THE BIWEEKLY

JULY 15, 2025

Published by the Alberta Society of Professional Biologists

ASPB Board Nominations are open

The Board of Directors of the ASPB has appointed Past President Andy Edeburn as Chair of the 2025 Nominating Committee. The positions of Board Secretary and three Directors are open for election [each are 2 year terms]. Nominations will close on or about Sept. 1, 2025.

The election will be held in October. Voting will be electronic and will occur over 30 days [specific dates will be announced]. Voting results will be announced at the Annual General Meeting on November 28, 2025, at Banff.

If you have expressed interest in serving on the board, or if you intend to, now is the time! Please contact the ASPB office or the Executive Director, and submit your nomination form, which can be found on the ASPB website in your Member Downloads section under Volunteer Program, (Nomination Form 2025).

EPA Launches Informational Website

Following up on an April 7, 2025 email, the Wetlands Management Section, Water and Circular Economy division of Environment and Protected Areas (EPA) has launched a new webpage with information on the roles and responsibilities of Wetland Authenticating Professionals. 

This webpage includes information on who Wetland Authenticating Professionals are, their role in supporting landowners under the Alberta Wetland Policy, and identifying the professional regulatory organizations. The goal of the webpage is to make the role of Wetland Authenticating Professionals clearer and to assist in locating and hiring the appropriate professional. Professional Regulatory Organizations who have a publicly available members roster will allow for Albertans to search the roster and select one of your members to contact.

For more information, please reach out to the EPA Wetlands Management team HERE.

SEMINARS, WEBINARS & WORKSHOPS

JULY

Wetlands in Alberta’s Peace Region:

On July 15 & 16, in Grimshaw, AB, Ducks Unlimited Canada and the Mighty Peace Watershed Alliance (MPWA) are teaming up to host this Wetlands in the Boreal Workshop Series, an exciting two-day workshop all about wetlands in the Peace Region! Registration for this free workshop can be found HERE. 

AUGUST

Wetlands in the Boreal Transition Zone

On August 12 and 13, in Lac La Biche, AB, Ducks Unlimited Canada and the Lakeland Industry and Community Association (LICA) are teaming up to host

Wetlands in the Boreal Transition Zone, an exciting two-day workshop all about wetlands in the Beaver River Watershed! Registration for this free workshop can be found HERE.

TRAINING PROVIDERS

NATURAL RESOURCES

TRAINING GROUP

**Electrofishing Certification — Kamloops (Additional Session)** 

An additional session to accommodate demand. 

Dates: Online (self-paced) and in-person | July 12, 2025 

Registration: https://nrtraininggroup.com/events/electrofishing-certification-online-self-paced-kamloops-july-12th-2025-2/

**Electrofishing Certification — Cochrane** 

Self-paced online training with a practical session in Cochrane. 

Dates: Online (self-paced) and in-person | July 18, 2025 

Registration: https://nrtraininggroup.com/events/electrofishing-certification-online-self-paced-cochrane-july-18th-2025/

For the full calendar of upcoming courses, and course details, follow this link:

https://nrtraininggroup.com/schedule/

KEEPING TRACK

with

FIERA BIOLOGICAL CONSULTING

Track & Sign OnLine – Study Session, Aug. 26, 2025.

6pm MDT | 2-hours | Online via Zoom 

The study session will focus on impactful tracking tips aimed at improving performance at a future Track & Sign Certification, or give you a jump start at one of our other in-person tracking workshops.

Open to anyone interested — you do not have to be signed up for a Certification or in-person workshop to participate.

Learn more and register here 

Track & Sign Certification – Sep. 9 & 10, 2025, Hinton, Alberta

Hinton Area | September 9 & 10, 2025 | Ages 18+ | Register before September 1 | Limited Space

This 2-day field-based workshop in Alberta’s wildlife rich foothills offers the opportunity for participants to earn certifications in Track & Sign from Levels 1 to Professional (Level 4). This is an extremely challenging and engaging workshop designed to find the edges of your abilities and propel you past them. Participants must obtain at least 70% during the evaluation — 

All abilities welcome.

Learn more and register here

AAFMP

Association of Alberta Forest Management Professionals

Professional Development Events for Natural Resource Professionals

The Effectiveness of Public Participation

Through forest advisory committees

Lessons from Ontario - Webinar (free)

Date: September 16, 2025

Speakers: Lance Robinson and Jeff Robinson

Registrationlink: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/MTPA3HziSMi7SgokbeYEyg#/registration

ESTI

The Environmental Sciences Training Institute

Please contact efishing@esticanada.com with any questions or to book a custom delivery. Learn about our Efishing program here. 

View our in-person course calendar at

https://esticanada.com/shop/

Nest Sweep Protocol: Online – Self-Paced

Online Courses

SALMTEC

 COURSES AND TRAINING PROGRAMS

******

NEW! OnDemand Seminar – Catchment Delineation

https://salmtec.com/product/catchment-delineation/

Fall 2025 Offering - ABWRET-A (F25) Blended Course

https://salmtec.com/product/abwret-blended-course/

Fall 2025 Offering – GVI (F25) Blended Course

https://salmtec.com/product/gvi-course/

Registration Now Open for SALMTEC's ABWRET-A Blended Course (W25) Offering Online,

Registration Now Open for SALMTEC's Grassland Vegetation Inventory (GVI) Blended Course (W25) Offering Online,

Registration Now Open for SALMTEC's Catchment Delineation Seminar

SALMTEC also offers several self-paced courses:

Wetland Policy Basics 

Understanding ACIMS Tools 

Alberta Soil Information Viewer 

SALMTEC offers On-Demand seminars:

Land Use Assessment 

Technical Report Review 

Landscape Analysis 

Hydrology & Wetland Design

Wetland Delineation

VISIT THE SALMTEC CONNECTOR 

THE SALMTEC CONNECTOR is a compilation of applied science and land management event listings, across a variety of sectors and disciplines, published monthly.

