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Researchers
Who We Are
BOB BRETT
M.Sc., RP. Bio.
Bob Brett started the Whistler Biodiversity Project in late 2004. Bob trained in forest ecology and conservation biology, and has worked since graduation as a research ecologist with Snowline Ecological Research in Whistler. Bob’s research includes ecosystem classification, forest histories on tree rings, tree thinning for wildlife, and traditional plant use with the Lil’wat Nation. He is the founding president and current board member of the Whistler Naturalists. Bob sits on the RMOW Natural Areas Task Force and Forest and Wildland Advisory Committee.
ELKE WIND
M.Sc., RP. Bio.
Elke Wind is an amphibian specialist based in Nanaimo, BC. She is co-author of the COSEWIC report on Western Toads and Best Management Practices for BC amphibians, and wrote a book chapter in Amphibians of the Pacific Northwest,. She is active with the Nanaimo Young Naturalists’ Club and very committed to public nature education. Elke is also on the board of the Society for Northwestern Vertebrate Biology. Elke spends most of the summer in chest waders and has come to think of it as normal.
DR. LESLIE ANTHONY
Ph.D.
Dr. Leslie Anthony turned out to be the proverbial snake in the grass when we first encountered him in his current role as journalist and author. It turns out Leslie has a Ph.D. in herpetology (the study of reptiles and amphibians) and is perhaps the only person to ever read Herpetologica journal in a Whistler coffee shop. He generously offered his time as part of the 2006 tailed frog study (one of which he has in-hand in the photo).
JORY MULLEN
B.Sc.
Jory Mullen has loved animals since her days in the cabbage patch. Jory graduated in 2006 with a B.Sc. in Zoology from Brandon University. She co-conducted a field study of Northern Prairie Skink in SW Manitoba before moving on to an internship at a Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre in Langely, B.C., where she worked primarily with beavers. She now lives in Vancouver and works as a lab technician in the UBC Dept. of Microbiology at UBC.
DR. ADOLF CESKA AND OLUNA CESKA
M.Sc.
Dr. Adolf Ceska and Oluna Ceska are rare plant species specialists based in Victoria, BC. Adolf is a retired botanist from the BC Conservation Data Center, founding member of the Native Plant Society of BC, and contributor to the Eflora website. In addition to her botanical skills, Oluna is a reconized authority on fungi and algae. Together they operate Ceska Geobotanical Consulting in Victoria. The Ceskas like slippery chinese noodles and phantom orchids.
SHARMIN GAMIET
M. Sc.
Sharmin Gamiet is a mycologist and consultant with Mycology Resources in Abbotsford. She has published extensively on mushrooms and recently created a website on BC’s mushrooms. Sharmin is active with the Vancouver Mycological Society and President of the (non-chocolate) Truffle Association of BC. Sharmin has led the Naturalists’ annual Fungus Among Us Festival from its start in 2003. That first year unfortunately coincided with a 100-year flood and no mushrooms. The event has since improved.
TREVOR GOWARD
Lichenologist
Trevor Goward is a lichenologist based in Clearwater, BC. and curator of the lichens collection at the University of British Columbia Herbarium. He has published extensively in academic and other journals and is currently finishing a new book, Lichens of Western North America. His newest research interest are the thousands of species of crust lichens, many of which have yet to be described by science. Trevor likes dark chocolate.
TERRY McINTOSH
Ph.D.
Terry McIntosh is a botanist with over 30 years of experience in public education, ecological consulting, and scientific research. He has recently undertaken a number of bryophyte and ecosystem surveys, and has produced reports for both provincial and federal agencies (CDC and COSEWIC). He is familiar with plants and vegetation communities across British Columbia, in particular interior shrub-grasslands and coastal Garry oak ecosystems. He frequently participates in rare plant inventories, most recently on Salt Spring Island, the south Okanagan Valley, and along the Sunshine Coast.
TANYA LUSZCZ
M.Sc., RP. Bio.
Tanya Luszcz is a bat biologist now working as the Great Basin Program Manager for Partners in Flight in Penticton. In addition to her scientific work she is an excellent natural history educator, as she demonstrated during an outdoor bat event at Alpha Lake last year. She also gives annual bat presentations at the Meadowlark Festival based in Penticton. Tanya prefers telemark to downhill skiing.
ANDY MACKINNON
M.Sc., RP. Bio., RPF
Andy MacKinnon is a fixture among BC’s naturalists and biologists, both for his encyclopaedic knowledge of the natural world and his ability to be enthusiastic about absolutely everything, even jelly fungi. He is co-author of Plants of Coastal British Columbia and has written and contributed to many scientific and technical papers. Andy is the Regional Ecologist with the Ministry of Forests in Nanaimo, BC and unofficial mayor of Metchosin, BC.
DERRICK MARVEN
Naturalist
Derrick Marven is based in Duncan, BC and is an active member of the Cowichan Valley Naturalists. He is a long-time contributor to the annual Whistler Breeding Bird Count and many other naturalist events on Vancouver Island. Derrick’s specialties include birds, dragonflies, and butterflies. Derrick will only drink Guinness if it has a clover inscribed into the head.
CONNOR MCGILLION
Naturalist
Connor McGillion is a cross between a high school student and local authority on reptiles, amphibians, and invertebrates. He is the youngest known Whistler resident to identify himself as an entomologist (when he was eight). Connor’s observations of local species have been an invaluable addition to the project. And that is a snake in his hand.
