CMI Events

Past Events

Click here for information about our past conferences, courses, and meetings. Download free conference summaries, view lists of our event partners, and more.

Upcoming Events

Urban Wildlife Challenges and Management conference, April 18 - 19, 2012 in Cranbrook, BC. The speaker list is posted and we are open for registrations.

CMI Annual Researchers' Meeting, May 1, 2012 in Nelson
Call for presentations, posters, and field trips is now open.

Capture-recapture for Spatial Data course, May 29-31, 2012 in Nelson BC
Register now. As of January 31 at noon, there are 4 spots left. When the course fills we will start a wait list. "Life happens" and "contracts go awry" so putting your name on the wait list could be a good thing.

Soils Refresher Course, May 31 - June 1, 2011 in Castlegar BC
Register now.
This course is co-hosted with Selkirk College.

GPS Unleashed - Making the most of your GPS unit, May in Castlegar (details coming soon)
This course is co-hosted with Selkirk College.

Introduction to R Software, June 5 - 6, 2012 in Nelson BC.
Register now.

*** You may wish to review our Registration and Cancellation Policy
before you register for any of our events. ***

Click here to receive our event announcements.

Urban Wildlife: Challenges and Management

April 18-19, 2012
Rocky Mountain Prestige Inn, 209 Van Horne Street South
Cranbrook BC

Registration - click here.

Conference description

Wildlife numbers are increasing within many British Columbia municipalities, leading to more interactions with humans and our infrastructure. Interactions can lead to property damage, public safety issues, public health concerns, impacts on biodiversity, and death or suffering of wildlife. Deer, elk, coyotes, moose, geese, racoons, bears, and other animals can become more than a nuisance, putting themselves and humans at risk. Through a combination of presentations, posters, and field trips, this conference will address the environmental, social, and economic issues related to wildlife in urban settings.

Who is this conference for?

We anticipate a multidisciplinary group of people: provincial, regional district, and municipal staff; biologists; resource managers; First Nations; academics; industry, stewardship groups; and others with an interest in human–wildlife interactions.

Photo by Lorne Smithson, Grand Forks

List of presentations and posters

An agenda will be posted here, closer to the date of the conference.

Biology of mule deer and white-tailed deer with implications for urban deer management, Brian Harris, Regional Wildlife Biologist, BC Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resource Operations.
Challenges to coexistence with urban coyotes: A spatial-temporal analysis of diet and human-coyote interactions in Calgary, Alberta, Victoria Lukasik, Department of Geography, University of Calgary.
Understanding urban white-tailed deer movement in a Canadian metropolitan centre, Erin McCance, Department of Environment and Geography, University of Manitoba.
Bats in buildings: Roost conservation and enhancement, Juliet Craig, Silverwing Ecological Consulting.
Challenges of managing stormwater wetlands for Black Terns: A case study, Erika Almasi-Klausz, City of Calgary, and Kelly Day, City of Calgary.
Urban elk management in Banff National Park, Blair Fyten, Resource Conservation, Parks Canada.
Wildlife exclusion fencing in urban areas: Issues and solutions, Bill Harper, Wildlife Advisor, Kicking Horse Canyon Project.
Electric fencing: An effective deterrent to protect fruit trees and small livestock from bears, Gillian Sanders, North Kootenay Lake Bear Smart Program.
Silencing the dinner bell: how do we reduce the feeding of urban wildlife? Sara Dubois, Faculty of Land and Food Systems, Animal Welfare Program, University of British Columbia.
Changing human behaviour as part of wildlife management, Kai Elmauer, Elmauer Institute.
Urban deer management in Cranbrook, Chris Zettel, Corporate Communications Officer, City of Cranbrook, and Bob Whetham, Councillor, City of Cranbrook.
The Grand Forks Deer Committee: A deer town with a people problem, Jenny Coleshill, Grand Forks Deer Committee.
Meeting the needs of wildlife education and outreach in the East Kootenay, Shaunna McInnis, Kimberley BC.
Perils, pitfalls and profiting from the use of social media marketing to present your message to the public, Frank Ritcey, Bear Aware, BC Conservation Foundation.
A process for solving urban wildlife conflicts at the community level, Mark Hall, Jaffray BC.
The rabbit problem: The University of Victoria story, Thomas Smith, Facilities Management, University of Victoria.
Dealing with rabbits, acting like tortoises: A recipe for messy eradication of a charismatic invasive species, Lindsay Monk and Jason Strata, School of Environmental Studies, University of Victoria.
Management of southern sub-populations of Canada geese in British Columbia: The biological and practical challenges of implementing appropriately scaled management plans, Kate Hagmeier, EBB Environmental Consulting.
A community response to geese management, Janette Loveys, Park Operation Services, Capital Regional District.
Data collection as a means of validating human-wildlife conflicts management decisions in the Town of Canmore, Jay Honeyman, Bear Conflict Biologist, Alberta Sustainable Resource Development.
Wildlife corridor planning in a rapidly growing community, Gary Buxton, Manager of Planning and Development, Gary Buxton, General Manager of Municipal Infrastructure,Town of Canmore, and Steve de Keijzer, Senior Planner, Town of Canmore.
How to engage communities in reducing human-wildlife conflict through community outreach and social media, Kim Titchener, Program Director, Bow Valley WildSmart Community Program.

