Start the conversation! Commencez la conversation !

[CPCIL]

Post an introduction to the parks and protected areas research summit.

Who are you? What landscape or seascape are you connected to? What do you hope to get out of the summit and how will you try to connect with other knowers, learners, and doers?

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Postez une introduction au sommet de la recherche sur les parcs et les zones protégées.

Qui êtes-vous ? À quel paysage ou paysage marin êtes-vous lié ? Qu’espérez-vous retirer du sommet et comment allez-vous essayer de vous connecter avec d’autres connaisseurs, apprenants et acteurs ?

[Victoria MacPhail]

Hi everyone! I’ll be the first to start this thread. My name is Victoria MacPhail, and as an Islander (Prince Edward Island) currently living in Ontario, I strongly connect to rivers, lakes and oceans. There’s just something about staring out over the water that touches the soul; add in a glorious sunset (and a good book!) and that’s just serenity for me. Although I also love the woods and meadows and wetlands…and prairies and sand dunes and alvars…and nature in general!

I’m a PhD Candidate at York University, although I live in Guelph, Ontario. I’ve had exposure to parks and protected areas through various positions and research projects over the years, plus through personal and volunteer experiences. I am also a Senior Doctoral Scholar with CPCIL, and it has been through this position I’ve had the opportunity to help organize this summit.

I’ve already learned more about the field by being able to read each of the individual proposals as they came in: we’re doing so many amazing things in this country! I hope to be able to match faces to names throughout the summit, and start making new connections. I’m really interested in seeing how the virtual beverage groups will work out – a chance for a small random group of us to get together virtually and chat.

[josh.tompkins@gnb.ca]

Hi everyone, I work in the Head Office of New Brunswick’s Prov. Parks on everything from resource management planning to operations and managing the reservation system to fees and policy to visitation analysis and a touch of marketing.

I stated in HO before I completed my Kinesiology degree with a focus on Outdoor Recreation and Tourism and have been eagerly watching for Parks research and knowledge sharing to take off since that time. The incredible leaps and bounds of the Canadian Parks community since the 2016 Parks Summit has been a joy to participate in and I look forward to seeing this forum grow.

[Sébastien Renard]

Bonjour/Hello
Je m’appelle Sébastien Renard, je travaille à Parcs Canada depuis 2015. I am lucky enough to work with a different Parks Canada site as ecosystem scientist, ecological monitoring specialist. Mon expertise est en écologie forestière et écologie alpine, and I some experience in marine conservation. I hope to expand my knowledge and network of conservation knowers, learners and doers. Donc je vais tenter de participer activement et respectueusement aux conversations, and I look forward to grow these relationships ! Je vous souhaite à tous un bon sommet, I wish you all a good summit !

[Craig Paulson]

Hi, I’m Craig Paulson. I work for the capital infrastructure program for BC Parks in North West BC. I’m interested in learning more about efforts around the country to make parks more accessible for people with disabilities. I also really like interpretive experiences.
Salut, je m’appelle Craig Paulson. Je travaille pour le programme d’immobilisations de BC Parks dans le nord-ouest de la Colombie-Britannique. Je suis intéressé à en savoir plus sur les efforts déployés dans tout le pays pour rendre les parcs plus accessibles aux personnes handicapées. J’aime aussi beaucoup les expériences d’interprétation.

[Alexander “AJ” Wray]

Hi All, I am a doctoral student at Western University in the Department of Geography & Environment, working with Dr. Jason Gilliland in the Human Environments Analysis Lab. I am part of the ParkSeek Canada team, an exciting pan-Canadian initiative to build new tools, technologies and approaches to determining geographic accessibility to parks and recreational facilities, the quality of experiences in those spaces, and policy approaches from a health equity perspective. We are really excited to share the project at the CPCIL summit. I am connected to the Great Lakes region in Southern Ontario!

[Mandy Huynh]

Hi everyone! My name is Mandy Huynh and I am a MSc Geography student at York University researching about the Eastern Prickly Pear Cactus at Point Pelee National Park under the supervision of Dr. Taly Drezner. I am very excited to learn about current projects and initiatives in Canadian Parks. I am especially interested in learning more about conservation and outreach initiatives. I look forward to connecting with everyone during the virtual summit!

[Annie Pumphrey]

Hello!

Happy CPCIL! My name is Annie Pumphrey, and I am a Master’s student at the University of Northern British Columbia. I’m interested in a social science approach to human-wildlife interactions, and my current research is looking at human perceptions of roadside bear viewing in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, Alberta.

