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THE BIWEEKLY
DECEMBER 15, 2025
Published by the Alberta Society of Professional Biologists
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Banana Slug
This photo by Lizzy Mos, P. Biol., was captured with a DSLR and was voted as First Place winner from submissions to the 2025 ASPB Annual Photo Contest. She writes:
The banana slugs were out in full force this last fall, feasting in an
especially good year for many varieties of mushrooms. Although
slugs may have a preference for mushrooms, they are primarily
important in ecosystems as decomposers and as a food source
for other wildlife.
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More than 110 pairs participate in
the 2025 ASPB mentoring program
ASPB Regulatory Manager Jessica Koehli has expressed her gratitude to the mentors involved with the society's mentoring program in 2025. "We offer a sincere "thank-you" for the time and energy you have poured into supporting our Mentees; you helped make the first official year of the ASPB Mentoring Program a true success!"
Are you interested in becoming an ASPB Mentor this coming year (2026)? You can sign up when you renew your registration!
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2025 ASPB Scholarship entries
reflected 50th Anniversary theme
The ASPB Conference Committee organized two prestigious scholarship opportunities for students at the 2025 conference, offering financial support ($1500 each) along with a conference ticket and two nights of accommodation at the conference.
The AltaLink Scholarship essay question was: Analyze how transmission infrastructure intersects with ecological corridors and species movement in Alberta. What strategies can be used to reduce fragmentation and support biodiversity? The contest winner was Leon Kalashnikov.
The ASPB Scholarship essay question was: The ASPB is celebrating 50 years of advancing biological practice. Reflect on how the role of biologists has evolved in addressing today’s environmental and societal challenges. How do you see yourself contributing to this evolution? The contest winner was Dietra Raubach.
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Registration Renewals Now Open
Please note that the registration renewal period opened December 1st. As the Board has directed for 2026, there is a one year hold on increases for registration fees (being held to the 2025 level). If you have questions on registration options, please look to your dashboard under "Registration Management".
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Whatever our visions at this time of year - softly spiritual, passionately practical,
or devoutly religious - they are but dreams we can share with each other.
Tiana's Dream, a painting by Valerie Kingsmill
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At the ASPB, we regularly receive notifications from Google Scholar and other sources which we select and share below in the BIWEEKLY. Here is the latest batch (the links are HOT):
Effect of Cover Cropping on Subsequent Wheat and Canola Production in Semiarid Western Canada
Causes and consequences of life‐history variation in a long‐lived mammal
Migratory connectivity and barrier‐crossing flights of Vermivora warblers are associated with synoptic weather conditions
Caloric restriction‐mediated reproductive lifespan extension across multiple strains of the clonal aquatic plant Lemna turionifera
AI finds signs of life in ancient rocks
We need better exams for the AI era
Ten Thousand Years of Bitumen and Polycyclic Aromatic Compound Transport in the Athabasca River, Canada
Evaluating reclamation in disturbed landscapes: integrating reference sites and reclamation trajectory frameworks
Using participatory science to investigate furbearer habitat associations and co-occurrence in Alberta's boreal forest
Private Motives, Public Benefits: The role of Conservation Easements in Canadian Biodiversity Conservation
Warm winters, hot moose: temperature drives activity and habitat trade-offs across a cold-adapted species' range
Intrapopulation variation in habitat use of an alpine ungulate: mountain goats in Kitasoo Xai'xais Territory
Vulnerability of alpine butterfly eggs to early winter warming
Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae clone reemergence in association with a multi-year mass mortality event in high Arctic muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus)
Web-Based Photography Documents the Evening Grosbeak's (Hesperiphona vespertina) Highly Diverse Diet
Estimating density of an unmarked, low‐density wild turkey population
Behavioural Ecology in Conservation Planning: Individual and Sex-Specific Insights from Woodland Caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) in Western Canada
Power source, data retrieval method, and attachment type affect success of dorsally mounted tracking tag deployments in 37 species of shorebirds
The Effect of Outside Temperature on Habitat Selection for Bat Roosting Sites at Beaverhill Natural Area
Insights into detection probability of forest bird surveys from comparison of in-person and passive acoustic monitoring point counts
Climate change refugia in Canadian prairies: assessing range shifts and identifying breeding habitats for grassland songbirds
Climate impacts of radiative forcing driven by agricultural land-use and land-cover changes in northern Canada
Fight song: variation in singing behaviour and song structure during natural agonistic interactions in a tropical songbird, Adelaide's Warbler (Setophaga adelaidae)
Bending the Rules? Including Animals in a Substantive Account of the Rule of Law
Every building, everywhere, all on one map
Intraspecific complexity in mercury contamination of two harvested fishes revealed by genetics: Food security and conservation implications
Mapping Wildlife: Integrating Technology for Habitat, Behavior, and Conservation Strategies
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Alberta’s Biology Legends:
OUR PEOPLE
AND A HALF-CENTURY OF EXCELLENCE
As we celebrate this fiftieth anniversary, we want to celebrate our profession and its people. Since mid-summer, in each edition of THE BIWEEKLY we have been publishing short personal reflections of some of those who have served the society over many years . We will continue this series into 2026.
