We Span The Great Divide.

​Macroecology is about big processes over big spaces, so naturally the ACME LAB spans both sides of the Canadian Rockies.

University of Victoria

The ACME LAB partners with UVIC's School of Environmental Studies. I am Adjunct Professor there, and co-supervise a team of graduate students. It is a fantastic partnership where we bring expertise from each side of the coastal divide to solve shared conservation problems. It also gets me out on the ocean, one of my great passions.

I collaborate with Dr. John Volpe, Dr. Eric Higgs, Dr. Brian Starzomski, Dr Nancy Shackelford, Dr. Trevor Lantz (Environmental Studies), Dr. Brad Anholt (Biology Department), Dr. David Atkinson and Dr. Chris Bone (Geography) as student co-supervisors and research partners. 

ACME Lab Researchers

...We're really into wildlife and chasing waterfalls, apparently. 

Sandra Frey, Master of Science (2018). Sandra is ACME Lab's Research Associate, helping to lead our many programs. Sandra was an NSERC Scholar who studied carnivore community ecology with ACME, investigating how landscape development alters species'  spatiotemporal activity patterns. Her 1st MSC paper was one of RSEC's Top 20 most downloaded papers in 2018, and her 2nd won the MITACS Award for Outstanding Innovation. Sandra is the UWSS's Project manager for the Urban Boreal Deer Research Project, providing logistics and deftly capturing deer wandering the wilds of Oak Bay, Victoria  She also speaks several languages and sings like an angel, apparently...
Dr. Andrew Ladle, Postdoctoral Fellow, UVIC ACME Lab. Andrew is working within the Wildlife CAMERA project, where he uses spatially-explicit methods of estimating animal density for multiple species using camera trap data to understand species' response to apex predator removal and landscape disturbance. Andrew received his PhD (2017) from University of Alberta researching grizzly bears in the Canadian Rockies, and has just returned to Canada after finishing a post-doc position on wolverine ecology at SLU- Grimsö, Sweden. Andrew is an avid whitewater kayaker and is excited to explore what the Island and BC has to offer.
Dr. Cat Sun, Postdoctoral Fellow, UVIC ACME Lab & UBC WildCo Lab. Cat studies the spatial patterns of wildlife population density, distribution, and dynamics, using noninvasive survey methods and hierarchical models. She is researching multi-species density estimation across a range of altered landscapes in BC and Alberta using camera trap data. Cat received her M.S. (2014) and PhD (2019) from Cornell University. In her spare time, she can be found lovingly harassing her two cats - but also loves hiking and wildlife watching and so is looking forward to catching glimpses of coastal wolves and spirit bears.
Nicole Boucher, Ph.D. student, NSERC Canada Graduate Scholar. Nicole studies moose calf survival and population dynamics in central British Columbia. Previously, she conducted her M.Sc. research on spatial and temporal variation of stable isotopes in polar bears and ringed seals. She has diverse ecological interests, and has researched stress in elk, urban connectivity, bioacoustics (if you ever need a bird identified by song, she's your person) and more! In her spare time, she enjoys reading, drawing, hiking, board games and keeping up with her two energetic dogs.
Katie Baillie-David, M.Sc. student, UVic Graduate Fellow. Using camera traps, Katie is researching mammal community response to predator control in the boreal forest of northeastern Alberta. She has previously been involved in bee research in Ontario agroecosystems and carnivore research in Malawi. In her spare time, Katie enjoys photographing nature, listening to film scores, and keeping up with the latest memes.
Laura Eliuk, M.Sc. student, NSERC Scholar. Laura is interested in predator management and predator-prey dynamics in modified landscapes in Alberta. She has a broad interest in field ecology, and has recently worked two seasons on the Kluane Red Squirrel Project in the Yukon studying behavioural ecology and ecological physiology in red squirrels. Laura has also worked in resource conservation with Parks Canada, with wolves in Minnesota, and has banded songbirds in Manitoba and the Yukon. She is from Winnipeg, MB, where she did her BSc. Hons. in ecology and conducted thesis research on trematode parasites and how they alter the behaviour of their snail hosts. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking, picking wild edibles, and photographing critters and plants.
Macgregor Aubertin-Young, M.Sc student, NSERC Scholar. Macgregor is investigating mammal community responses to landscape modification in northeastern Alberta. He has previously studied and described new species of hummingbird-affiliated mites from Peru. He has also studied grass hybridization and repurposed a machine learning technique to facilitate morphological studies of hybridization, as well as worked as a field technician studying birds in the South Okanagan. Beyond research, he is most often outside doing naturalist things with binoculars at hand, writing poetry or searching for the best bakeries. ​
Brianna Brandon, M.Sc. student. Brianna is using biotelemetry to study muskoxen movement and habitat selection in response to changing environmental conditions in the Yukon Territory. She is keenly interested in wildlife ecology and has previously collected grizzly bear hair samples for a population inventory in central Alberta, monitored Olympia oyster settlement rates in the Gorge waterway, and assisted with bird banding on southern Vancouver Island. Brianna spends her spare time trail running, hiking, riding bikes, and taking photos of critters and landscapes along the way.
Persia Khan, is a B.Sc. Honours student investigating mammal activity patterns in the Bighorn Country of Alberta using camera trap data. During her undergraduate degree at UVic, Persia has worked on several projects with an ecological focus including recreation ecology studies with the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative, research on dietary preferences of coastal bears, and aquatics and vegetation field work with Parks Canada. Beyond her research interests, Persia enjoys riding her bike and drinking coffee in the mountains. 
Hannah Boczulak, is a B.Sc. Directed Studies student investigating mammals response to disturbance - specifics TBA, During her undergraduate degree at UVic, Hannah has focused on physical geography and ecology, including research on qualitative risk assessments of boreal woodland caribou with Natural Resources Canada, investigating lichen and tree dating techniques in BC’s Coast Mountains and assisting in the creation of a Marine Reference Guide with the Pacific Salmon Foundation. Outside of her studies, Hannah enjoys hiking, running, backpacking, and traveling. 
Wylie Fuller, B.Sc., is the ACME Lab's Chief Spatial Data and Statistics Technician. Wylie is researching mammal communities in Alberta with the Oil Sands Monitoring program, and is modelling black-tailed deer habitat use in Oak Bay with the UWSS Urban Deer team. Wylie began research with the ACME Lab on an undergraduate thesis, and has enjoyed diving into the world of landscape-scale ecological modelling. Wylie has experience conducting ecological restoration and habitat management with Parks Canada and BC land conservancies, and is at his happiest when looking closely at plants to assess habitat health. He enjoys ocean paddling, running, and playing jazz. 
Sean Murray, B.Sc., is our Data Management and Analysis Technician. Sean has a passion for wildlife and land conservation. After completing a diploma in Environmental Technology he hopped from contract to contract working as a technician on projects ranging from caribou habitat assessment in Chinchaga Alberta, observing foraging and vigilance behaviour of grizzly bears across spatial and temporal gradients of human activity in Bella Coola, B.C, to studying the combined effectiveness of invasive species control and passive restoration techniques in Garry Oak ecosystems throughout southern Vancouver Island. He has recently made the shift to data management and mapping having completed his undergraduate degree in Geography with a focus in Geomatics. He has since worked in consulting as a GIS technician on a number of projects for the province and BC First Nations. Outside of work he's been known to enjoy the odd romp into the alpine, mountain biking, and futzing about building things out of wood.
Alina C. Fisher, M.A. (Comm), Ph.D. Cand., is Research Manager for UVIC'S School of Environmental Studies. She makes the wheels turn and the music play. An unsung hero if ever there was one. She's an ecologist, a Master of Communications, does all our social media, is a Project Management Professional, and is an ex-pro bellydancer to top it all off. Alina is also a Ph.D. candidate with Dr. Eric Higgs in the School of Environmental Studies, examining how landscape change in mountain environments over the last century has affected mammalian communities.

