The Team - Ontario Butterfly Species At Risk

Members

Adrienne Brewster - Executive Director, Cambridge Butterfly Conservatory

Adrienne has a background in entomology and received her M.Sc. from the University of Guelph. She has worked for Cambridge Butterfly Conservatory since 2002, and has served in the capacity of Executive Director & Curator since 2010. In 2001, Adrienne participated in an intensive six-week training program designed to strengthen the capacity of institutions to lead butterfly conservation efforts through captive rearing. The training brought her to study alongside butterfly researchers and conservationists at leading institutions across North America. Adrienne oversees the Mottled Duskywing captive rearing program at Cambridge Butterfly Conservatory in Ontario and is an important advisor to the Recovery Team on their conservation efforts.

Alistair MacKenzie - Ontario Parks

Alistair MacKenzie holds an Honours Bachelor of Science degree specializing in Wildlife Biology from the University of Guelph, Department of Biological Science and a Master of Science degree specializing in Spatial Ecology from the University of Toronto, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. He has been employed at Pinery Provincial Park since May of 1999 and currently acts as the Supervisor of Natural Heritage Education and Resource Management. His role at Pinery is to intersect the disciplines of ecology and education to share the marvels of the natural world so that future stewards of the lands and waters see value in their protection forever. Alistair has extensive experience with Species at Risk recovery actions (was a sitting member of several early recovery teams – e.g. Eastern Hog-nosed Snake and Foxsnake RT, Pitchers’ Thistle and Dune Grasslands) and has provided input into the development of habitat regulations, government response statements and COSEWIC threat assessments.

Audrey Heagy - Project Coordinator, St. Williams Conservation Reserve Community Council

Audrey is an independent biological consultant who has been coordinating species at risk recovery and habitat restoration efforts at the St. Williams Conservation Reserve in Norfolk County since 2014. The stewardship work at the CR is a collaborative endeavor led by the St. Williams Conservation Reserve Community Council in cooperation with Ontario Parks, the government agency responsible for managing the CR. St Williams CR supports many rare and at risk insects associated with savanna habitats and is a historical location for Mottled Duskywing and three extirpated butterfly species (Frosted Elfin, Karner Blue and Eastern Persius Duskywing). Audrey is looking forward to the day when these species are re-established at St. Williams CR.

Angela Demarse - MSc Candidate, University of Guelph (Norris Lab)

Angela joined the Butterfly Recovery Team in April 2019 as a Master’s student with the Norris Lab in the University of Guelph’s Integrative Biology Department. Prior to that. she completed a BSc with Honor’s at the University of Windsor in 2014, and worked in various settings including research labs, non-profit organizations, and agriculture companies. Angela’s MSc research involves a spatially explicit mark-resighting design used to develop an occupancy model that describes what specific habitat features are associated with Mottled duskywing presence and absence.

Bob Yukich - Naturalist

Bob is a Toronto-based naturalist with a special interest in butterflies and birds. Birding was his first passion: starting in the early 1980s, Bob quickly became an active participant in the birding community, spending countless hours in the field and contributing many significant records. In the early 1990s, Bob’s nature interests shifted to butterflies. He began observing, identifying and later, photographing butterflies across Ontario and, during late fall and winter trips, in south Texas and Central and South America. Bob’s butterfly photographs have appeared in many publications and websites. He was a major contributor of images to The ROM Field Guide to Butterflies of Ontario (P. W. Hall et al, 2014) and Butterflies of Toronto (2011, rev. 2012, part of the City of Toronto's award-winning Biodiversity Booklet Series) and also helped structure and write the latter booklet. He wrote an article in American Butterflies (Summer, 2004) on the rare and endangered Miami Blue, a Florida butterfly that he and his wife Karen discovered on a trip to Cuba in 2001.

