Our Research Team
The WECE lab is led by Dr. Ryan Brook of the Indigenous Land Management Institute & Department of Animal and Poultry Science in the College of Agriculture and Bioeresources at the University of Saskatchewan.
Ryan Brook - BSc, Masters, PhD (U of Manitoba)
Principal Investigator
Ryan is an associate professor and team leader of the WECE lab. His background in Zoology, Natural Resource Management, Environment and Geography, and Veterinary Medicine, lends a rich multi-disciplinary background to conducting research. His study interests lie in wildlife ecology and health, aboriginal community engagement and traditional ecological knowledge, farmer knowledge about wildlife, youth engagement in science, and management of the wildlife-livestock interface. Read more at https://agbio.usask.ca/faculty-and-staff/people-pages/ryan-brook.php
Naomi Carriere - PhD Candidate
Naomi is studying threatened woodland caribou in Saskatchewan by visiting communities and immersing herself local and traditional ecological knowledge. Originally from Cumberland House, Naomi grew up fishing, trapping, dog sledding, and being in nature – making this work very important to her. Naomi is a strong advocate for Aboriginal students in science, and community outreach, and helped create the University’s Speaker’s Bureau.
Rebecca Kolla - MSc Candidate
Rebecca is studying communication channels in wildlife disease surveillance for the Sri Lanka Wildlife Health Centre, using a policy framework. Originally from Saskatoon, Rebecca did her undergraduate degree in Animal Science at the U of SK. She lives in Cudworth where she farms grain with her husband.
Ruth Kost - PhD Candidate
Ruth is studying wild boar distribution across Canada, including documenting and mapping sightings. Her research has taken her all across western Canada to get first hand accounts of where these invasive animals have been spotted. Ruth grew up in Saskatoon, completing her undergraduate studies in Resource Science, and hopes to continue her academic and professional career in Saskatchewan.
Amy Wheeler - MSc Candidate
Amy is studying moose habitat and resource selection, as well as movements, across the Saskatchewan agricultural region. She grew up on a mixed grain and livestock farm near Eyebrow, Saskatchewan. In addition to her studies, Amy is a terrestrial biologist at Golder Associates.
Past Members
Shelby Adams - Shelby worked as a research technician with the wild boar collaring project, and was one of the few people that could stomach 8+ hours in the air on capture days.
Abdullah Al Mamun - Mamun completed a postdoctoral fellowship with us in 2016. His work focused on local and traditional ecological knowledge surrounding woodland caribou in Saskatchewan. Mamun has moved into a new project at the U of SK working on food security in the arctic region of Canada.
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Al Arsenault - Al completed his PhD with us in 2014. His topic focused on movements of moose across the Saskatchewan agricultural landscape. Al works as a wildlife biologist, advisor and manager with Amex Foster Wheeler.
Krystal Caldwell - Krystal completed her Masters with us in 2016. Her thesis took her to Sri Lanka, where she surveyed communities on how they stay informed on issues relating to human and wildlife health. Krystal now works as a statistical analyst at Mercy for Animals.
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Cherie Dugal - Cherie completed her Masters with us in 2013. Her topic focused on elk movement and habitat selection in corridors between RMNP and DMPF in Manitoba, especially in regards to disease risk. Cherie now works at Environmental Intelligence LLT in California.
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Murray Gillespie - Murray has completed contract work with the lab to deliver educational programming in schools as far north as Wollaston Lake, SK. Murray is a retired biologist and still spends much of his time exploring nature and sharing his passion for wildlife, photograpy, and Canadian history.
Raea Gooding - Raea worked in our lab as an outreach coordinator from 2015 – 2017. She was responsible for our lab websites, outreach materials, and engagement events, including school visits. Raea is now working as a research assistant on a pan-canadian polar bear monitoring program out of the University of Saskatchewan.
Caitlin Labach - Caitlin worked in our lab as a research coordinator from 2013 – 2015 and played a big role in setting up the feral wild boar project. She has remained on campus where she works as the CFI (Canada Foundation for Innovation) Post-Award Grants Specialist, and is now Caitlin Prebble
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Michel Laforge - Michel worked in our lab as a research assistant from 2014 – 2015. His work explored both moose habitat and resource selection, as well as non-invasive polar bear monitoring. Michel is now completing his phD at Memorial University of Newfoundland, where he is looking at caribou in a changing climate. Find out more at mammalspatialecology.weebly.com
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Brette Langman - Brette worked as a research assistant doing statistical and spatial analyses of polar bear, moose and feral wild boar data.