Evening speaker, April 18

7:30 p.m. in our conference room at the Rocky Mountain Prestige Inn

Dr. Michael Proctor, of Birchdale Ecological Ltd.

Co-existing with grizzly bears in the urban/rural Creston Valley

Dr. Proctor will speak about recovering threatened grizzly populations, re-establishing regional connectivity, and providing adaptive options for climate change.

The general public is invited to join the conference participants
to hear Dr. Proctor's presentation.

List of posters

Offers to bring along a poster will be accepted until two weeks before the conference. Posters should be related to the theme of the conference, not commercial in nature, and not advocacy-oriented. Please read the submission guidelines.

The Provincial Agriculture Zone Wildlife Program in the Kootenay Boundary Region, Donna Thornton, Agriculture Wildlife Specialist, BC Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resource Operations.
Evaluating East Kootenay elk use on private land under hunting pressure, Donna Thornton, Agriculture Wildlife Specialist, BC Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resource Operations, and Becky Phillips, Wildlife Biologist, BC Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resource Operations.
Saving those on the not so cute side of the ledger, Frank Ritcey, Kamloops BC
Challenges of wildlife utilizing roadways: Investigating amphibian road occurrence and road mortality mitigation within the south Okanagan, British Columbia, Jonquil Crosby, Department of Environment and Resource Studies, University of Waterloo.
Ecosystem Management and Conservation Biology Extension Cluster at FORREX, Pedro Lara Almuedo, FORREX
Bear behaviour and trains: Examining the behavioural relationship between bears and trains using loco-cam data, Brianna Burley, Resource Conservation, Parks Canada.
A practical approach to urban wildlife management: The development and implementation of urban wildlife plans, Oliver Busby, EBB Environmental Consulting.
Kimberley Wildlife Aware display, Shaunna McInnis, Kimberley BC.
Kimberley Bear Aware display, Shaunna McInnis, Kimberley BC.
Resident coyotes in the City of Calgary, Alberta: Functional connectivity of urban natural spaces, Karina Lamy, Department of Environmental Design, University of Calgary.
Managing for human-facilitated wildlife invasions: Lessons from an adaptive management program for introduced frogs in the South Okanagan Valley, BC, Natasha Lukey, Department of Environment and Resource Studies, University of Waterloo.
Management of resident Canada Geese and restoration of degraded estuaries on eastern Vancouver Island, John Cooper, Cooper Beauchesne and Associates Ltd.

Registration

Register here. When you submit the form you can ask for a PDF invoice or pay with a credit card using PayPal (you don't need a PayPal account). Your registration is not secured until CMI receives payment.

The conference registration fee includes two lunches and coffee breaks (no dinner).

Be sure you've read the Cancellation Policy on the registration form. There are no refunds after March 31, and there is a $50 retainer on any cancellations before then.

Regular fee	$275.00 + HST
CMI Member fee You can join CMI using the registration form and take advantage of this reduced fee immediately.	$250.00 + HST
Students, oral presenters, and representatives of stewardship groups	$175.00 + HST

Where to stay

Rates of $90.00 per night plus taxes are available at the Prestige Rocky Mountain Resort in Cranbrook. To receive the rate you need to mention that you are attending "the Urban Wildlife Conference" at the time you make your booking. Only 40 rooms are available at this price. This is the rate given to government staff; if YOU are government staff please do not ask for one of these rooms, just register without mentioning you are part of this conference. THANKS! That way the rooms with a special rate will be still be available to the the non-government people.

Prestige Rocky Mountain Resort
Phone toll free: 1-877-737-8443
Phone local: 250-417-0444
Cranbrook@PrestigeHotels.ca

Photo by Tom Sparrow, Fort St. John

CMI Annual Researchers’ Meeting & Annual General Meeting

May 1, 2012
Lakeside Prestige Resort, Nelson BC

Call for presentations closes April 1

Every year CMI members get together to provide updates on their projects (research, field trials, new initiatives in southeastern British Columbia) and catch up on each other’s news. It’s an informal atmosphere and non-CMI members and post-secondary students are welcome to attend.