Brenda Van Ryswyk - Ecologist, Halton Conservation Authority

Brenda Van Ryswyk grew up in the rural areas south of Ottawa and has been working with Conservation Halton for over 16 years as a Natural Heritage Ecologist. Her main job responsibilities include plant and wildlife inventories and long-term monitoring which is a great match for her love of the outdoors. She first started with Conservation Halton as part of the Natural Areas Inventory staff where she did vegetation mapping and species inventories. She has a passion for butterflies and dragonflies and spends much of her free time observing and photographing them. She is also an avid gardener and has begun to promote the concept that our backyard landscaping can be functional (benefit our local wildlife) as well as beautiful and has given presentations to many community and gardening groups on the topic.

Emily Trendos - PhD Candidate, University of Guelph (Norris Lab)

Emily entered her PhD program in the fall of 2020 under the supervision of Dr. Ryan Norris at the University of Guelph as a Nature Conservancy of Canada Weston Family Conservation Science Fellow. Prior to this, she completed a Masters of Environmental Studies at the University of Waterloo and a Bachelor of Science (Honours) majoring in Zoology at the University of Guelph. Emily first gained hands-on experience with Mottled Duskywing in 2020 when she was employed as a research technician with the University of Guelph to assist with mark re-sighting studies in the Rice Lake Plains. She plans to build upon this research over the course of her PhD and generate information pertaining to Mottled Duskywing demography, augmentation, and habitat. This work will help guide management activities on Nature Conservancy of Canada lands, inform reintroduction efforts, and work towards the recovery of the Mottled Duskywing and its habitat.

Gard Otis - Professor Emeritus, University of Guelph

Dr. Gard W. Otis studies the ecology, behaviour and evolution of insects, predominantly honey bees and butterflies. His initial PhD research involved comparing reproductive strategies of rain forest butterflies, following which for his dissertation he studied the swarming biology and population growth of Africanized honey bees. Most of his career at the University of Guelph (1982-2017) involved a wide diversity of projects related to honey bee biology and management. However, following the publication of his booklet on the butterflies of Algonquin Park, he began to study butterflies again in 2005, with research focused on of the ecology of endangered species in Ontario (Mottled Duskywings and Frosted Elfins) and the influence of two-year life cycles on genetic divergence of the Arctics (genus Oeneis).

Erin McGauley, Kawartha Land Trust’s Stewardship Committee

Erin is a volunteer member of the Kawartha Land Trust’s Stewardship Committee, which helps protect Mottled Duskywing habitat. As a professor at Fleming College’s School of Environmental and Natural Resource Sciences, she teaches courses on Applied Ecology and the Biodiversity of Invertebrates. She is a member of the Monarch Teacher Network of Canada and regularly tags and monitors these Endangered butterflies with post-secondary students. Through her past position at Otonabee Conservation, Erin has planned and executed many native habitat restoration projects to benefit local wildlife including butterflies and moths.

Graham Buck - Habitat Restoration Specialist, Tallgrass Ontario

Throughout a variety of professional and volunteer experiences Graham has demonstrated one thing, a passion for the plants and insects of southern Ontario. Whether it is starting and running a native plant nursery for 13 years, working as a biologist and ecologist with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry or being a board member or paid employee of Tallgrass Ontario, Graham's passion has remained strong. Graham now provides assistance to Tallgrass Ontario as a volunteer on the recovery of species at risk, including sitting on the Butterfly Recovery Team.

Jack Chapman - Director, Tallgrass Ontario

Jack Chapman graduated from Sault College with a diploma in Forestry. He went on to work for the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (OMNR) as a Forest Fire Ranger in the Blind River District, a Senior Forest Management Technician in the Simcoe District, and a Senior Fire Officer for the North East Fire Region. Jack as also held positions as a Wild Fire Response Officer in Halliburton and a Fire Intelligence Boss for the OMNR Provincial Fire/Incident Command Team. He has written and implemented over 480 (High and Low Complexity) prescribed burn plans for fire dependent ecosystems and for Phragmites management. Jack has also worked as a consultant for prescribed burn companies and Ontario Stewardship Councils.

