ALBERTA BIOLOGISTS' BIWEEKLY
DECEMBER 1, 2022
ASPB President Matt Koehli chatting with Meghan Olesiuk from Vertex and friends at the ASPB Conference networking event Wednesday evening.
President-Elect Andy Edeburn talks with Suncor's Ashley Twarog and a friend at the ASPB conference in Lake Louise Wednesday evening.
Don't forget the ASPB
ANNUAL MEETING
The Annual General Meeting of the ASPB will be held Friday, Dec. 2 at 08:45 MST. It can be attended in-person at the Fairmont hotel in Lake Louise, Alberta, or concurrently by teleconference. Registration details for in-person or teleconference attendance can be found HERE
ASPB Registrant Renewal
Registration renewal for 2023 opens on December 1st. Fees are payable through the member portal “Sign In” located at the upper right of the www.aspb.ab.ca website, and the ASPB accepts Visa and MasterCard credit card payments through the online renewal system for payment.
Please remember that the Board-approved increases to renewal fees for 2023 will be applied on January 1, 2023. For more information, refer to the section “ASPB fee adjustments for 2023” on the FAQ for Existing members’ page.
Alberta Government to Move Forward
With the Professional Governance Act
In a public letter dated November 15, 2022 to Kaycee Madu, Alberta’s Minister for Skilled Trades and Professions, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith called on Minister Madu to implement the Labour Mobility Act and the Fair Registration Practices Act as well as the Professional Governance Act “to ensure the adoption of a uniform governance framework for all professional regulatory organizations.”
The Premier concluded her message to Minister Madu by assuring that senior officials in the ministry will support these priorities “with the highest standard of professionalism and integrity” and assuring that “Alberta’s public service will provide you with non-partisan advice and loyal implementation of your mandate.” 
On May 2, 2022, the Government of Alberta had announced Bill 23, the Professional Governance Act, which was aimed at streamlining the governance of the province’s 22 non-health professional regulatory organizations (PROs). When passed, the new legislation will consolidate the nine current acts that govern these organizations into a single act, which in turn would be aligned with the Labour Mobility Act and the Fair Registration Practices Act.
The board and administration of the Alberta Society of Professional Biologists have been studying the Professional Governance Act since it was announced as Bill 23 last spring, inviting comment from registrants and professional colleagues in other PROs in the province and beyond. In late May, ASPB President Elect Andy Edeburn commented in the BIWEEKLY that “Even if it seems at the outset to be a lot of work, I welcome the reality that Bill 23 will help drive consistency under one Act amongst the 22 PROs in Alberta. Currently, the PROs are all doing things a little differently under their respective Acts; Bill 23 puts all of us ‘under one roof.’”
AEP announces proposed TOR for
Chin Reservoir Expansion Project
Alberta Environment and Parks has announced that the proposed terms of reference for the St. Mary River Irrigation District (SMRID) Chin Reservoir Expansion Project are now available for public comment, with comments due to the director by January 3, 2023. The Chin Reservoir is an off-stream storage reservoir located roughly in the middle of the SMRID irrigation network, approximately 30 km east of Lethbridge. The proposed terms of reference are available HERE.
CONFERENCE SPONSORS
GOLD
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on the
JOB BOARD

Intermediate Biologist * Closure Analyst * Intermediate Soil Scientist * Senior Ecologist * Volunteer Biologist * Quantitative Geneticist * Head of Wetland Services - Native Plant Solutions * Ecological Field Technician * Senior Environmental Planner/Consultant * Biologist/Ecologist * Senior Aquatic Biologist * Senior Biologist * Project manager * Spatial Analyst * Project Manager * Intermediate Field Biologists * Environmental Scientist (Biology) * Intermediate Environmental Specialist * Environmental Analyst
 
FIND INFORMATION ABOUT THESE POSITIONS
AND OVER 20 MORE
EVENTS OF INTEREST
DECEMBER
Western Canada Conference on
Soil Health & Grazing
The Western Canada Conference on Soil Health & Grazing will be held in Edmonton on Dec 13-15, 2022. For more information and to register please go HERE.
EVENTS OF INTEREST
FEBRUARY
PCES Conference is in Calgary in February
The 2023 Prairie Conservation and Endangered Species Conference will be held in Calgary, February 21-23, 2023. You can register HERE
EVENTS OF INTEREST
MAY
Responsible Recreation:
Pathways, Practices and Possibilities 
Recreation and adventure tourism opportunities and activities are expanding globally. However, empirical measures of impacts are often difficult to obtain. This two-day conference hosted by the Columbia Mountains Institute will be an excellent opportunity to network and learn about current thinking on increasing outdoor recreation activities and the effect on wildlife and ecosystems. This event on May 9 and 10, 2023 will be a hybrid event, with both in-person and online participation. The call for proposals is open until February 3, 2023; go HERE for more information.
NATURAL RESOURCES
TRAINING GROUP

