Biographical Notes for CMI Directors
Doug Adama, Golden
Doug Adama has worked as a wildlife biologist in the Columbia Basin for over 15 years. He is a long time resident of the Columbia Valley and lives in Golden, BC. His work has entailed habitat enhancement, ecosystem restoration, and endangered species recovery. Recently Doug joined BC Hydro’s Water License Requirements Team to initiate the wildlife projects indentified in the Columbia Water Use Plan. Current projects entail monitoring the response of a variety of taxa to the operational regimes of the Kinbasket and Arrow Lakes Reservoir and to habitat enhancement through revegetation and physical works. Doug also continues to chair the national recovery team for the southern mountain population of the Northern Leopard Frog.
Marc-André Beaucher, Wynndel
Marc-André traveled to the Kootenays in 1995 from Sherbrooke, Quebec, where he grew up. He is the area manager/biologist for the Creston Valley Wildlife Management Area. His work in wetland management and involvement with the Northern Leopard Frog Recovery Team has given him good knowledge of freshwater inland wetland functions and characteristics. His work experience includes amphibian and waterfowl surveys, water quality monitoring, fauna and flora identification, management of wetland units through water level manipulations, wetland restoration, and water control infrastructure management.
Marc-André earned a B.Sc. in Applied Zoology from McGill University (1996) and a M.Sc. in Environment and Management from Royal Roads University (2005). His thesis investigated the effects of seasonal water level fluctuation in Duck Lake (Creston, BC) on non-native largemouth bass in relation to dissolved oxygen.
Marc-André Beaucher is currently the Vice-President of the Columbia Mountains Institute.
Kevin Bollefer, Revelstoke
Kevin moved to Revelstoke in 1997, after completing his BSc at the University of Victoria in Biology and Environmental Studies. He became interested in forestry in the area and completed his forestry requirements to become a Registered Professional Forester with the Association of BC Forest Professionals in 2002. Kevin has worked as a forestry engineer, while doing various biology jobs for the Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program, and Parks Canada. Kevin now works with the Revelstoke Community Forest Corporation, where he is the Operations Forester.
Kevin Bollefer is currently Secretary/Treasurer for the Columbia Mountains Institute of Applied Ecology
Martin Carver, Nelson
Martin Carver is a water-resource and land-management expert with experience in technical, management and policy development gained in Canada, Ecuador and Nepal. Working with government, private sector, non-governmental and community-based clients, Dr. Carver has placed significant emphasis on the development and implementation of conservation strategies that support sustainability and biodiversity and on the interface between leadership, science, and policy. In a wide range of environments including wetlands, riparian areas, mountainous terrain, and temperate, subtropical, and tropical ecosystems, Dr. Carver has conducted field assessments, created certification or assessment standards, worked with communities to develop sustainable initiatives, and overseen the implementation of water- and land-related management recommendations. He actively combines his technical skills with his leadership abilities as an educator, a facilitator, a collaborator, and a team builder. He fosters collaboration by infusing leadership fundamentals and improved communication into environmental conflicts. His success in mobilizing communities and fostering active participation has contributed to ownership, conservation and sustainability.
Patrick Daigle, Victoria
While completing a graduate degree in Missoula, Patrick and his partner Jane had a waterfront rental on the Clark Fork of the Columbia. While there, he worked as a field silviculturist for the US Forest Service in Montana and Idaho, all within portions of the Columbia Basin. Over the past several decades, he's traveled, lived, played, and worked in mountain areas of the Columbia watershed in BC, Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, and Wyoming. Over the past 15 years, Patrick’s work has focused on applied ecology at stand- and landscape-levels, biodiversity, disturbance ecology, and research extension while with the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Forests and Range. Before working with the BC government, he completed research and field contract assignments for the BC Ministry of Forests and the US Forest Service.
Patrick’s academic background includes an M.Sc. from the University of Montana, a Forest Resources Diploma from Selkirk College, and a B.A. in economics from the University of Alberta.
Jenny Feick, Victoria
Jenny's interest in the CMI stems from her previous work in protected areas management, her academic training, and her experience as a former resident of the Columbia Basin. Jenny has a B.Sc. (Honours) in Environmental Biology and Physical Geography (1977), a Masters of Environmental Design (1995) and a Ph.D. in Geography (2000) all from the University of Calgary. From 1976 until 1992, Jenny worked for Parks Canada in a variety of locations in British Columbia, Alberta, and Newfoundland, including Mount Revelstoke and Glacier National Parks. Her work involved communications, research, planning, supervision, and management. Since 2000, she has worked for the BC Ministry of Environment in Victoria, first as Manager, Habitat Protection, then as Manager of Terrestrial Ecosystem Science, from June 2005 until March 2008, as Manager of Stewardship Outreach for the Environmental Stewardship Division, and from April 2009 until February 2010 for the Assistant Deputy Minister as the Manager of Climate Change Adaptation and Stewardship.