Jessica Linton - Senior Biologist, Natural Resource Solutions Inc.

Jessica is a Senior Project Manager and Biologist at NRSI and the Chair of the Ontario Butterfly Species at Risk Recovery Team. Jessica holds a Ministerial appointment to the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) Arthropod Species Specialist Subcommittee and is the President of the Toronto Entomologist’s Association. A large focus of Jessica’s work is on oak savanna butterfly species at risk recovery planning and implementation. In addition to authoring the federal status assessment and Ontario provincial recovery strategy for Mottled Duskywing, Jessica has authored the draft federal recovery strategies for Karner Blue, Eastern Persius Duskywing, and Frosted Elfin.

Jessica Steiner - Conservation Programs Director, Wildlife Preservation Canada

Jessica has extensive experience in endangered species management both within Canada and internationally, with special focus on conservation interventions and projects which integrate in-situ and ex-situ recovery actions. She oversees all of WPC’s species focused projects, including several at-risk pollinator projects across the country which include conservation breeding, population augmentation, and population monitoring aspects and respective multi-partner planning efforts.

Julie Henry - Natural Heritage Coordinator, Alderville Black Oak Savanna

Julie has over 15 years of experience in the Environmental Field with an Honours Environmental Science and Physical Geography degree (H.BSc) from Trent University and a Post Graduate Diploma from Fleming College in GIS Applications. Julie’s professional experience includes ecological projects and research with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Ministry of Natural Resource and Forestry, and various NGO’s. Julie’s skills in management, data collection and reporting are founded upon knowledge gained in the field. Julie grew up exploring the waters of Georgian Bay, and later, Northern Canada and the Kawartha Lakes. Julie’s interest in the meaning of landscape, and our connections to it, drives her work with Alderville BOS.

Kevin Kerr - Manager of Species Recovery and Program Assessment, Toronto Zoo

Kevin Kerr earned a BSc in Wildlife Biology and a PhD in Zoology from the University of Guelph. He worked as a post-doctoral fellow at both the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and the Royal Ontario Museum. He spent 5 years as the Curator of Birds and Invertebrates at the Toronto Zoo, and is now the Manager of Species Recovery and Program Assessment at that institution. He oversees the Zoos field conservation programs and conservation social science activities.

Kristen Bernard - Program Director- Southwest Ontario, Nature Conservancy of Canada

Kristen Bernard is the Program Director for the Nature Conservancy of Canada's Southwestern Ontario subregion and has been with the organization since 2011. In her current role she oversees conservation activities within strategically defined natural areas (Southern Norfolk Sand Plain, Essex Forests and Wetlands and Western Lake Erie Islands Natural Areas), as well several other properties throughout the subregion, with a focus on land acquisition, stewardship, community outreach and partnership development.

Liv-Monch-Whipp - Coordinator, Conservation Biology for Southwestern Ontario, Nature Conservancy of Canada

Liv completed her BSc in Zoology at the University of Guelph and her MSc in Landscape Ecology at Carleton. Liv has 13 years of experience working in the conservation field with a focus on landscape ecology, species at risk, and invasive species management. Prior to joining NCC, Liv worked as a field technician on various wildlife research projects with provincial governments, universities, and First Nations. Liv joined NCC in 2014 and is responsible for coordinating and conducting stewardship on over 2300 ha of conservation lands in Norfolk County and Niagara Region, including invasive species control, species at risk surveys, and habitat restoration.