CMI's short Annual General Meeting will be held immediately after lunch. There is no charge to attend only the AGM.

We have aligned our Annual Meeting with the much larger annual conference of the Association of Professional Biology of BC, which will be held at the Prestige Lakeside Resort from May 2 to May 5. On the day following our meeting, the Association of Professional Biology meeting begins with a choice of field trips, and short courses, such as David Polster's "Natural processes for the restoration of drastically disturbed sites". Be sure to check the Association's web site for updates and information on how to register. CMI members are encouraged to register for Association's activities. You do not need to be a member of their Association to register. The Association is looking for offers of field trips and presentations.

Our call for presentations, posters, and field trips

If you have information of interest to others interested in the ecology of southeastern BC, we'd like to hear from you. You are welcome to think beyond "PowerPoint". Perhaps you just want to stand up and say a few words? Or you have a demonstration of some kind? Or maybe you'd like to bring along a poster? If your information is not commercial in nature, and it's not advocating for a cause, then take a few minutes to write down what you want to talk about and send it in. We have submission guidelines here.

Offers of field trips are welcome, too. CMI field trips would be on May 1, or maybe you would consider offering your field trip on May 2 through the Association of Professional Biology of BC, to include their attendees. To offer a field trip on May 2, contact David Polster.

Offers of CMI presentations are due by April 1 but may be accepted after that if we have room in the agenda.

Registration and cost

We will open for registrations in early April. Your registration includes lunch and coffee breaks.

Costs for the CMI Annual Researchers' Meeting are:

$70 for non-members (plus HST)
$65 for members (plus HST)
$35 for students (plus HST)

Presenters need to pay the fee. Please be sure to read the cancellation policy on the registration form.

You will need to pay before your registration is secured. CMI accepts credit cards through our service with PayPal, but you don't need to have a PayPal account to use the service.

If you are signing up for events hosted by the Association of Professional Biology you will need to check what their fee schedules are.

Where to stay

A block of rooms has been reserved at the Prestige Lakeside Resort at the special rate of $89.00 plus taxes. You are responsible for making the actual booking for your room and for the cost of your room. Be sure to mention that you are part of this Columbia Mountains Institute meeting to get the special rate. Book early to get a room, because the rooms we have reserved will be “released” one week before the course.

Prestige Lakeside Resort
701 Lakeside Drive, Nelson, BC V1L 6G3
Nelson@PrestigeHotels.ca
Phone 250-352-7222 or toll free 1-87-PRESTIGE

Information about other campsites and accommodations can be found at the website of the Nelson Chamber of Commerce.

Capture–recapture for Spatial Data course

May 29-31, 2012
Prestige Lakeside Resort, Nelson BC

Instructor: Dr. Murray Efford, Otago University, New Zealand
Class size: Class size is limited to 16 people.
Cost: $675.00 plus HST to be paid at the time of registration. Software for the course is free from the internet.
Course fee includes: Instruction and coffee breaks. Participants are responsible for their own meals and hotel arrangements. Participants are to bring a laptop computer pre-loaded with software (see below).

Registration information is here.

Course description

Animal populations are often studied by trapping individuals, marked or otherwise distinguishable, at discrete points in space or by searching an area for sign. The statistical analysis of such data to estimate population density or size is more robust and effective if it accounts for the spatial distribution of sampling. There has been rapid growth of relevant methods and software in the last few years, but these have yet to appear in standard texts. Spatially explicit capture–recapture (SECR) analyses are used widely for bear populations sampled with hair snags and for large cats caught on automatic cameras. The methods extend to grid trapping of small mammals, mist-netting of birds, DNA from feces, and sounds recorded on microphone arrays.

Content

This 3-day short course introduces the core concepts of SECR, the free Windows software ‘Density’ and the R package ‘secr’. There will be some time set aside to discuss participants’ data. Specific topics to be covered include:

spatial data types
detection functions
the use of habitat masks
modelling of trap response and spatial, temporal or individual covariates
interpreting output and troubleshooting
study design
density surfaces
open-population analysis.

Our instructor

Dr. Murray Efford is a population ecologist with long experience in live-trapping studies. He has recently focused on developing spatially explicit capture–recapture methods, and acoustic methods for assessing bird populations. He is the author of the Windows software ‘Density’ and the R package ‘secr’, and has presented SECR workshops in New Zealand, Malaysia, UK, and Canada.

Pre-knowledge

Participants should have some knowledge of conventional capture–recapture methods and model selection using AIC. Familiarity with R is recommended.