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Alan Kennedy
Alan Kennedy has been a member of the ASPB since 1986 (retiring in 2025). He served as President in 1988/1989 and was a Peggy Thompson Publication Award Winner in 1997. Alan retired from 35 years in the oil and gas energy sector, and is currently on the faculty of the University of Calgary, in the Sustainable Energy Development MSc Program.
He remembers vividly when ASPB was granted professional status in the 1980's, and being asked how many Professional Biologists could there be in Alberta requiring regulation: “We answered 500… looking back, we significantly underestimated the size of the profession. The ASPB has grown considerably faster and larger than any of the "pioneers" of the profession could have imagined!”
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Bette Beswick
I’ve was a member of the ASPB for my entire career. My initial acceptance letter in 1983 was signed by Judith Smith, one of the ASPB’s foundation members. The fancy certificate came along a few years later, in 1991, with the seal witnessed by another couple of the ASPB’s foundation members, Al Kennedy and Jeff Green!
My experience with the ASPB was enormously worthwhile from both a professional and personal perspective (I met my husband, Klaus Exner, at an ASPB professional workshop!) Pretty early on, I realized that being a member of a professional organization is all well and good, but what really counts is being involved. For the first part of my career, I was working for the federal government and I knew that being involved with the ASPB would show me a broader view of the practice of biology, so I was keen to be part of the professional network.
My first meeting as a Director on the ASPB Board was in March 1991 and I participated on the Board in a number of roles until 1998. Working with Roger Creasey to organize conferences on cumulative effects assessment was a learning experience like no other! After leaving the Board, I became involved with the Registration Committee and in the fall of 2008 I followed in Carl Warner’s footsteps and became the Registrar.
I really enjoyed the regular interaction with the members of the committee, including stalwarts who I don’t think ever missed a meeting: Bernd Martens, Carl Warner, Henri de Pennart, and Bob Shelast. As Registrar, I had two key responsibilities: The first was the formal task -- to write letters to applicants saying either “YAAY, your application was approved” or hundreds and hundreds of individual responses to those who weren’t accepted.
For each of those who didn’t get the thumbs up, I tried to encourage them to keep trying because I almost always was able to give some suggestions so their next submission could be successful. Sometimes, when an application exuded discouragement, I would phone those candidates so they knew the committee
members were personally aware of the importance of their decision.
And, the second responsibility was to get the pizza order right because Golder Associates hosted our meetings and registration committee members had some favourite toppings!
When I retired, I became a wanna-be-entomologist. I teamed up with John Swann (a real entomologist), and together we’ve being doing an invertebrate collection program at Beauvais Lake Provincial Park, since 2017. Catching bugs on a sunny day -- I don’t think I’ve ever had so much fun!
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Chris Clement
I have been a member of the ASPB since 2009 (and was and still am a member of the original BC biologist society and the BC CAB. My career has spanned over 55 years, so there are many projects which I consider my favorites – the following three were the most amazing, and ones that I consider a privilege to have been involved with:
1989 – Terrestrial ecosystem mapping in the Khutzeymateen River valley, north of Prince Rupert. The area was slated to be logged and was home to gigantic Sitka spruce and a number of resident grizzlies. After our mapping was completed along with a report, the valley was established as a conservation area.