She also suffers the unenviable task of keeping me alive. Not sure how, but so far it's worked.

​

Alumni

Nicole Heim, NSERC Scholar, Master of Science (2015).

An avid and terrifying climber, she strapped dead beaver to her back and hiked in blizzards to mountaintops to study wolverine distribution  in the Alberta Rockies. Crazy. Also, 4 peer-reviewed publications and counting. She now works as a Park Ecologist for the Government of Alberta.
Dr. Frances Stewart, NSERC and UVIC Scholar, Doctor of Philosophy (2018). 
UVIC Post-doctoral Fellow (2019).

Frances indulged her fascination with all things fisher (the animal), animal behaviour,  landscape genetics in complex fragmented landscapes, and rocking a toque.

A fantastic scientist and prolific writer, Frances is now a Post Doctoral Researcher at UBC and Natural Resources Canada - Pacific Forestry Centre.
Siobhan Darlington, NSERC Scholar, Master of Science (2018).

Siobhan researched white-tailed deer habitat selection and movement in the northeast boreal forest of Alberta in response to climate and landscape change, and predation risk. 

Siobhan is now a Ph.D student in the WiRE Lab at the University of British Columbia.
Gillian Chow-Fraser, NSERC and UVIC Scholar, Master of Science (2018).

Gillian studied caribou calf predation in response to predation risk and oil and gas development in the boreal, and wolverine response to  and changing competition conditions in the Rockies. 

Gillian is now Boreal Program Manager for CPAWS Northern Alberta.
Dr. Joanna Burgar, UVic Post-Doctoral Fellow (2019).

​Joanna tackled hierarchical Bayesian models to estimate density, to help identify effects of landscape change and inform management.

Conservation Biology
Global Ecology and Conservation

Joanna is now a Wildlife Biologist with the Government of British Columbia in Vancouver. She remains a collaborator in our Wildlife CAMERA project, a collaboration with other Universities, government, and industry.
​Alexandra Francis, NSERC Scholar, Master of Science (2020).

Alex studied the effects of salvage logging from the Mountain Pine Beetle on moose behaviour in the interior of British Columbia. Alex presently works for the Government of British Columbia as a Wildlife Biologist in Kamloops.

Thesis: Evaluating habitat use of female moose in response to large scale salvage logging practices in British Columbia, Canada.

Undergraduate Alumni

Daniel Tejero, Spanish undergraduate exchange Biology student at UVic.

Daniel studied how apex predator removal is producing activity pattern shifts on the boreal mammal community using camera trapping.His main hobby is animal photography and running his own account on social networks, so he is travelling through the world looking for animals.