Islands Trust Conservancy held a series of free online speaker events between February 16 – May 4, 2023. The recordings and resources provided in these sessions have been provided below when permissions were received from speakers to share these with the public. All recordings have been uploaded to the Islands Trust Conservancy YouTube channel, under our 2023 Speaker Series playlist.
This series was made possible with funding provided by Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Priority Places funding stream.
Indigenous Heritage & Ecological Conservation - February 16
This free presentation and discussion was hosted by the Xwe’etay/Lasqueti Archaeology Project and Simon Fraser University. The event featured a discussion about Indigenous Heritage and Ecological Conservation. Panelists included:
- Alag̱a̱mił Nicole Norris (Halalt First Nation, Indigenous Planning Officer for the Minister of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness)
- Adam Huggins (Restoration Coordinator for the Galiano Conservancy, Sessional Instructor for Ecological Restoration in Continuing Studies at the University of Victoria)
- Gordon Scott (Chair, Lasqueti Island Nature Conservancy)
- Kate Emmings (Manager, Islands Trust Conservancy)
- Eli Enns (CEO and President of the IISAAK OLAM Foundation)
The event recording is available on the Xwe’etay/ Lasqueti Project website.
Species at risk and critical habitat protection in non-federal lands - March 2
This is a recording from the 2023 Species At Risk Program Speaker Series event held on March 2, 2023.
This free digital event featured a presentation by Dr. Carrina Maslovat and a Q&A session with species-at-risk biologists Laura Matthias and Undiné Thompson. Islands Trust Conservancy’s SAR Program Coordinator hosted the talk. Click here to view the Power Point presentation slides.
Speaker Bios:
Dr. Carrina Maslovat is the owner and manager of Maslovat Consulting. She has worked as a contractor for over 25 years, authoring over 100 reports and journal articles incl. best practice and management plans for protected areas. She is a botanist and ecologist by training and has designed and restored wetlands, forests, coastal sand, and Garry oak ecosystems to create habitats for species at risk. Since 2018 she has been working with Sharp-tailed Snakes and developing environmental DNA sampling protocols.
Laura Matthias is a local SAR field biologist with over 25 years of experience in the field of wildlife biology, habitat conservation, SAR monitoring, ecosystem restoration, habitat enhancement, and invasive species management. Her current research involves the development of protocols for novel environmental DNA to detect rare terrestrial species. She has co-authored dozens of reports incl. species-at-risk inventories, land management plans, baseline inventories, and best management practices. Laura has designed and implemented restoration projects for wetlands, forests, coastal sands, and Garry oak ecosystems to enhance habitat for pollinators, birds, and bats.
Undiné Thompson is the Senior Consultation Biologist for the Pacific Region of the Canadian Wildlife Service, a branch of Environment and Climate Change Canada. She has worked with the federal government since 2013 leading consultation and engagement on species at risk recovery documents and working on the inclusion of Indigenous perspectives and knowledge in those efforts. She completed a Masters of Environment in Impact Assessment at Concordia University on the importance of Garry Oak ecosystem conservation for regional adaptation to climate change working with the Galiano Conservancy.
Growing native plant species for people and place - March 9
This is a recording from the 2023 Species At Risk Program Speaker Series event held on March 9, 2023.
This free digital event featured a presentation by Kristen Miskelly RPBio and Co-founder of Satinflower Nurseries, a native plant and seed nursery and consulting business in Victoria British Columbia.
Click here to view the Power Point presentation slides.
Speaker Bios:
Kristen Miskelly co-founded Satinflower Nurseries, a native plant and seed nursery and consulting business in Victoria British Columbia. The nursery inspires and empowers people to connect with nature through native plants. Kristen is a biologist passionate about native plants, ecology, ecosystem restoration, and native plant propagation. Her undergraduate work focused on grass taxonomy, and she completed her master’s in paleoecology at UVic. Over the past couple of decades, her work has focused on the Prairie-Oak ecosystems of Southern Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands. Kristen is a steering committee member of the Cascadia Prairie Oak Partnership and a sessional lecturer at UVic. Kristen continues to provide ecological consultation to various agencies and groups and teaches courses and workshops on native plants, propagation, and local ecology regularly.
Monitoring and Restoration of Rare Ecosystems - March 30
This free digital event featured a presentation by Sibylla Helms, Ecologist Team Leader for Gulf Islands National Park Reserve and Aimee Pelletier, Ecosystem Scientist for the Coastal BC Field Unit.