Nicole Michel - Nicole completed a postdoctoral fellowship with us in 2015. Her work focused on climatic and land use drivers of wild boar distribution. Nicole is now in her dream job as a Quantitative Ecologist with the National Audubon Society in California.
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Molly Patterson - Molly completed her Masters with us in 2014. Her topic focused on mapping elk distribution using traditional ecological knowledge. Molly has returned to her hometown of Calgary to study Veterinary Medicine.
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Ryan Powers - Ryan works as a biologist and has been instrumental in our wild boar collaring program - both in logistics during capture events and analyzing the GIS data for mapping and distribution of wild boar.
Anja Sorensen - Anja completed her Masters with us in 2014. Her topic focused on factors influencing the selection of agricultural crops by elk, white-tailed deer, and mule deer. Anja now works as a wildlife research biologist at Foothills Research Institute, focusing mainly on grizzly bears.
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Floris van Beest - Floris completed a postdoctoral fellowship with us in 2014. His work focused on cervid movement patterns, and he also co-authored the first ever peer reviewed paper on wild boar in Canada. Floris is a senior researcher at AARHUS University in Denmark, where he works on arctic mammals.
Eric Vander Wal - Eric completed a postdoctoral fellowship with us in 2013. His work focused on elk group size, density, and social interactions. Eric is now an assistant professor at Memorial University of Newfoundland, where he leads a wildlife evolutionary ecology lab.
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Undergraduate Theses Students
Trisha Gauthier. 2016. Monitoring and mitigating depredation of coyotes on the livestock of Saskatchewan.
Kathleen Holweger. 2016. Evaluating the risks association with fecal contamination of livestock feed by wildlife.
Collin Letain. 2016. Characterizing and managing bovine tuberculosis transmission risk between white-tailed deer and beef cattle through indirect contact at hay bales.
Mabel Ng. 2016. Management strategies to optimize burrowing owl habitat and conservation on cattle grazing lands.
Nicole Crossman. 2016. Characterizing and managing cougar depredation on livestock.
Katerina Brown. 2015. Trends and mitigation options for wolf depredation on livestock in Saskatchewan.
Jasmine Manning. 2015. Management of chronic and sporadic crop damage by white-tailed deer and elk on Saskatchewan farms.
Rebecca Repski. 2014. On-farm risk assessment for bovine tuberculosis transmission among elk, white-tailed deer and cattle.
Preston Spetz. 2014. Managing and mitigating coyote depredation on livestock.
Morgan Wawryk. 2014. The effects of urbanization on coyotes, Canis latrans with implications for the domestic dog, Canis familiaris.
Kathryn Stolle. 2014. Feral Wild Boar (Sus scrofa) Diurnal activity patterns and spatial overlap with domestic pigs.
Tory Shynkaruk. 2014. Implications of agricultural crop use by waterfowl for livestock production in Saskatchewan.
Skylar Wood. 2013. The Grey Wolf: Implications for Southern Saskatchewan.
Kyle Froese. 2013. Developing sustainable riparian ecosystems on rangelands for healthy interactions between mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), white tailed deer (Odocoileus virgininaus) and cattle.
Justine DeNure. 2013. A review of rabies disease and management techniques in wildlife.
Travis Musselman. 2013. Literature Review Evaluating Control Methods for Feral Wild Pigs.
Jillian Duncombe. 2013. Black Bear (Ursus americanus) Habitat Selection and Crop Damage Patterns in the Prairie Provinces of Canada.
Erin Cuthbert. 2012. Dry season nutrient availability and ranging patterns of the African elephant (Loxodonta africana) in the Pongola Game Reserve, South Africa.
Amelia Peters. 2012. Evaluation of Carnivore Management in Zoos: Differences between Natural and Captive Behaviours.
Raea Gooding. 2011. Using white-tailed deer and elk crop damage claims to measure success of a bovine tuberculosis management program and predict areas of risk in Manitoba.
Kylie McFarlane. 2011. Carnivore movements through agriculture-dominated landscapes.
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