I’ve worked in a variety of different seasonal park roles in Alberta, BC, and New Zealand. I am relatively new to the academic side of the parks world, and would love to connect with anyone interested in human-wildlife interactions in parks! Feel free to reach out at: pumphrey@unbc.ca, as I’d love to learn and connect with others!

[Scott, Delyea]

Hi Everyone,

I work for Ontario Parks as a Project Lead assigned to ongoing development of the conservation reserves program. There are 295 conservation reserves in Ontario and in 2019 the management responsibility of these protected areas transitioned to Ontario Parks which added to our existing provincial protected areas framework of 300+ provincial parks. I’m particularly interested in learning about Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs), partnership models for management of protected areas, managing increased human use, sustainable land use activities and upcoming threats or pressures for the protected areas network across Canada. I can’t wait to participate in the upcoming sessions as there’s a lot to learn and I look forward to the exchange of knowledge and experiences with everyone.

[Christopher Scott]

Hi everyone.

My name is Christopher Scott and I am a Wilfrid Laurier Masters student. I graduated from York University with a Bachelor of Environmental Studies. For three summers I have work for The Regional Municipality of York performing trial maintenance and juvenile tree maintenance. I look forwarding to collaborating with all of you.

[Sherry Lu]

Hi everyone,

I’m the Education and Learning Project Lead at BC Parks (currently working from home in Surrey), working on projects around K-12 education, interpretation, and park user behaviour/safety. I’m keen to connect with everyone and learn more about how other agencies handle interpretation and influence behaviour change. Social media as a form of communication is also something I’m interested in!

[DA, Mucha]

Hi there,

nice to read everyone’s introductions! This is Debbie Mucha, I work in the amazing and beautiful Kananaskis Region in Alberta as the area manager for Kananaskis Country. My neighbors are both Banff National Park as well as BC Provincial Parks. I love parks of all shapes and sizes as well as terrain types and I am looking forward to learning about everyone’s research and where you work, study, live and play. We are starting our busy season here at work (seems it never ended since the pandemic began) so I will be doing some juggling to be able to attend the summit sessions but I look forward to the learning opportunity and the chance to connect with everyone.

[Briana Hamilton]

Hello everyone!

My name’s Briana. I’m a Knowledge Gatherer working with CPCIL, and will be assisting with the summit. I’m also a student at Mount Royal University majoring in Ecotourism and Outdoor Leadership, and minoring in Business of Sport and Recreation Management. I must say that the Rocky Mountains are my absolute favourite place! Aside from being an avid backpacker, who’s recently found a love for mountain biking, I’ve worked as an interpretive hiking guide in Banff.

I’m greatly looking forward to being a part of this summit to connect with like-minded individuals and to expand my knowledge on places outside of the Rocky Mountain region.

If you ever need assistance with anything related to the summit, or simply want to chat, feel free to email me: bhami089@mtroyal.ca

[Ebany Carratt]

Hello everyone!

I am also one of the Knowledge Gatherers at CPCIL helping out for this summit. I graduated in February 2020 from the University of Calgary with a Bachelor of Arts in Law and Society, where I studied anything related to law, policy, statistics, and socio-economics. Throughout my time as a Gatherer, I got the amazing experience to research, write articles, and create resources that were related to my interests, which included inclusion/equity, Indigenous reconciliation, and the historical relationship between the judiciary and parks management. I hope to continue my career towards furthering better inclusion and equity within all Parks and Protected Areas.

Despite growing up in the prairies, I think I have always been connected to the Rockies. In fact, I usually spend any free weekend I have out in Canmore or Banff.

I am very pleased to meet all of you and I look forward to connecting with you throughout this opportunity!

[Robert Wallis]

Hello there – My name is Rob Wallis and I’m the Principal of Outward Bound Canada – that role sees me in charge of all things Education at OBC. I’m also in charge of outcomes measurements, tracking the short term and long term societal impacts of our work.

We’ve also recently commited to focus one third of our curriculum on Environmental Leadership, and as a National organisation taking youth to many of the places discussed here, am very interested in forming partnerships and idea-sharing for various service projects / hands on leadership roles our students can take on in the Parks.

I can be contacted at rob_wallis@outwardbound.ca

[Christine Persohn]

Good morning everyone. My name is Christine Persohn and I’m the Manager of Knowledge Mobilization within Protected Areas Establishment and Conservation at Parks Canada. Despite growing up landlocked in southern Ontario farming country, I feel most at home near a body of water, though I’ve yet to find the perfect one!
I’m really looking forward to connecting with new people who have a passion for conservation and sharing their knowledge with others to achieve conservation goals. And I’m always on the lookout for ways we can improve how we at Parks Canada, share out knowledge and engage with the broader conservation community.