Course preparation

Participants should bring their own laptop (Mac or Windows) preloaded with the software described below.
You may wish to bring an external monitor if your laptop has a small screen.
Participants are encouraged to bring their own formatted datasets (see ‘Input data’ in the Density help file, or secr-datainput.pdf).
You will be provided with files for course exercises at the course.

Software to install before the course:

The Windows program Density will be discussed and used for demonstrations, but it is not essential. Download it from www.otago.ac.nz/density and use a program such as WinZip to unzip the single zip file in a folder of your choice.

If you do not already have R installed (version 2.12 or later) then install it from, e.g., http://cran.stat.sfu.ca/ . Click on Windows (or MacOS X) in the Download and Install R section. If installing for Windows select ‘base’ in the R for Windows Section. Now download R-2.14 for Windows. Save the executable file (about 46Mb) to your hard drive. Next double-click the executable file to install R on your machine. Choose the default settings. R should now be installed on your machine.

To install the R package ‘secr’ in Windows, open R while you are connected to the internet and select Packages | Install package(s) from the menu. Select a suitable mirror site (e.g. Canada (BC)) and then find ‘secr’ in the alphabetical package list. Selecting ‘secr’ installs the package itself and any required packages. The process differs only slightly on Mac and other systems.

Some optional features of ‘secr’ use “suggested” packages that you may also wish to install: ‘sp’ and ‘maptools’ for reading shapefiles; ‘spsurvey’ for representative spatial sampling with GRTS; ‘gpclib’, ‘rgdal’ and ‘rgeos’ for other GIS-related functions.

You will need a PDF reader such as Adobe Reader.

Cost and registration

Cost is $675.00 + HST

Registration form.

When the course fills, we will begin a wait list.

You will need to pay before your registration is secured. You can use our on-line payment system with PayPal (you don’t need a PayPal account to use your credit card) or we can send you an invoice as a PDF and you can mail a cheque ASAP.
Be sure you’ve read the cancellation policy on the registration form. You may wish to view our Policy on Registration and Cancellation.
Your registration and payment will be confirmed by email. If you don't hear back in a day or so, please call to confirm that your registration was received.

Where is the course?

The course will be held at the Prestige Lakeside Resort in Nelson. http://www.prestigeinn.com/nelson-lakeside-prestige-hotel.php

Where should I stay?

A block of rooms has been reserved at the Prestige Lakeside Resort at the rate of $89.00 plus taxes. You are responsible for making the actual booking for your room and for the cost of your room. Be sure to mention that you are part of this Columbia Mountains Institute course to get the special rate. Book early to get a room, because the rooms we have reserved will be “released” two weeks before the course. (There are two Prestige Hotels in Nelson, be sure you are in the right one)

Prestige Lakeside Resort
701 Lakeside Drive, Nelson, BC V1L 6G3
Nelson@PrestigeHotels.ca
Phone 250-352-7222 or toll free 1-87-PRESTIGE

Information about other accommodations can be found at the website of the Nelson Chamber of Commerce.

Questions?

For questions about course content or downloading software,
contact Dr. Murray Efford murray.efford@otago.ac.nz

For questions about your registration, contact office@cmiae.org or
call the CMI office in Revelstoke at 250-837-9311.

Soils Refresher Course

May 31 & June 1, 2012
Selkirk College, Castlegar BC

Selkirk College logo

This course is co-hosted by
Columbia Mountains Institute of Applied Ecology
and Selkirk College.

Registration info

Cost: $280.00 + HST
Instructor: Derek Marcoux
Class size: Maximum 20 participants
Location: Castlegar campus of Selkirk College. Use the main entrance to the college and follow the signs to the classroom.
Times: 9:00 a.m. to about 4:00 p.m. both days.
Course fee includes: Course handbook, coffee breaks, and lunch on first day. No food or drinks provided for field day.
Bring: Note-taking materials, outdoor clothing, good boots, and rain gear. You need to bring your own food and drinks for the field day.

Course description

The Soils Refresher course is intended for biologists, foresters and other resource professionals interested in reviewing basic concepts of soils and soil management.

Topics to be covered include:

Review of basic mineral and rock characteristics that contribute to soil forming processes and classification of soils in Canada.
Review of field estimation of soil textures, and classification of forest, grassland, and wetland soils.

Participants will spend the first day mostly in the classroom and lab reviewing basic soils concepts and practicing field texturing. A short field trip may be held on the first day to review some concepts. On the second day, participants will go on an all-day field trip from Castlegar to Grand Forks to review the soil properties in forest, riparian, wetland, and grassland environments. Car-pooling will be needed.