1990 – Terrestrial ecosystem mapping of Gwai Hannas (formerly South Moresby Island in the Queen Charlottes). We were a crew of four who circum-navigated the entire island in a yacht (with the captain and his wife). An amazing environment and like no other I have seen. The west side of the island receives approximately 5m of precipitation a year!
2021 – Terrestrial ecosystem sampling for Big-horn Sheep habitat in the southern Rocky Mountains, out of Fernie and Sparwood. I was part of a 24 person crew that was flown out to different locations every morning to conduct transects and gather ecosystem data on alpine grasslands (sheep winter habitat). I spent over 50 field days working on slopes up to 70% and the vistas were magnificent every day.
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SEMINARS, WEBINARS & COURSES
JANUARY
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Save the Date:
The 73rd Great Plains
Fishery Workers Association Workshop
will be held in Billings, Montana, January 20 – 23, 2026. The Call for Abstracts is open! We are offering either an oral or poster option. Please fill out the submission form (https://forms.office.com/g/uJJmWMHTja) by January 2, 2026. Workshop Contact: Demi Blythe, Fisheries Division, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. |Office: (406) 247-2963 | Cell: (406) 594-0587. demi.blythe@mt.gov
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SEMINARS, WEBINARS & COURSES
FEBRUARY
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Year in Review Sessions
Will be Held in February
Field Law's Year in Review sessions provide key legal updates on topics like off-duty conduct terminations, employee privacy, and changes to the Occupational Health + Safety Code.
This year, the complimentary courses will focus on how 2025's legal developments will shape your business in 2026. Part 1 focuses on Labour, Employment, and Privacy, and Part 2 focuses on Occupational Health and Safety, Human Rights, and Artificial Intelligence.
For full session information and dates, please go HERE.
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KEEPING TRACK
with
FIERA BIOLOGICAL CONSULTING
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Track & Sign Certification — Feb. 7 & 8, 2026, Prince Albert National Park, Saskatchewan
Ages 18+ | Register by Jan. 18 | Limited space
Join us for this exploration of Saskatchewan’s boreal forests, frozen lakes, and snow-covered wetlands through the lens of wildlife track & sign identification and interpretation. This 2-day field-based workshop offers participants the opportunity to earn certifications in Track & Sign, ranging from Level 1 to Professional (Level 4). All abilities welcome.
Learn more and register here
Track & Sign Specialist Certification — May 23 & 24, 2026, Lardeau Valley, British Columbia
This 2-day field-based workshop offers participants the opportunity to earn a Track & Sign Specialist Certification, the highest level of Track & Sign certification available within the CyberTracker system. Sage Raymond and David Moskowitz will lead the Workshop. This workshop is meant for expert trackers.
Learn more here
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RECENT
EMPLOYMENT POSTINGS
- Weed Inspector II
- Biologist – various levels
- Certified Professional in Erosion and Sediment Control
- Intermediate Biologist
- Intermediate Vegetation Ecologist
- Environmental Specialist
- Senior Hydrogeologist
- Senior Vegetation Ecologist
- Senior or Intermediate Wildlife Biologist
- Wetland Specialist
FIND INFORMATION ON
THESE AND OTHER POSITIONS ON THE
JOB BOARD
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This week’s banner photo:
BANANA SLUG
First Place Winner from the
Annual ASPB Photo Content, 2025 edition!
(Photo by Lizzy Mos, P. Biol., captured with a DSLR)
PROFESSIONAL BIOLOGISTS PROTECT THE PUBLIC INTEREST
In Alberta, Professional Biologists are registrants of the Alberta Society of Professional Biologists (ASPB), and are subject to a code of ethics, continuing competency requirements, and a disciplinary process. The ASPB is a self-regulated organization under legislation in the Province of Alberta, meaning its purpose is to protect the public of Alberta by ensuring biologists are qualified to practice biology in accordance with that legislation. 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 and professional development opportunities for our members, as well as essential member-related society business; if you are registered with 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
Opinions and general news published in this e-newsletter
do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of the Society or its Board of Directors.
2025
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