[Hameet, Singh]

Hi everyone, my name is Hameet and I am one of the Knowledge Gatherers at CPCIL. I am based in the GTA, near the Great Lakes and love exploring the trails found along the Niagara Escarpment. I have a Master of Environmental Studies from the University of Waterloo and my thesis focused primarily on marine protected areas (MPAs), social-ecological change and community wellbeing. My interest in MPAs continued during my time at CPCIL where I had the opportunity to research and develop articles related to this topic. I also explored the cohesion between conservation and ecological economics. I hope to further my knowledge of parks and protected areas during the research summit, get updates on up-and-coming research and network with others in this field.

[Raluca]

Hello everyone! My name is Raluca Oprean and I am a 2nd year Masters of Environmental Studies student at Wilfrid Laurier University. My supervisor is Dr. Chris Lemieux. I am based in London, UK.

My research focuses on park agency crisis communication during the COVID-19 pandemic. I specifically look at Twitter messaging by various park organizations to identify themes and patterns. I hope that my research will lead to a renewed commitment for Canada’s parks and protected areas, as they proved to be vital during this difficult time.

In my spare time, I curate a brand focusing on empowering female travel “Journeys of Girls”. I also enjoy traveling myself, but this year has allowed for me to discover new hobbies at home.

[Mu He]

Good morning everyone! Here is Mu!

I am a PhD student at the University of Alberta, following the completion of a Master degree (Recreation and Leisure studies) at the same university two years ago. My Master’s research explored the impact of climate change interpretation on visitor experiences at the Athabasca Glacier. That research was the first independent study in my life, so the glacier is meaningful to me. The gorgeous place has nurtured my growing passion for tourism research.

My current research is about environmental communication and behavioural change in leisure contexts, but I am looking forward to learning about new perspectives from you all 😀

[Emma Griggs]

Good morning everyone! My name is Emma. and I live and work in Vancouver, BC – the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and Sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. I grew up in B.C. as a daughter of European immigrants who couldn’t resist the call of B.C.’s mountains. Following my love of the outdoors, I studied in Australia, Namibia, trekked through the Himalayas and completed a BSc in Natural Resource Conservation at UBC. I am personally fascinated by the challenges and potential of multi-party collaboration, have a particular passion for B.C.’s wild spaces and can be found on many weekends in muddy hiking boots.
Since Fall 2019, I’ve been working at the BC Parks Foundation, working in a small but powerful team that aims to enhance and improve our provincial parks system and connect people to it. In it’s three years of operation, BCPF has raised over $10 million for the parks system, fostered the collection of 1 million citizen science observations, launched Canada’s first park prescription program, and more.

[Munju M Ravindra]

Hello all! Munju here. I live and work in the small coastal community of Purcell’s Cove, just outside of Halifax, Nova Scotia, in the traditional territory of the Mi’kmaq. I first worked for Parks Canada about 26 years ago, as a seasonal naturalist, and have been floating in and out of nature interpretation (and Parks Canada!) ever since. I have tended to work in roles at the intersection of conservation and visitor experience, probably due to my lifetime of straddling different worlds (mixed race New Canadian growing up in a fishing village), Many years ago now, I did a Masters on using the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve concept to facilitate community based conservation in coastal areas (my study area was the Scotian Shelf region of Nova Scotia), and then represented Parks Canada in the development and designation of UNESCO Biosphere Reserves in both the Thousand Islands and the inner Bay of Fundy. When I’m not working for Parks Canada, I consult nationally and internationally on the development of transformative experiences in and around protected areas, and my clients have ranged from local community organizations to the World Bank. I am currently one of three Senior National Advisors on Parks Canada’s Marine Conservation team, and my specific ‘baskets of responsibility’ are Ocean Literacy, Coastal Community Well-being, and Marine Tourism…

[Rachel Goldstein]

Hello everyone! My name is Rachel Goldstein and I’m a knowledge gatherer for CPCIL. I grew up in Kingston, ON, spending my summers at Charleston Lake Provincial Park. I started working in parks back in 2014 as an interpreter for Charleston Lake. I have a Bachelor of Arts from Western Ontario and a Master of Science in biodiversity and conservation from Trinity College Dublin. My masters research focused on thermal ranges of shark species and how climate change is affecting their spatial and temporal ranges. I’ve moved around Canada quite a bit in the last few years, from Calgary, to Jasper, to Squamish, and as of January, Victoria, BC. I look forward to exploring new lands and territories here, particularly the marine environment. I’m very excited to learn from all of you over the next week and learn about the incredible research happening across the country!

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