Mhairi McFarlane - Conservation Science Manager, Nature Conservancy of Canada

Mhairi McFarlane is the Director of Science and Stewardship for the Ontario Region of the Nature Conservancy of Canada. She spent 6.5 years as the Conservation Biologist for the Southwestern Ontario subregion where she designed, implemented and managed field scale restoration of wetland, meadow and forest in the Southern Norfolk Sand Plain and on Pelee Island, and currently oversees stewardship work throughout Ontario. She holds an Honours Ecology degree from the University of Stirling, and a PhD in Ecology from the University of Exeter in Cornwall. Her thesis was on the behavioural ecology of Cape Sugarbirds in South Africa. She moved to Ontario in 2006, and had short contracts with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Bird Studies Canada before joining the Nature Conservancy of Canada in March 2008. She worked as the Conservation Biologist for southwestern Ontario before becoming the Director of Science and Stewardship for Ontario in September 2014. She has been managing non-native invasive species and conducting field-scale restoration throughout southwestern Ontario both with NCC and as a volunteer with the Thames Talbot Land Trust.

Nusha Keyghobadi - Professor, University of Western Ontario

Nusha is a Professor in the Department of Biology at Western University, Canada. My research focuses on understanding patterns of genetic variation in insect populations, and combines aspects of population genetics, landscape ecology, and population biology. I am also interested in using genetic tools and data to inform conservation and management of species-at-risk. In addition to the Mottled Duskywing, I have worked on a number of other butterflies of conservation concern including the Regal Fritillary, Mormon Metalmark, and Behr's Hairstreak.

Radek Odolczyk - Ecological Restoration & Stewardship Coordinator, Alderville Black Oak Savanna

In his role, Radek is responsible for overseeing the restoration work at the Alderville BOS site, and the Stream to Shore project. Radek also plays a lead role in the conservation of Species-at-Risk and other conservation-related projects. He has worked at the Alderville BOS for five years, with a decade of conservation work ranging from mangrove wetland restoration in Central America, to sustainable forest practices in the ancient Appalachian Mountains of New Brunswick. He has a Technologist Diploma in Ecosystem Management from Fleming College, and a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science from Trent University. He can’t imagine of a better way to spend the rest of his days than being out on the land planting trees, shrubs, forbs, and grasses, restoring habitats, and making friends all along the way.

Ryan Norris - Associate Professor, University of Guelph

Dr. Ryan Norris is an Associate Professor and in the Department of Integrative Biology at the University of Guelph. His research focuses on the ecology, behaviour and conservation of animals living in seasonal environments, topics on which he has published over 120 peer-review articles. Dr. Norris is supervising MSc candidate, Angela Demarse, who developed and executed the first year of mark-relocate studies. Dr. Norris has authored several population model studies, including the first year-round multi-stage matrix population model of monarch butterflies (Flockhart et al. 2015) and the first annual cycle integrative population model of a migratory songbird (Woodworth et al. 2017). His work has been featured in national and international media outlets and he has received several research awards including the American Ornithologists Union Young Investigator Award and the Canadian Society of Zoologists New Investigator Award. He was recently elected into the College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists of the Royal Society of Canada.

Shayla Kroeze - MSc Candidate, University of Western Ontario

Shayla completed her Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science and Biology at Western University in 2019 and is now working on a Master’s in Biology with Collaborative Specialization in Environment and Sustainability. Her graduate thesis explores the genetic diversity and structure of Mottled Duskywing populations in Ontario and nearby locations. While her graduate research focuses on conservation genetics, she is more generally interested in environmental protection and sustainability.

Sheila Colla - Assistant Professor, York University

Sheila Colla is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change at York University and holds the York Research Chair in Interdisciplinary Conservation Science. Her lab's research focusses on the ecology of wild pollinators and the human dimensions of pollinator conservation. She has co-authored "The bumblebees of North America: An Identification Guide (Princeton Unversity Press, 2014) and is currently the North American Coordinator for the IUCN Bumblebee Specialist Group.

Val Deziel - Coordinator- Conservation Biologist, Nature Conservancy of Canada

Val completed her Hon. BSc in Restoration Ecology at Trent University. Val has experience as a field technician on various wildlife research projects working with provincial governments, universities, and First Nations. She joined NCC in 2012 and is now responsible for coordinating and conducting stewardship work in the Rice Lake Plains, including invasive species control, species at risk surveys, Prescribed burns and tallgrass prairie/ oak savannah habitat restoration.

