"Our environment is our future"

NRESi Special Events

In addition to the weekly NRESi Colloquium series and Annual Lecture, the NRESi also hosts a number of other events throughout the year. These events include the Peace Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program presentation series held in the fall in Mackenzie, BC and in the spring in Fort St John and Prince George.

Peace-Williston Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program Colloquium Series

There are three NRESi Colloquium special presentations sponsored by the Peace-Williston Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program, scheduled for fall/winter 2023/24. 

1. Wednesday, January 18, 2023. Williston Wetland Explorer Tool, Deepa Filatow, BC Public Service; Where do we go from here? Building upon wetland mapping products – advancing knowledge, decision making tools, and conservation within the Williston Basin, Neil Fletcher and Rebekah Ingram, BC Wildlife Federation. 

The first presentation will introduce the Williston Wetland Explorer Tool. The Williston Wetland Explorer Tool or WWET is an interactive mapping application that provides easy access to data products produced for the Predictive Wetland Mapping of the Willison Drainage Basin project (BAPID 6492; model Run 1 - 2018) and subsequent update (BAPID 6538; model Run 2 - 2020), funded by the FWCP Peace Region.  In addition to displaying modelled wetlands and riparian areas, landscape disturbances are displayed which may support assessing threats to these areas for prioritization of conservation and enhancement actions. The WWET provides access to field data observations, training points and photos collected during field validation of the mapping. The presentation will consist of slides and a live demonstration followed by questions and discussion.

Building upon better mapping products for the Williston Reservoir introduced in the first session, the BC Wildlife Federation, in collaboration with local First Nation communities, and with funding from the FWCP Peace Region, are taking subsequent steps towards conservation, by conducting field work investigations that aim to improve ground based information, develop a functional assessment tool to support better decision making, and evaluating the health of wetlands in possible and identified areas of concern to inform restoration priorities.  Neil Fletcher and Rebekah Ingram will discuss opportunities to advance wetland conservation in the Williston Reservoir.

This event is funded by the Fish & Wildlife Compensation Program (FWCP). The FWCP is a partnership between BC Hydro, Fisheries & Oceans Canada, First Nations, Public Stakeholders and the Province of BC, to conserve and enhance fish and wildlife in watersheds impacted by existing BC Hydro dams.

This talk is free to attend but participants must pre-register using the link found on the webpage here.

Past Event and Meeting Information

2021/22 presentations

1. Thursday, November 25, 2021. Arctic Grayling distribution in upper Peace Basin: an assessment using environmental DNA. Mike Stamford. Stamford Environmental. Presentation recording

2020/21 presentations

1. Wednesday, November 18, 2020. Online. Navigating the uncertain and difficult road to restoration and recovery of Klinse-Za caribou. Dr. Scott McNay. Wildlife Infometrics. Presentation recording 
2. Wednesday, January 20, 2021. Online. Status and critical habitats for Bull Trout in the Williston Reservoir watershed. John Hagen. Independent Consultant. Presentation recording
3. Wednesday, February 10, 2021. Online. A tale of two populations: Why are fishers in the Peace different from 200 km away? Rich Wier, BC Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy. Presentation recording
4. Wednesday, March 10, 2021. Online. Dammed if we don't: Exploring opportunities to restore connectivity in rivers and streams and why it matters. Dan Kraus. Nature Conservancy of Canada. Presentation recording
5. Wednesday, March 24, 2021. Online. Genomic analysis within Salvelinus: understanding speciation and informing management. Dr. Eric Taylor, University of British Columbia. Presentation recording
    

2019/20 presentations​

1. Tuesday, December 3, 2019. Mackenzie Rec Centre, Mackenzie, BC. A summary of bat research in Northeastern British Columbia. Brian Paterson, Zonal Ecosystem and Wildlife Consultants Ltd. Presentation recording
2. Planned presentations in Fort St John and Prince George were cancelled due to the COVID19 pandemic. 

2018/19 presentations​

1. Tuesday, November 27, 2018. Mackenzie Rec Centre, Mackenzie, BC. One fish, two fish, red fish, lots of fish: Where did they come from and what are they doing? Dr. Mark Shrimpton, University of Northern British Columbia. Presentation recording
2. Thursday, Feb 21, 2019. LIDO Theatre - Fort St. John, BC. You cannot love softwoods and hate hardwoods.... Considerations for Moose in Forest Management. Dr. Roy Rea, University of Northern British Columbia.
3. Thursday, April 11, 2019. Room 7-212. UNBC Campus, Prince George, BC. White sturgeon in BC: Moving from recruitment failure to restoration. Dr. Steve McAdam, BC Ministry of Environment and Climate Change. Presentation recording.

