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Pacific WildLife Foundation Directors
ScienceDr. Rob ButlerEducated at Simon Fraser University and the University of British Columbia, Dr. Butler has conducted research on marine ecosystems for over three decades. He retired his post as senior scientist with Environment Canada’s Canadian Wildlife Service fin 2008 to join Bird Studies Canada as the Coordinator of the British Columbia Breeding Bird Atlas and Scientist. He is also an adjunct Professor at Simon Fraser University. He has held executive positions with national and international scientific societies. Dr. Butler has been a regular broadcaster on radio and television, and an author of over 120 scientific and popular publications. He has been awarded many international, national and regional awards for research and public service. More
Dr. Jim DarlingFrom his home base in Tofino, Dr. Darling travels the world to study whales. He has conducted pioneering research on gray whales since the early 1970s. He earned a doctoral degree from the University of California Sanata Cruz in 1983 for his research on humpback whales. His research has appeared in numerous television programs and magazines.
Dr. Dan EslerDr. Esler earned graduate degrees from Texas A&M and Oregon State Universities, and worked as a research biologist for the US government in Alaska for more than a decade. Currently, he is a Research Associate with the Centre for Wildlife Ecology at Simon Fraser University, where he leads a research group focusing on effects of habitat change in coastal environments on migratory bird populations. In particular, much of his work addresses sea duck populations in the north Pacific. His work has appeared in a wide array of scientific journals, and also has been featured in newspaper, radio, and television outlets. More
Dr. Ron YdenbergDr. Ydenberg is a renowned behavioural ecologist. He was educated at Simon Fraser University in Canada and at Oxford University in England. Dr. Ydenberg is a Professor and Director of the Centre for Wildlife Ecology at Simon Fraser University where he directs over 25 students in a wide range of ecological research. More
EducationKate KeoghKate Keogh is a middle school teacher with Bachelor degress in Zoology and Education and a Master of Arts degree in science and environmental education from the University of Victoria. She brings an understanding of classroom curriculum and practical ways that information from researchers can be incorporated into curriculum and made relevant to school age children. Kate has been a research assistant on gray whale, humpback whale, harbour seal and basking shark research. She has a strong interest in wildlife, particularly marine ecosystems, and a desire to increase public awareness and appreciation of ecosystems.
Rod MacVicarRod MacVicar is a retired high school teacher in Vancouver with three decades of experience teaching environmental education to students. He has established salmon hatcheries, created diploma programs for students, and worked alongside many researchers in the field. For his efforts, Rod has received numerous national and regional awards. He also is a Master Mariner and owner of an ecotour company in Vancouver. More
MediaGillian Darling KovanicGillian Darling Kovanic is an award-winning television documentary director and producer. She has produced films for the Aga Khan (France and Switzerland) on health, education, agriculture and economic development in the developing world. In 1989 she co-produced and executive produced the Gemini award-winning film, Island of Whales. From 1991 she had her own independent film company and made several acclaimed documentaries. From 1997 to 2001, she was a Doc West Producer at the National Film Board of Canada where she developed and produced the critically acclaimed film Through A Blue Lens and ten other award winning documentaries. In 2002-2003, as an independent, Gillian produced the feature-length documentary SUSPINO - A Cry For Roma about the human rights crisis of the Roma (Gypsies) of Eastern Europe.
Rudi KovanicRudi Kovanic was born in Prague, the Czech Republic, and educated in England and South Africa. From 1964 to 1995 he worked as the cinematographer for the highly acclaimed science series, The Nature of Things with David Suzuki. During his 36 years of film and video documentary experience, Rudi has specialized in scientific subjects—including natural history, the humanities, anthropology, medicine, technology and the environment. In 1995, Rudi founded Tamarin Productions and now works as an independent cinematographer in worldwide locations including the arctic, deserts, rain forests and urban jungles. He has been nominated for Emmy, Actra and Gemini Awards. He has won numerous national and international awards at scientific, environmental and natural history film festivals, including two Wilderness Awards and a Prix Anik for his work on the Nature Of Things. In 1983, he was the recipient of the prestigious President's Award for outstanding cinematic contributions to the CBC. In 1998, for Tamarin Productions, Rudi filmed the award-winning one-hour wildlife special Baboon Tales shot in Kenya with the acclaimed primatologist, Dr. Shirley Strum. This program, broadcast on Wild Discovery, won two Golden Plaques at the Chicago International Film Festival, Best of Festival at the 1999 Outdoor Writers Association of America, six awards at the 1999 International Wildlife Film Festival in Missoula, Montana, four British Columbia Leo Awards and was nominated for three Geminis. National Geographic International through Canal+/Docstar/Explore International is distributing Baboon Tales.
