Science Conference 2024

28-Oct-2024   29-Oct-2024   30-Oct-2024   Poster Sessions   All
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Monday,October 28, 2024

Grand Lounge and Veranda in the Main Lodge
6:00 - 7:00 PM

Optional informal dinner in the restaurant (Churchills) with other attendees
7:00 - 9:00 PM

Registration and Informal Icebreaker (Cash bar)
Tuesday,October 29, 2024

Digby Hall, main floor, unless otherwise noted
08:00 - 09:00 AM

Registration desk opens in foyer of Digby Hall
09:00 - 09:15 AM

Opening (Bear River First Nation) and Welcome (Bruce Moore, President, ASFWB; Cindy Staicer, Chair, MTRI Board)
09:15 - 09:45

Plenary Address - Jaimee Morozoff: 20 by 30: The collaborative path to protecting Nova Scotia’s natural legacy

Oral Presentation Session 1 (Chair: Lesley Farrow)
09:45 - 10:00 AM

Conspecific brood parasitism in Red-breasted Mergansers: parasite behaviour, fitness costs, and host response

Presented by Shawn Craik, Université Sainte-Anne
10:00 - 10:15

Changing vertical substrate colour to reduce seabird collisions caused by artificial light

Presented by Alina Rutherford, Acadia University (student presentation)
10:15 - 10:30 AM

Water Quality and Riparian Restoration in the Jijuktu’kwejk Watershed 

Presented by Emily M. Dawe, Jijuktu’kwejk Watershed Alliance (student presentation)
10:30 - 11:00 AM

Health Break

Oral Presentation Session 2 (Chair: Matt Smith)
11:00 - 11:15 AM

Wetland bird use of coastal impoundments and response to experimental manipulation of water-levels in Southeastern New Brunswick

Presented by Kiirsti Owen, University of New Brunswick and Acadia University (student presentation)
11:15 - 11:30 AM

Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) site selection is a multiscale process in highly fragmented landscapes

Presented by Meghan Oliver, University of New Brunswick (student presentation)
11:30 - 11:45 AM

Effects of spruce budworm insecticides on the fitness of specialist North American wood-warblers

Presented by Madeline Parlee, University of New Brunswick (student presentation)
11:45 - 12 noon

Adapting living shorelines to protect Bank Swallow nesting habitat

Presented by Heather Polowyk, Birds Canada
12:00 -1:00 PM

Lunch Break (buffet, included in registration)

Oral Presentation Session 3 (Chair: Russell Easy)
1:00 - 1:15 PM

Fish habitat restoration and enhancement in the Fales River sub-watershed

Presented by Grace Bowen-MacLean, Clean Annapolis River Project
1:15 - 1:30 PM

Seasonal migration and habitat use of Chain Pickerel in George Lake, Kejimkujik National Park and National Historic Site

Presented by Felixe Sauriol, Acadia University (student presentation)
1:30 - 1:45 PM

Seasonal residency and overwintering behaviour of Striped Bass (Morone saxitilis) in the Annapolis River, Nova Scotia

Presented by Keeler Colton, Acadia University (student presentation)
1:45 - 2:00 PM

Assessing the status of Cotton-Wool Disease (Oomycosis) in Brook and Rainbow Trout in PEI Rivers

Presented by Eleanor Glahn, University of Prince Edward Island (student presentation)
2:00 - 3:00 PM

ASFWB Annual General Meeting
3:00 - 3:15 PM

Health Break

Oral Presentation Session 4 (Chair: Tom Herman)
3:15 - 3:30 PM

Current Mikjikj/Wood Turtle (Glyptemys insculpta) monitoring and conservation strategies in Unama’ki

Presented by Malcolm Fenech, Unama’ki Institute of Natural Resources
3:30 - 3:45 PM

Utilizing eDNA technology to identify presence of Eastern Ribbonsnake (Thamnophis saurita septentrionalis) in Nova Scotia

Presented by Jessica Ferguson, Clean Annapolis River Project
3:45 - 4:00 PM

Use of environmental DNA to detect invasive terrestrial mammals on coastal islands

Presented by Lisa Doucette, Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources and Renewables
4:00 - 4:15 PM

Bursting the stubble bubble: citizen scientists measure ecological continuity near Goldsmith Lake, Nova Scotia using calicioid lichens and fungi

Presented by Ashley Viola
4:30 PM

Poster Session - Salon B/C, lower level, Digby Hall (Cash bar)
Poster presenters are listed at the end of the agenda
7:00 PM

Banquet (for ticket holders) - Digby Hall, main floor (Cash bar)
8:30 PM

Silent Auction conclusion - Everyone welcome - Digby Hall, main floor (Cash bar)
8:45 PM

Live Celtic music session open to all players - Digby Hall, main floor (Cash bar)
Wednesday,October 30, 2024

Oral Presentation Session 5 (Chair: Jane Barker)
09:00 - 09:15 AM

Ecological forestry research on small private woodlots in Nova Scotia

Presented by Kevin Keys, Family Forest Network
09:15- 09:30 AM

The PEI forested landscape priority place for species at risk initiative

Presented by Julie-Lynn Zahavich, P.E.I. Department of Environment, Energy and Climate Action
09:30 - 9:45 AM

Insights into natural cavity use by Chimney Swifts in a working forest in Kespukwitk

Presented by Cindy Staicer, Dalhousie University and Mersey Tobeatic Research Institute
09:45- 10:00 AM