Yvonne Young - Invertebrate Keeper, Cambridge Butterfly Conservatory

Yvonne has an educational background in research in biology with a particular focus on ecology and evolution. In continuation with the theme of her Master's in Science Degree, she has applied her skills extensively in the field of research in insect development and captive rearing, namely in the case of assisting in the management of the invasive Asian Spotted-Wing Fruitfly (Drosophila suzukii) and in the rehabilitation of the endangered Mottled Duskywing (Erynnis martialis). She also has generous working experience in the rearing and care of a diverse array of invertebrate species as the working 'Invertebrate Keeper' of a live collection on exhibit at the Cambridge Butterfly Conservatory.

Partners

Cambridge Butterfly Conservatory

Cambridge Butterfly Conservatory (CBC) is a privately-owned tourist attraction and educational facility with a mandate to educate the public about the important role that insects play in nature. To support Mottled Duskywing recovery, Cambridge Butterfly Conservatory has established a dedicated Butterfly Conservation Lab. In 2018, they carried out captive rearing trials using a closely related, but more common, duskywing species (E. baptisiae). In 2019, 12 female Mottled Duskywings were successfully translocated from the wild and over 1,800 egg were reared, resulting in the first data on life-history parameters, such as oviposition rates, and survivorship of juveniles and adults. In 2020, the Conservatory continued its Mottled Duskywing captive rearing program, supporting research at the University of Guelph and documenting detailed morphometric data. The CBC is currently working with Recovery Team members to provide source stock for Mottled Duskywing reintroductions and opportunities to support research.

Website: cambridgebutterfly.com

Norris Lab, University of Guelph

Dr. Ryan Norris is an ecologist interested in the behaviour, population dynamics, and conservation of animals in seasonal environments, with a particular emphasis on migratory birds and butterflies. Research in the Norris Lab focuses on several theoretical and empirical problems related to the ecology and conservation of migratory animals and resident animals living in highly seasonal environments. In addition to research on butterflies, lab members are also currently conducting studies on the ecology and behaviour of Savannah sparrows on Kent Island, Bay of Fundy, NS, the ecology and population dynamics of Gray Jays in Algonquin Park, ON, and Denali National Park, Alaska and migratory ecology and behaviour of Tree swallows and Blackpoll warblers across their breeding range. See the Norris lab research page for details on these topics and more including their work on ecology and conservation of monarch butterflies and population ecology of fruit flies.

Website: norrislab.ca

Kawartha Land Trust

Kawartha Land Trust is conserving the natural environment and enhancing quality of life in the Kawarthas. We do this by accepting donations of land and/or interests in land and engaging the community in support of this work to ensure that these lands are cared for, in perpetuity. Kawartha Land Trust protects 22 properties comprising more than 4,700 acres of important, diverse types of land, and assists in the management of 5 additional properties. Our Vision is a future where 30% of the Kawartha Region is characterized by protected natural spaces and connections that support health and representative ecosystems and landscapes.

Lambton Wildlife Inc.

Lambton Wildlife Inc. is a non-profit, volunteer-run naturalist organization. Founded in 1966, LWI is a registered charity that is dedicated to the conservation, preservation, and protection of the natural environment in Lambton County. LWI established the Karner Blue Sanctuary in Port Franks to conserve the area’s butterfly diversity, and is happy to partner with the Ontario Butterfly Species at Risk Recovery Team to return the Mottled Duskywing Butterfly to part of its former range.