She is currently the Manager of Strategic Policy and Adaptation in the new Environmental Sustainability and Strategic Policy Division, where she manages the project to develop the new Environmental Mitigation Policy - http://wwwd.env.gov.bc.ca/emop/ , as well as continuing to provide leadership in climate change adaptation for nature conservation. She believes in integrating natural and social sciences to solve complex natural resource management issues, and in effectively using extension and outreach to foster shared environmental stewardship. Jenny loves hiking, cross-country skiing and yoga. She and her husband, Ian Hatter, spend their leisure time connecting with nature, often in the Columbia Mountains.
Irene Manley, Crescent Valley
Irene currently works as a wildlife biologist with the Fish & Wildlife Compensation Program in Nelson. Prior to coming to the West Kootenay, Irene worked in the East Kootenay and coastal British Columbia on forest and marine bird research and inventory. She has worked extensively with species-at-risk and has nine years of experience in the Columbia Basin where she has focused on the inventory and habitat requirements of rare and endangered birds. She has a M.Sc. in wildlife biology from Simon Fraser University, a B.Sc. from the University of Victoria and is a Registered Professional Biologist.
Mike Miller, Vernon
Mike Miller is a consulting biologist and photographer based in Vernon. He got his first hit of nature while wandering as a boy through the elephant- and gaur-infested Nilgiri Hills of southwestern India, where he had the good luck to been born and raised. After completing his Ph.D. in population ecology at the University of Victoria, Mike migrated to the Columbia Mountains in search of deeper snow, bigger rivers, and a quieter life. A trained botanist and plant demographer, Mike’s primary focus has been on the conservation and management of plant species at risk. He has authored numerous COSEWIC status reports and SARA-compliant recovery strategies for plants, including the national multi-species recovery strategy for vernal pool plants at risk in Garry oak and associated ecosystems. His other research interests include the control and management of invasive alien species, and the impacts of climate change on alpine communities.
Tara Skorupa, Cranbrook
Tara has worked as a wildlife biologist in Jasper National Park (her hometown), west central Alberta and now the Kootenay Region on a range of critters including butterflies, harlequin ducks, caribou, elk, deer and moose. She is currently a wildlife biologist with the Ministry of Environment, focused primarily on cervid population management.
Tara has been enamoured with the Kootenays since arriving and setting down roots in Cranbrook in 2002. Through her roles as a CMI director, she looks forward to connecting with other CMI members, and expanding her knowledge of the unique ecology in the region.
Natasha Thorpe, Revelstoke
Natasha is a community consultation, traditional studies and capacity building specialist having worked with First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples throughout the Columbia Basin, BC and the Canadian Arctic. Her diverse experience includes project management, traditional ecological knowledge (TEK), community consultation and extension, capacity building, ecological risk assessment, environmental impact assessment, environmental education, cultural awareness training, and climate change. Natasha has a particular interest in integrating traditional ecological knowledge and western science, particularly in an environmental context. Though raised in the coastal rainforest, Revelstoke has been home for the last three years.
Gregg Walker, Revelstoke
Coming soon...
Del Williams, Victoria
Del’s interest in the Columbia Mountains (and CMI) stems from his many years of working and recreating in the area. In recent years, Del has worked as Forester and General Manager for the Revelstoke Community Forest Corporation . He is presently employed with the BC Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resource Operations in SAmithers. His educational background includes a BSF degree from UBC, a diploma in forestry from B.C.I.T. as well as a series of natural resource management and environmental economics courses from the University of Victoria. His previous work history has primarily been related to the practice of forestry within British Columbia, including 10 years as silviculturalist for the Queen Charlotte Islands.
Del has been involved in a number of organizations including Scouting, Queen Charlotte Islands Hospital Board, and the Revelstoke Forest Workers Group and is a member in good standing of the Association of BC Professional Foresters.
Brendan Wilson, Winlaw
Originally from the Bow Valley in Alberta, Brendan continues to explore a life-long interest in subalpine and timberline forest communities in the Columbia Basin. He completed a B.Sc. in applied environmental biology at the University of Technology in Sydney, Australia. His Honours thesis investigated the effect of selective harvesting on understory plant communities in an Australian subalpine forest. Back in the Alberta Rockies, Brendan examined the regeneration dynamics of alpine larch for his doctoral work at the University of Alberta. Brendan is a researcher and instructor with the School of Environment and Geomatics at Selkirk College in Castlegar.
Brendan Wilson is currently President of the Columbia Mountains Institute of Applied Ecology.