A baseline study of breeding bird populations in Eastern Hemlock stands at the onset of Hemlock Woolly Adelgid infestation in Nova Scotia

Presented by John Kearney,  John F. Kearney & Associates and The Listening Together Project
10:00 - 10:15 AM

Determining the minimum size of conservation zones within working forest community easements and their contribution to Canada’s protected areas goals

Presented by Shayla M. Nickerson, Nova Scotia Working Woodlands Trust
10:15 - 10:45 AM

Health Break

Oral Presentation Session 6 (Chair: Jason Airst)
10:45 - 11:00 AM

A preliminary look at Monarch preferences for milkweed in Nova Scotia

Presented by Carter Feltham, Mersey Tobeatic Research Institute
11:00 - 11:15 AM

Spatial predictors of human-black bear (Ursus americanus) interactions in Nova Scotia, Canada

Presented by Jason Airst, Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources and Renewables
11:15 - 11:30 AM

Cape Breton moose (Alces alces andersoni) aerial survey results 2020 to 2024

Presented by Jenna M. Priest, Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources and Renewables 
11:30 - 11:45 AM

Protecting lake shorelines in Kespukwitk, Southwest Nova Scotia, through ecological services, education, best management practices and promotion of restoration

Presented by Nick Hill, Southwest Nova Biosphere Reserve Association
11:45 - noon

Student Awards and Closing Remarks
LIST OF POSTERS
Tuesday,October 29, 2024

Poster Session

Nova Scotia Biodiversity Connection

Presented by Erica Anderson, Unama’ki Institute of Natural Resources and Cape Breton Privateland Partnership

Woodlands for wildlife: incentivizing species at risk conservation on private woodlands in Kespukwitk

Presented by Laura Carter, Mersey Tobeatic Research Institute

Arthropods in mature eastern hemlock forests: assessing the non-target effects of basal bark imidacloprid application for control of hemlock woolly adelgid on forest floor and canopy arthropod fauna in southwestern Nova Scotia

Presented by Cody Chapman, Kejimkujik National Park and National Historic Site

Monitoring the Annapolis River estuary’s salt wedge dynamics

Presented by Levi Cliche, Clean Annapolis River Project

Cost-effectiveness and accuracy of two methods for fisher (Pekania pennanti) aging

Presented by Jacob Comeau-Ouellette, Acadia University (student presentation)

Nest clustering is linked to timing of breeding but is not associated with female genetic relatedness in Red-Breasted Mergansers (Mergus serrrator)

Presented by Geneviève Gauthier, Université Sainte-Anne (student presentation)

Setting Barn Swallows up for success

Presented by Colin Gray, Mersey Tobeatic Research Institute

Management of shoreline stabilization activities for the protection of fish and fish habitat in the St. Mary’s River watershed estuary

Presented by Taylor Haludek, Dalhousie University (student presentation)

Getting to the root of the problem with terrestrial orchid conservation: identifying the fungal symbionts of ram’s-head lady slipper (Cypripedium arietinum) in Nova Scotia

Presented by Katie King, Acadia University (student presentation)

Spatial ecology of the Common Nighthawk (Chordeiles minor) and insect prey abundance in the Halifax Backlands

Presented by Madeleine Kurtz, Dalhousie University (student presentation)

Foraging behaviour explains characteristics of Olive-sided Flycatcher (Contopus cooperi) breeding habitat in Nova Scotia

Presented by Emilie McBeath, Dalhousie University and Mersey Tobeatic Research Institute

Identifying strategies to improve biodiversity stewardship in agro-ecosystems within the Kespukwitk Priority Place

Shaeralee McCutcheon, Clean Annapolis River Project

Hatching success and variability in three Blanding's Turtle sub-populations in 2024

Presented by Jeffie McNeil, Mersey Tobeatic Research Institute

Developing a protocol for monitoring offshore and coastal bat movement in Atlantic Canada

Presented by Abby T. Millard Dalhousie University (student presentation)

Improving mark-recapture techniques for Eastern Ribbonsnake (Thamnophis sauritus): a pilot study using pit tags in Atlantic Canada

Presented by Lori Phinney, Mersey Tobeatic Research Institute

Late summer use of patio umbrellas and other non-traditional roosts of bats in Canada through community science

Presented by Lori Phinney, Mersey Tobeatic Research Institute

Diet and foraging routes of Common, Arctic, and Roseate Terns in Lobster Bay, Nova Scotia

Presented by Alexis Saulnier, Université Sainte-Anne (student presentation)

Evaluating the impact of nearby forestry harvesting and conservation buffers on forested wetlands in Nova Scotia

Presented by Chad Simmons, Mersey Tobeatic Research Institute

The shifting trophodynamics in four southern Nova Scotia lakes after the introduction of Chain Pickerel (Esox niger)

Presented by Delbert T. Swinemar, Saint Mary’s University

A decadal study of threats to Pink Coreopsis (Coreopsis rosea) and Plymouth Gentian (Sabbatia kennedyana) on lakes in Kespukwitk, Nova Scotia

Presented by Brad Toms, Mersey Tobeatic Research Institute

The current status of Boreal Felt Lichen (Erioderma pedicellatum) in Nova Scotia

Presented by Brad Toms, Mersey Tobeatic Research Institute

Influence of forest structure on terrestrial microhabitat use and movement patterns of Eastern Gray Treefrogs

Presented by Dani Warren, University of New Brunswick

Diversity of endophytes in eelgrass (Zostera marina) in the Canadian Maritimes

Presented by Annelies Yates, Acadia University (student presentation)