Website: natureconservancy.ca

Toronto Zoo

The Toronto Zoo represents part of the local and global conservation community, serving more than 1.2 million guests each year. Locally and regionally, they collaborate with governmental agencies, conservation and science non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and corporate and academic partners to share our knowledge and learn from each other to enhance our collective impact. The Toronto Zoo is dedicated to pollinator conservation and conducts a number of relevant activities to the work the Recovery Team is doing including hosting an informative webpage on pollinator conservation (www.torontozoo.ca/pollinators), participating in native wildflower seed giveaway programs, maintaining pollinator gardens with interpretive signage throughout the zoo, and conducting corporate meadow planting activities with partner Suncor. The Toronto zoo has also participated in activities recovery activities on-site for Karner Blue and Yellow-banded Bumblebee.

Website: torontozoo.com

Keyghobadi Lab, University of Western Ontario

The Keyghobadi lab operates out of the Biology Department at Western University in London, Ontario. Our research integrates population genetics, conservation biology, and landscape ecology to investigate factors affecting the genetic diversity of populations. We work mostly with insects, and our research is directly relevant to habitat fragmentation, conservation, and management of at-risk species. We are excited to be part of Ontario’s Butterfly Species at Risk Recovery Team and to guide the genetic aspects of the Mottled Duskywing reintroduction program. As no previous work on genetics of this species has been conducted before, our first goal is to develop genetic markers and characterize genetic diversity within and among existing Mottled Duskywing populations in Ontario and surrounding areas including Manitoba, New York, and Michigan. This information will help us determine the best source(s) for reintroduction, so as to minimize the risk of low genetic diversity and inbreeding in the newly established populations. Potential source populations will also be screened for the presence of bacterial parasites that affect butterfly reproduction, as their presence could affect whether butterflies from different sources can successfully mate with each other or not. We also plan to use museum specimens to characterize the historical genetic composition of populations that have been extirpated, particularly at proposed reintroduction sites such as Pinery Provincial Park. This will further guide the selection of sources by allowing us to determine which surviving populations are genetically most similar to ones that used to occupy the proposed reintroduction site. Finally, the genetic tools we develop will be used to monitor genetic diversity and risk of inbreeding in the newly established populations over time.

Website: uwo.ca/biology/faculty/keyghobadi

Wildlife Preservation Canada

Established in 1985, Wildlife Preservation Canada (WPC) is a national charity devoted to saving endangered animal species facing imminent extinction in Canada – species whose numbers in the wild are so low that habitat protection alone is not enough. We specialize in science-based interventions such as conservation breeding and release, reintroduction and translocation. We currently provide expert hands-on care to various reptile, amphibian, bird, and insect species at risk in projects ranging from the St. Lawrence/Great Lakes region to Vancouver Island. As part of our national Native Pollinator Initiative we collaborate with numerous partners on activities such as establishing conservation breeding colonies, promoting and providing training for community science such as Bumble Bee Watch, hosting educational workshops, spearheading scientific research and supporting efforts to improve or restore habitat. WPC has been engaged in butterfly recovery efforts in Ontario since 2012, when we supported research to assess wild lupine habitat and the feasibility of Karner blue reintroductions to Canada. We have actively participated on the Ontario Butterfly Species At Risk Recovery Team since its inception. WPC will be leading a monitoring program for mottled dusky wing reintroductions at Pinery Provincial Park to evaluate release efforts and fill important knowledge gaps such as dispersal distance and survival rates of different life stages, including overwintering success.

Website: wildlifepreservation.ca | Twitter: @WPCWild911
Facebook: Wildlife Preservation Canada
Instagram: @Wildlife_Preservation_Canada

Sheila R. Colla’s Native Pollinator Research Lab, York University

Dr. Sheila R. Colla’s lab is found at York University, in Toronto, Ontario, and is comprised of members from both the Department of Biology and the Faculty of Environmental Studies. As a lab, we are interested in all aspects of native pollinator conservation. Our research is interdisciplinary, including ecology, conservation biology, policy and citizen science. Please take a look at our site, and hopefully learn a little more about our research, bumblebees, and conservation efforts in general.

Website: savethebumblebees.ca