Technical Writing for Professionals (Online) – December 1-2, 2022

Wildlife Survey Field Methods: Ungulates (Online) – December 5-7, 2022

Species at Risk (Online) – December 6-7th, 2022

For the full calendar of upcoming courses the link is here:
SALMTEC
 COURSES AND TRAINING PROGRAMS
 
Fall 2022 Registration Now Open! Blended Course: Grassland Vegetation Inventory (GVI): A User’s Guide , Online Content + Live Streaming Class (Dec. 2, 2022)
 
Fall 2022 Registration Now Open! Blended Course: Alberta Wetland Rapid Evaluation Tool – Actual (ABWRET-A), Online Content + Live Streaming Class (Dec. 9, 2022)
 
Understanding ACIMS Tools Online Course
 
Alberta Soil Information Viewer Online Course
 
Alberta Wetland Policy Basics Online Course
 
Navigating the Alberta Soil Information Viewer Video Short (free)
Registration Link: https://salmtec.myshopify.com/
 
Wetland Water Cycle Video Short (free)
Registration Link: https://salmtec.myshopify.com/
 
Interactive classes comprise the final learning component of a Blended/Online course.
ASPB represented at
U of A student event
 The University of Alberta’s Environmental and Conservation Science Student Association invited the ASPB to its 13th annual Professional Networking Event. ASPB registrants Matthew Koehli (Terralogix Solutions), Emily Kabotoff (Strathcona County) and Jessica Koehli (ASPB) attended the event and had the opportunity to discuss what it means to be a registrant of a Professional regulatory Organization like the ASPB. The ASPB was the only professional regulatory body attending the event, along with over 200 students and 22 industry representatives.
AAFMP Podcast:
Why is a CCP so important?
Carla Rhyant, Executive Director and Registrar of the Alberta Association of Forest Management Professionals, teamed up with podcaster Matt Kristoff (Your Forest) for a relaxed but informative chat about why continuing competence activities are important to professionals. To hear the podcast, log in HERE.
APEGA Webinar:
Canada’s Oilsands in a Net-Zero World
This presentation by Bryan Helfenbaum, P.Eng, will examine Canada's current landscape and explore many sources of innovation and technology that could lead to the oilsands not just surviving, but thriving in a net-zero world. This presentation will be brought to you by APEGA’s Edmonton Branch at 12:00 noon on December 7, 2022. Everyone is welcome to attend. Register HERE.
We regularly receive notifications from Google Scholar Alerts and other sources, which previously we have shared on Twitter and (more recently) in the BIWEEKLY. Here is the latest batch (the links are HOT):























Wolves infected with a parasite that commonly infects cats are more likely to become leaders of the pack or strike out on their own.


Always report non-native fish species
According to a recent post by Shona Derukewich, P. Biol., Prussian Carp are invading many watercourses and upsetting the balance of the ecosystem. The species was introduced to Canada in the early 2000s, and its North American range is currently restricted to the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan, where it is considered highly invasive. Ms Derlukewich is 1st Senior Biologist, Ontario and Prairie Region, with Fisheries and Oceans Canada. You can learn more HERE.
Banner Image: Setting wildlife cameras in the Rockies
(Courtesy of ABMI)

The ASPB regulates the professional practice of biology in the disciplines of Botany, Zoology, Environmental Biology and Microbiology, and all sub-disciplines below them. The ASPB is the only organization for biologists in Alberta that is registered under Provincial Legislation with a mandate to protect the interests of the public of Alberta. The society is governed by a Board of Directors elected by its registrants.

You are probably receiving this newsletter because you are an ASPB Registrant. This newsletter provides relevant information about professional development opportunities for our members and essential member-related society business; if you are a registered member of the Alberta Society of Professional Biologists, please DO NOT unsubscribe. For more information about the Society or to contact the administration, please visit the website: https://www.aspb.ab.ca
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do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of the Society or its Board of Directors.