A hybrid Aquatic/Terrestrial Ecologist within the Impact Assessment and Permitting Division. Through the implementation of a variety of terrestrial and aquatic surveys, I work to obtain, maintain, and ensure compliance with Federal, Provincial, and Municipal permits. Responsibilities include:- Department's lead Unionid Specialist providing Provincial and Federal inputs for SAR mussels, and leading exploratory surveys and relocations where required to support infrastructure development- Drafting deliverables such as Existing Conditions Reports, Environmental Impact Studies, and Environmental Assessments- Natural Heritage background reviews utilizing municipal, provincial, and federal sources - Permitting, RfRs, and IGFs under the ESA and Fisheries Act- Proposal submissions, cost estimations, and field program design- Field data collection targeting fish and fish habitat, insects (Bombus, Odonata, Lepidoptera), botanical inventories, herpetofauna, breeding bird surveys, and Significant Wildlife Habitat evaluation.

Various activities involving daily operations of the Hagen Aqualab-Rotifer and copepod culturing-Freshwater, Tropical, and Atlantic fish and invertebrate tank maintenance -Weekly water chemistry monitoring and adjustments: pH, ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, DO, salinity, temperature

Assisted with various fieldwork across Ontario:-Sturgeon and walleye spawning monitoring (deploying, retrieving and analyzing egg mats, collection of ageing structures, setting and pulling gill nets)-Mussel relocations and presence/absence surveys-Fish salvages and community surveys-Anuran call surveys-Stream assessments-Tree and vegetation surveys-Odonate and Lepidoptera surveys-Foxsnake monitoring using telemetry-Snake and turtle basking surveys-Achieved Class 2 equivalent backpack electrofishing experience

Supported the organization and completion of Ontario's largest Unionid relocation to date-As one of the lead identifiers, I supported the identification and relocation of over 180,000 mussels across 27 species-Crew lead for 20 contract employees employed to assist in the relocation-Completed pre-relocation site scouting, and planning-Developed field guide of expected species

Lab Assitant for Dr. Josef Ackerman's physical ecology lab-Identified, and measured mussels for a graduate student's project-Deployed drift nets and analyzed samples for evidence of released microbeads-Developed a procedure to count microbeads using ImageJ-Preformed algal cell counts using a haemocytometer

Worked as a student Field Technician for Dr. Todd Morris's Mussels Species at Risk Team-Proficient in identifying Unionids in Ontario-Completed mussel quadrat, half-hectare, and timed search mussel surveys-Operated equipment including a multi-parameter EXO2 YSI, Swoffer flow meter, and turbidity meter-Conducted fish community assessments using seine nets