You can find the SALMTEC CONNECTOR HERE.

OUR PEOPLE

AND A HALF-CENTURY

OF

EXCELLENCE

This year, we celebrate the ASPB's fiftieth anniversary, serving our profession together with all the people who live and work in Alberta. As our province has grown, so has membership in our society, which currently sits at over 3000 registered professionals.

Over the next six months, the ASPB staff and board have committed to talking about our ASPB people, celebrating their commitment and service to our society, the profession, and our province. We will endeavour to carry at least two or three short personal histories - and maybe even some photos - in each edition of THE BIWEEKLY, through December 2025. (They will be presented in no particular order!)

Rick Ostertag

Rick Ostertag has been a member of the ASPB since 1982, one year after he started employment with Alberta Environment. During his thirty-one-year career with Alberta Environment, Rick had several different roles, from Reclamation Inspector to leading Alberta’s Land Policy Section.

In 2012, Rick retired from Alberta Environment and started Pembina Environmental Services Ltd., a small company specializing in environmental compliance, reclamation and landowner relations. This has led him to be environmental manager at a developing oil sands mine, to a landowner environmental compliance inspector on the Enbridge Line 3 Replacement Project across Western Canada. Currently, he continues to advise various industries and landowners on environmental matters.

Rick had this to say about the ASPB: “In my years in both government and the private sector, the ASPB has promoted bringing members together for the common good of the environment and other things along the way. The organization has evolved to deal with the changing times, challenges and successes throughout the years. The key component of the ASPB is its people and their dedication to being successful. I am honored to have participated in this great organization and commend those who have brought the practice of biology to the forefront in Alberta.”

Dave Downing

Dave Downing has been a member of the ASPB since 1983 and served as Chair of the conference sponsorship committee for the 2011 conference. He has since retired and is doing some contract work for NatureServe Canada (primarily on the integration of Canadian and USA national vegetation classifications.)

Dave recalls with pride the time he spent on the NWT Ecological Land Classification project, between 2005 and 2013: “Two of our five publications won awards for best technical report, and although I was the person who accepted the award, it would not have been possible to complete that project and those reports without the combined efforts of the whole group!”

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):



Meltdown; the Making and Breaking of a Field Scientist

Cross-biome scale data of summer bird assemblages across various habitat types in Alberta, western Canada

Inferring wildlife population trends from hierarchical habitat selection: a case study with boreal caribou

A systematic review of Passive Acoustic Monitoring for anuran conservation

Investigation of eDNA air sampling as a tool for bat conservation and management

Updated plant hardiness zones for Canada and assessment of change over time

Burning for Balance: A One Health Guided Look at Indigenous-Led Fire Management and Cultural Burning as a Solution to Forest Fires

Dynamics in tree structure and composition along boreal forest edges: A case study in Alberta's in situ oil sands

Alberta Irrigation Expansion

Changing grizzly bear space use and functional connectivity in response to human disturbance in the southern Canadian Rocky Mountains

Biomonitoring 2.0 Refined: observing local change through metaphylogeography using a community-based eDNA metabarcoding monitoring network

Intraspecific trait variability in four geographically widespread peatland plant species in Canada

The Extent of Hybridization Between Bull Trout (Salvelinus confluentus) and Brook Trout (S. fontinalis) across Alberta's Eastern Slopes

Seeing herbaria in a new light: leaf reflectance spectroscopy unlocks trait and classification modeling in plant biodiversity collections

Intraspecific trait variability in four geographically widespread peatland plant species in Canada

The Extent of Hybridization Between Bull Trout (Salvelinus confluentus) and Brook Trout (S. fontinalis) across Alberta's Eastern Slopes

Mayors tackle climate change

Transhumance in the Rocky Mountains of Western Alberta, Canada (“Transhumance? Really?)

Ferruginous Hawk nest site selection, success, and productivity: Implications for mitigating the effects of natural gas development

Increased Mortality Rates Caused by Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Virus in a Migratory Raptor

The effects of drought on Sphagnum moss species and the implications for hydrology in peatlands

Towards a ground-truthing of satellite imagery to track harmful algal blooms in Canadian prairie lakes

Elk and Deer Habituate to Stationary Deterrents in an Agricultural Landscape

Integrating herbarium data with spatial biodiversity assessment into conservation plans: A case study of the genus Carex L.(Cyperaceae) in Saskatchewan, Canada

Environmental and social impacts of oil and gas exploration

A biogeographical analysis of taxonomic diversity and native species dominance in 32 Canadian street tree populations

2025 CONFERENCE SPONSORS

This week’s banner photo:

Pollen Covered Beetle

"This smooth camas drew my attention during a rare plant survey,

as it had a visitor coated in pollen." Taken with a smartphone by Angela Nerbas.



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