2017/18 presentations​

1. Tuesday, November 21, 2017. Royal Canadian Legion Branch, Mackenzie, BC. Amphibian Landscapes in Northern BC: Research Techniques and Conservation Management. Mark Thompson, DWB Consulting Services Ltd. Presentation recording
2. Thursday, January 11, 2018. Canfor Theatre, UNBC Campus Prince George, BC. Is Wildlife Management still possible? Dr. Charles Krebs, University of British Columbia. Presentation recording.
3. Thursday, April 12, 2018. LIDO Theatre - Fort St. John, BC. Efforts by industry to reduce impact on migratory birds in northeastern BC. Mark Phinney, Encana Corporation. Presentation recording.

2016/17 presentations

1. Wednesday, November 30, 2016. Mackenzie Rec Centre, Mackenzie, BC. 20 years of bird banding at Mugaha Marsh. Ryan Bichon, Mackenzie Nature Conservancy, Presentation recording, and Forest Management and the Migratory Bird Convention Act in Interior BC. Dr. Kari Stuart-Smith, Canadian Forest Products Ltd. Presentation recording
2. Wednesday, March 8, 2017. LIDO Theatre - Fort St. John, BC. Missing Wildlife: A First Nations' Perspective, George Desjarlais, West Moberly First Nations, Presentation recording, and Caribou of the Williston Basin: What do we know of their status after 50 years of reservoir flooding and 30 years of study?. Scott McNay, Wildlife Infometrics Inc. Presentation recording
3. Wednesday, March 22, 2017. Room 8-166. UNBC Campus, Prince George, BC. Working across boundaries - Integrating Behaviour, Physiology, and More to Facilitate the Conservation of Freshwater Fish. Dr. Steven Cooke, Carleton University. Presentation recording

2015/16 presentations

1. Thursday, February 25, 2015. Mackenzie Rec Centre, Mackenzie, BC. Using meso-carnivores as a measure of change in Forest Ecosystems: A case study from the John Prince Research Forest (JPRF). Dexter Hodder, John Prince Research Forest.
2. Friday, March 4, 2016. LIDO Theatre - Fort St. John, BC. A Tale of 3 fish: A migrant, an invader, and a resident. Dr. Mark Shrimpton, University of Northern British Columbia.
3. Monday, March 21, 2016. Room 7-212. UNBC Campus, Prince George, BC. Local through global influences on mercury in fish. Dr. Karen Kidd. University of New Brunswick.

Forest Tenure in British Columbia

On April 3rd, 2014, the Natural Resources & Environmental Studies Institute (NRESi) held their Annual Lecture. This year’s presenter was Al Gorley, who is the President of Triangle Resources Inc. and Former Chair of the B.C. Forest Practices Board. His talk was titled: Area-Based Tenure: If Not TFLs, Then What? (To view the presentation, please click here) During his presentation, Mr. Gorley provided an overview of the tenure system and the crossroads the current government is facing when planning the future of forest management in British Columbia.
As a result of this presentation, discussion was sparked among the participants who shared a desire to continue the conversation. NRESi took a leadership role in planning, organizing, and coordinating an event to bring together diverse interests in a dialogue. The event, Forest Tenures in British Columbia: Discussing the Options, Developing Innovative Solutions, was held on Wednesday, April 17th from 6pm-8pm at the UNBC Prince George campus, hosted by NRESi. The intent of the discussion was not to have a consensus as to the best approach of tenure or system of tenures, but instead create a venue to allow for all perspectives to be considered and interests incorporated, informed by their expertise. With the discussion and opportunities to share the diverse values and priorities, participants would have further information to support their individual comments and input into the current forest tenure consultation process. The event provided a venue for diverse perspectives to come together and openly discuss forest management and the crossroads that it currently faces for future planning. While the event provided a short opportunity to discuss the needs, priorities, benefits, and challenges, it succeeded in providing a high level snapshot of the desires and commonalities among interest groups.
To review a summary of the discussions, please click here to view the workshop proceedings.

Cumulative Impacts

Cumulative Environmental, Community and Health Effects of Multiple Natural Resource Developments in Northern BC

On Friday, January 10 and Saturday, January 11, 2014, a two-day event on Cumulative Environmental, Community and Health Effects of multiple Natural Resource Developments in Northern British Columbia with a focus on oil and gas was held at UNBC. This event was hosted jointly by three UNBC research institutes: Natural Resources and Environmental Studies Institute (NRESi), Health Research Institute (HRI) and Community Development Institute (CDI).

To read more about this workshop, view videos, presentations and other relevant links, please see the event's website by clicking here.