- Friday October 16, NRESi Colloquium, 3:30 p.m. Webinar: Supplemental Feeding and Endangered Caribou Populations
- Monday October 19, The Exploration Place, 7 p.m. Virtual Adult Speaker Series, The Impact of Climate Change on Mountain Ranges
- 2020 Phenomenal Mushroom Season
Prince George Naturalists Club Events and News
No in-person Club events are in the works at this time. The Club is happy to promote virtual events sponsored by other organizations. See below for details.
Other Events and News
Friday October 16, NRESi Colloquium, 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. Webinar: Supplemental Feeding and Endangered Caribou Populations
The presenter for this colloquium is Doug Heard, RPBio, Adjunct Professor, UNBC, who will be giving the talk “Can Supplemental Feeding Promote Growth in Endangered Caribou Populations? A Test of the Aesop Hypothesis”Increased predation risk may be preventing caribou from surfing the green wave, compromising their nutritional status and contributing to population declines. To test that hypothesis, we fed high-quality food pellets to free-ranging caribou in the Kennedy Siding herd each fall for 6 years. Supplemental feeding appeared to increase population growth. Was Aesop right in concluding that “It’s better to eat simply in peace than to feast in terror”?
Please contact Al Wiensczyk, Research Manager at Al.Wiensczyk@unbc.ca for the webinar link and passcode.
Monday October 19, The Exploration Place, 7 p.m., Virtual Adult Speaker Series, The Impact of Climate Change on Mountain Ranges
Please note* Zoom link will be available one hour prior to the event.
Presenter is Dr. Joseph Shea, Assistant Professor, Environmental Geomatics at UNBC. Mountains are the proverbial canary in the coal mine when it comes to climate change, and the impacts of climate change on high elevation regions will be felt far downstream. Mountain glaciers and snowpacks are critical sources of seasonal streamflow and soil moisture. Mountains provide unique habitats and ecological niches and support a huge range of biodiversity. And mountains are seeing some of the greatest rates of warming observed on the planet. This talk will focus on ongoing and future research in mountains both near and far, identify how and why mountains are changing so fast, highlight the challenges in collecting data from high elevations, and hopefully generate a mountain of discussion. About the presenter: Born and raised in Southwestern Ontario, Dr. Joseph Shea has moved from the Hamilton “Mountain” to conduct research on snow, ice, and water in mountain ranges around the planet. His research is focused on measuring and modelling the impact of climate change at high elevations, and the application of remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS, aka drones) and satellites for change detection. After completing his PhD in 2010 and conducting post-doctoral research at UNBC, he spent 4 years in Nepal with his family working in the Himalayas before returning to Prince George. When he’s not parenting three fantastic kids he trail runs, mountain bikes, and skis, and can be occasionally seen around town performing with his band The Ebbs. We are pleased to acknowledge that CBC Daybreak North – Northern British Columbia is the official media sponsor of the Adult Speaker Series. https://www.cbc.ca/
2020 Phenomenal Mushroom Season
Mushrooms in Prince George are well covered this morning by a layer of wet snow. Here’s a link to a September 28 article about one of the best years ever for local fungi lovers: https://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/news/wet-weather-later-frost-extends-mushroom-season-1.24211567
Prince George Naturalists Club 