Wetland Specialist

Melissa joined the Native Plants Solutions team in 2015 as a Wetlands/Uplands specialist. She holds an M.Sc. in Biology from the University of Regina, specializing in wetland and avian ecology. Her Master’s project was a collaboration between the University of Regina and Agriculture and Agri-foods Canada to determine the management implications on avian communities of harvesting willow vegetation from prairie wetlands. She possesses skills in designing and conducting wildlife surveys, avian identification, both auditory and visually, as well as aquatic and terrestrial plant identification. Prior work experience with Stantec Consulting has given her extensive experience in wetland classification skills, in the field and with desktop mapping using ArcGIS, and conducting rare plant surveys, as well as experience with environmental monitoring and inspections. Her work with Agriculture and Agri-foods Canada as a wildlife biologist focused on managing and conducting avian and wetland surveys in prairie pothole wetlands. As an agroforestry research technician she was responsible for managing and supervising field crews in data collection for various agroforestry research projects focusing on climate change effects on balsam poplar and various willow species.