Research Coordinator, Environment and Climate Change Canada

krista.degroot@ec.gc.ca

Krista De Groot is the Research Coordinator for Urban Ecology and Nature-based Solutions in the wildlife research branch of Environment and Climate Change Canada. Krista has 20 years of experience in the public service and over a decade of research experience in the conservation of migratory birds in urban landscapes. Krista’s particular expertise is research on seasonality, species vulnerability, risk factors and mitigation of bird window collisions, a major threat to birds which causes > 1 billion bird deaths a year in North America alone.

Wildlife Research Technician, Environment and Climate Change Canada

ana.morales@ec.gc.ca

Ana completed a Masters of Science at McGill University, where she studied the stopover ecology and moult migration of Swainson’s thrushes in southern Quebec. Her research highlighted the importance of urban greenspaces as migratory stopovers for songbirds during a crucial period of their life cycle such as moult. Ana is a passionate birder and bird bander and in her free time she can be found birding around Montreal or volunteering at the local bird banding station. 

Horizon PDF, Concordia Biology

riikka.kinnunen@mail.concordia.ca

Riikka is interested in investigating how biodiversity responds to human-caused environmental change, using synthetic analyses and field work to answer her questions. Her research to date has seen her work with many different taxa from bats to ants to squirrels and birds. Her postdoctoral research at Concordia focuses on nature-based solutions. She will use integrated approaches to investigate the role of urban forests in carbon storage and supporting biodiversity. Results from her work will support the development of future research priorities under the Government of Canada’s 2 Billion Trees and Nature Smart Climate Solution’s Fund.

M.Sc., Biology, Concordia University

mackenzieguest2902@gmail.com

Mackenzie is a master student at Concordia University under the co-supervision of Dr. Carly Ziter. Mackenzie is investigating how public and private urban forests in the NDG neighborhood of Montreal support bird diversity and ecosystem services.. She hopes that this project will shed light on what bird species use urban forests, and how this may differ across seasons and management types, to help guide biodiversity friendly management practices.

M.Sc., Biology, Carleton University

stashalysyk@cmail.carleton.ca

Stasha is an M.Sc. student at Carleton University, co-supervised by Dr. Rachel Buxton. For her M.Sc. she will be researching the efficacy of bird safe window designs in Ottawa, and her work will be in collaboration with Environment and Climate Change Canada and Safe Wings Ottawa. Stasha is passionate about behavioural ecology and biodiversity conservation and hopes her studies will contribute to finding solutions that help reduce the severity of bird window collisions.

M.Sc., Wildlife Biology, McGill University

anne-marie.cousineau@mail.mcgill.ca

Anne-Marie completed her BSc in Biology with a concentration in Biodiversity, Ecology, and Evolution at Université de Montréal. While studying at Concordia University for a semester, she developed a keen interest in urban ecology, coupled with her enduring passion for birds, which she finds endlessly captivating. She is currently pursuing her MSc at McGill University, under the co-supervision of Dr. Kyle Elliott. Anne-Marie has chosen to focus on the Northern Cardinal, a bird species, within the urban environment of Montreal. Her research aims to investigate the movement patterns of Northern Cardinals across urban green spaces during the non-breeding season and establish connections to urban nature management practices.

Incoming M.Sc., Wildlife Biology, McGill University

nathanya.goudreau@mail.mcgill.ca

Nathanya is completing an undergraduate degree in Wildlife biology at McGill, where she is currently working on an Honours research project with the supervision of Dr. Barbara Frei and Émile Brisson-Curadeau. Using historical banding data from the McGill Bird Observatory and the Tadoussac Bird Observatory, she will be investigating wing length and body mass trends of short- and long-distance migrant passerines. She will be starting her M.Sc. at McGill under the co-supervision of Dr. Kyle Elliott in January 2025.