Click here to view the Power Point presentation slides from the 2023 Species At Risk Program Speaker Series event held on March 30, 2023. Due to technical difficulties, we do not have a recording of this presentation.
Speaker Bios:
Sibylla Helms: Ecologist Team Leader for Gulf Islands National Park Reserve
Sibylla grew up in Manitoba and has lived in BC, including Vancouver Island and the Rocky Mountains, for the past 22 years. She has worked as an ecologist for Parks Canada in various sensitive ecosystems including grasslands, coastal sands, eelgrass, and prairie oak. Sibylla has been working in Gulf Islands National Park Reserve on the Ecological Integrity Monitoring Team for the past decade to monitor the health of ecosystems and manage projects to help facilitate ecosystem restoration, which includes working with partners and Indigenous community members.
Aimée Pelletier: Ecosystem Scientist, Coastal BC Field Unit
Aimée grew up in Northwestern Ontario, where she developed an affection for plants working in the family plant nursery. Summers spent canoe-tripping as a Backcountry Ranger in Ontario Parks ignited her passion for conservation. She studied ecology and education at the University of British Columbia before moving coasts and conducting graduate research at Dalhousie University focused on the ecological monitoring of coastal ecosystems in Kejimkujik National Park Seaside. Aimée has worked for Parks Canada since 2009, focusing on the restoration of rare ecosystems and species at risk recovery in Gulf Islands National Park Reserve and at Fort Rodd Hill and Fisgard Lighthouse National Historic Sites.
BC Conservation Data Centre 101 - April 6
Watch the recording from the 2023 Species At Risk Program Speaker Series event held on April 6, 2023 here.
This free digital event featured a presentation by Katrina Stipec, Species and Ecosystems at Risk Information Specialist
Click here to view the Power Point presentation slides.
Speaker Bios:
Katrina Stipec, BC Conservation Data Centre, Knowledge Management Branch, Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship.
Katrina completed her BSc in Geography from University of Victoria and worked with non-profit organisations, regional and federal government before joining the BC Conservation Data Centre’s Data Management Unit in 2005. As the Species and Ecosystems at Risk Information Specialist, Katrina has a passion for client service and can help you with your CDC data needs. She can be reached at cdcdata@gov.bc.ca
P’hwulhp (Garry Oak) Meadows: Understanding a Living Cultural Landscape - May 4
Watch the recording of the 2023 Species At Risk Program Speaker Series event held on May 4, 2023 here.
This free digital event featured a presentation by Maiya Modeste, Stqeeye’ Learning Society
Click here to view the Power Point presentation slides.
Speaker Bio:
Maiya Modeste, Stqeeye’ Learning Society
Uy’ skweyul siiem nu sye’yu tl’i-i-im tsun ‘o’ ts’iiyulhna’mut, ‘u tun’a ‘uy’ skweyul
Maiya Modeste thuna sne
Sulatiye’ s-hwulmuhw’a’lh’ sne
Tun’ni’ tsun ‘ult’ kwa’mutsun
Brianna Thorne snes lhuna t-en
Chris Modeste snes kwthuna m-en
Sulsilu Deb I’ Ron George
I silu Diane Modeste I silu’elh Wes Modeste
Huy tseep q’a siiem huy tseep q’a
Good day, my honoured friends and family, I am very thankful for this day
my name is Maiya Modeste
my traditional name is sulatiye’
I come from the village of Quamichan
My mom is Brianna Thorne,
and my dad is Chris Modeste.
My grandparents on my mother’s side are Deb George (nee Nash) and Ron George
and on my father’s side my grandma is Diane Modeste (nee Seymour) and late Wes Modeste
Thank you with the utmost gratitude
I work for Stqeeye’ Learning society, a non-profit, indigenous led organization that focuses on land restoration and education guided by traditional teachings and indigenous ways of knowing and being. My role within the society is P’hwulhp (Garry Oak) Restoration coordinator and I have had the privilege of stewarding these heavily degraded ecosystems for the past year and have recently been granted funding for my project until 2026. My goal for my project is to have the ability and capacity to teach indigenous youth about our native food gardens but to also teach them how to prepare, harvest, preserve and serve our traditional foods, such as camas, with the hope and priority of feeding elder’s traditional meals. Garry Oak ecosystems are the most biodiverse of all ecosystems in Canada and Quw’utsun people have relied on these ecosystems since time immemorial yet there are only 5% left in near natural condition, making them my utmost priority for restoration.