Reptile Conservancy. And when he’s not working away, you can find Norbert fishing Alberta’s big river systems or running around campus in some sort of elaborate costume.

Brook Skagen

Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion Chair

Brook Skagen (He/They) is a Professional Wildlife Biologist and Rangeland Agrologist based in Lethbridge, Alberta. An Ecosystems Management graduate (B.Sc.) with a concentration in Fish and Wildlife Management from Lethbridge College, Brook has over a decade of experience in the environmental field, working across industry, nonprofit, government, and academic sectors. Much of his work has been with the MULTISAR program, collaborating with landowners and partners to conserve species at risk across the prairie landscapes of southern Alberta. His professional focus includes habitat assessments, biodiversity monitoring, and conservation planning within working rangelands.

Brook is the owner of Larkfir Conservation Services and has previously worked as a post-secondary instructor in Lethbridge Polytechnic’s Renewable Resource Management programming. He is also a former editor of Nature Alberta magazine. In addition to his professional work, he is active in community outreach and environmental education, including founding the Queercus Club, an initiative that creates inclusive opportunities for people of all identities to connect with nature. Outside of work, Brook is also a painter and poet, as well as enjoys photographing the natural world and strumming away on his guitar, banjo, and ukulele.

Margo Pybus

Historian

Dr. Margo Pybus spent the better part of a life-time learning from wildlife.  She was schooled early in life among the fields, forests, and marshes of southern Ontario and later in the prairie, foothill, mountain, parkland, and boreal landscapes of Alberta and beyond..

Margo received a B.Sc. in Fish and Wildlife Biology and M.Sc. in Wildlife Parasitology, both from the University of Guelph.  She holds a PhD in Wildlife Parasitology from the University of Alberta and is currently an adjunct professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, UofA.  Margo is on staff with Alberta Fish and Wildlife as the first Provincial Wildlife Disease Specialist. She leads high profile provincial wildlife disease surveillance and management programs, including chronic wasting disease, West Nile virus, avian influenza, and rabies.

Alberta TWS member since the Chapter founding in 1989. Former Chapter newsletter editor, President, student mentor, Dedicated Service and Rowan Distinguished Service award recipient, and ongoing reference/repository for many things chapter-related.

Lalenia Neufeld

Webmaster

Layla is a caribou biologist with Parks Canada in Jasper National Park, and has been the ACTWS webmaster since 2007.  Layla grew up in rural Alberta adjacent to Alberta’s green zone (without a lot of neighbours, but with a lot of sticks, rocks, and wildlife). She received her B.Sc. and M.Sc. at the University of Alberta, and is a former president of the University of Alberta Chapter of the Wildlife Society.  Layla’s M.Sc. thesis examined dynamics of Little Smoky caribou and wolves in west-central Alberta. Her work with Parks Canada takes her to picturesque locations throughout Canada’s National Parks and she’s a key member of the caribou research, monitoring, and recovery team in the Canadian Rockies National Parks. Layla enjoys hiking, biking, music, travel, biology, and loves the outdoors;  she is looking forward to re-exploring favourite places with her two young children in coming years.

PO BOX 4990
Edmonton AB
T6E 5G8

info@actws.ca


“Rooted in Wisdom: Deer Aging Techniques”

Embark on a journey of precision and insight with the Lethbridge College Wildlife Analytics Lab (WAL) at the ACTWS Conference in Jasper! Join our workshop, ‘Rooted in Wisdom: Deer Aging Techniques‘, to explore the secrets hidden within wildlife teeth. Explore both the field technique of ‘tooth eruption and wear’ and the laboratory marvel of ‘cementum analysis’ – both dedicated to unraveling the mysteries of ungulate ages. Delve into the heart of these techniques, comparing their accuracy and precision, with a revelation of the superior accuracy of cementum analysis. Learn the art of tooth extraction and witness the seamless process of submitting your own wildlife teeth to the WAL for aging through cementum analysis. Elevate your understanding of deer populations and contribute to the advancement of wildlife knowledge and bolster your resume with applied experience. Participants will gain hands-on familiarity with the field technique of jaw aging, and the lab process of tooth extraction, inspection, preparation, and cementum analysis. Join us in Jasper for a transformative experience at the intersection of field expertise and cutting-edge laboratory analysis!

Facilitated by the Wildlife Analytics Lab, Lethbridge College

Cost: $15

Professional refers to someone who works with wildlife and/or their habitats in a professional setting.

In this context, it is not in reference to a legal professional designation.

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