Tom MiddletonTom Middleton is an award winning wildlife photographer with a keen interest in science and conservation. His nature photos have appeared in a wide variety of newspapers, online articles, magazines, posters, books and other publications. Tom's photos are widely used by the local scientific community as a descriptive enhancement for talks, papers and publications. He also owns and runs a popular conservation website, one of the very first of such websites to appear online. The site aims to educate and promote various environmental concerns from eco-living to aiding the worlds critically endangered species. More FinanceIan de W. Semple Ian has spent more than forty years as a mineral exploration geologist in the field, a mining investment analyst in the financial business, and in small mining exploration company management. To those ends he has lived and worked in, as well as visited many parts of the world in both hemispheres. He brings a strong understanding of the bridges needed between business, the sciences and the environment. His philosophy in this regard has been to emphasize science over empty polemic and rational balance over extremism
Financial Advisor Rudy North Rudy North is one of three founding partners of Phillips, Hager and North Investment Management, and the President of North Growth Management Ltd. Rudy is one of British Columbia’s significant participants and generous donors to social and environmental causes. He envisions a society in which people collaborate to bring about significant change. The Rudy and Patricia North Foundation sponsored research conducted by the Fraser River Sturgeon Conservation Society, the Inner Coast Natural Resource Centre, and Nature Trust (BC). At the Vancouver Aquarium where is a patron, he provided funding to launch a new research facility known as the Rudy North Marine Research Centre. He also offered up a significant contribution to secure the Great Bear Rain Forest on the central and north coast of British Columbia. He has contributed to British Columbia Children's Hospital, the St. James Community Service Society, and the Vancouver Foundation. In 1998, he founded North Growth Management Ltd., specifically to pass on his philosophy and expertise to younger managers. In 2006, Rudy North was conferred with a Doctor of Laws, honoris causa by Simon Fraser University.
Board for 2007-2008 President: Dr. Rob Butler Vice-President: Dr. Ron Ydenberg Treasurer/Secretary: Ian de W. Semple
Associates Ruth Foster Ruth is a nationally recognized environmental education specialist. In 2006 she won the prestigious Canadian Environmental Award Gold Medal for Environmental Learning. Ruth spent three decades teaching high school students about nature. She and PWLF Director Rod MacVicar established a stream rehabilitation project that became a living classroom for thousands of students. Today the creek is alive with salmon. Ruth played a key role in establishing innovative courses in fisheries and wildlife and many of her students have gone on to complete graduate degrees in biology. Now retired from the school, Ruth continues to teach through Simon Fraser University’s Department of Education and to mentor students at the fish hatchery.
Iain M. Jones Iain is a Master of Science candidate at Simon Fraser University under the supervision of Drs. Butler and Ydenberg. He is researching behavioural interactions between great blue herons and bald eagles. Iain holds a diploma in Fish and Wildlife Management from the British Columbia Institute of Technology and a Bachelors degree in Ecology from Simon Fraser University. His past experience includes implementing field studies and management activities for a variety of organizations including Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Iain spent nearly a decade working as a mate and naturalist on board the Island Roamer as it sailed the remote coasts of the British Columbia and Alaska. He brings to the PWLF a wealth of experience of the North Coast, its wildlife and a host of logistical talent.
Sean Boyd Sean Boyd has worked with colleagues and graduate students on a variety of migratory bird projects such as: the winter ecology and demographics of Snow Geese; winter and migration ecology of Brant Geese; abundance and distribution patterns of Trumpeter Swans; population demographics and behavior of Harlequin Ducks; habitat interactions and natal return rates of Barrow’s Goldeneye and Bufflehead; interaction between shellfish aquaculture and wintering scoters; migration ecology of Pacific scoters; migration ecology and abundance of Eared Grebes; and at-sea foraging distributions of Cassin’s Auklets. Many of his projects are long-term and involve radio-telemetry. Sean’s research is necessarily multidisciplinary and international in-scope. The objective is to provide scientific advice necessary to conserve migratory bird populations and their habitats in North America. Sean is a Research Scientist with the federal government of Canada and an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Simon Fraser University where he serves on graduate student committees at the Centre for Wildlife Ecology. Read more…
Holly Middleton Holly is an ornithologist who was born and raised in Metro Vancouver. She has been a life-long naturalist. Holly holds a B.Sc. and M.Sc. from Simon Fraser University. Her Master’s thesis researched post-fledging behaviour and dispersal of the American dipper. She also has experience in projects researching shorebirds and herons, seabirds, grassland and cavity-nesting birds and freshwater birds. Holly is collaborating with PWLF to analyze Bird Studies Canada’s Coastal Waterbird Survey dataset to examine the role of the return of Bald Eagle numbers on the apparent decline in coastal seabird numbers. She is also working with Douglas College and Simon Fraser University on a project examining the effects of intensive agriculture on migratory birds on the Fraser River delta.
Todd Golumbia Todd has been the Park Ecologist for Gulf Islands National Park Reserve in Canada since the park was established in 2003. He is an ongoing collaborator with the Pacific WildLife Foundation Black Oystercatcher Project. Todd holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Saskatchewan and an Master of Science degree from the University of British Columbia in Forest Ecology. He has worked at several National Parks in western Canada as an Ecologist and a Park Warden since 1982. The varied work as a Park Ecologist ranged across disciplines of natural and social sciences and freshwater, marine and terrestrial ecosystems. From 1993 to 2003, Todd worked as an ecologist in Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site in Canada.
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