SWS Membership Benefits
The first chapter formed outside the United States, the Canadian Chapter of the Society of Wetland Scientists was formed in 2001.
The current Canada Chapter leadership team is:
Susan Glasauer, President
Nicole Wright, Vice President
Mary Ann Perron, Secretary
Samantha Mitchell, Communications
You can contact the Canada Chapter team at SWSCanada24@gmail.com.
Canada Chapter
Daniel Campbell
Daniel Campbell is an environmental scientist with over thirty years of experience in academia, consulting and government. He has degrees from the University of Guelph (B.Sc., 1992), Universiy of Waterloo (M.Sc., 1995) and Université Laval (Ph.D., 2002), but he took an indirect route, mostly working as a consultant in applied environmental sciences between his degrees. He understands applied environmental problems. He taught environmental sciences and conducted research for almost a decade in Laurentian University in Sudbury, often working on environmental research related to mining. He started a one person consultancy, Birchbark Environmental Research Limited in 2018. He has particular expertise in wetland sciences, restoring damaged ecosystems, monitoring environmental systems, teaching environmental sciences to diverse audiences, plant ecology, soil science and analyses of environmental data. He has worked extensively in subarctic, boreal, temperate and subtropical biomes, with some experience in tropical biomes. He has co-authored over thirty scientific papers in international journals. He is fluent in English, French and Spanish.
Gillian Davies
Gillian Davies is a Senior Ecologist & Natural Climate Solutions Specialist at BSC Group, Inc., where her work focuses on climate change and wetlands, working with local communities to develop Nature-based Solutions, particularly wetland, forest, and soil conservation and restoration, and providing wetland peer reviews for Conservation Commissions. She is a Visiting Scholar at Tufts University Global Development and Environment Institute, is Immediate Past President of the Society of Wetland Scientists Professional Certification Program, was the 2016-2017 SWS President, is a co-lead for the SWS Climate Change and Wetlands Initiative and chairs the SWS Rights of Wetlands Section and the WOTUS ad hoc sub-committee. She serves on the International Association for Ecology (INTECOL) Wetlands Working Group. Gillian served on the Massachusetts Healthy Soils Action Plan working group. Gillian has a Master of Environmental Studies degree with a concentration in ecosystem ecology from the Yale School of the Environment, and a bachelor’s degree from Williams College. She is a certified Professional Wetland Scientist, a Registered Soil Scientist, and has received the SWS President’s Service and SWS 40th Anniversary Awards. In her spare time, she and her husband enjoy hiking, mountain biking and skiing.
Becky Dodge
Brianna Hines
Brianna serves as an Environmental Planner at The Watershed Company with over 10 years of experience performing and managing environmental compliance projects, site investigations and technical field activities. A graduate of the University of Washington’s Wetland Science and Management Professional Certification program, Brianna is a certified Wetland Scientist and Wetland Professional in Training (WPIT) with the Society of Wetland Scientists. She has experience with Federal, State, and local compliance through diverse projects, performing riparian restoration design documentation, biological assessments, and critical areas assessments. In addition, she has performed field data collection, including conducting vegetation surveys, amphibian surveys, habitat assessments, wetland characterizations, mitigation site monitoring (vegetation and hydrology against performance standards) and water quality monitoring for habitat enhancement projects. Brianna is known for maintaining excellent professionalism and interactions with partners while delivering high-quality efficient work. She has experience working all over Washington, and currently resides in Thurston County.
Paige Kowal
Paige Kowal joined IWWR in 2017. She is involved in water quality and ecological monitoring projects, supervising field-site and seasonal crew members, and geospatial analyses of wetlands and their surrounding landscapes. She has extensive experience studying coastal freshwater marshes in Manitoba (Delta and Netley-Libau Marsh) through her academic and professional work, and now works primarily on quantifying wetland ecosystem services provided by prairie pothole wetlands.
Paige graduated with her M.Sc. from the Biological Sciences Department at the University of Manitoba. Her thesis focused on using GIS and aerial photo interpretation to analyze historical changes in emergent vegetation extent within Netley-Libau Marsh in Manitoba in response to lake and river hydrology.
Meike Lemmer
Kimberli Ponzio
Kimberli Ponzio has over 36 years of experience working in Florida wetlands as an Environmental Scientist for two water management districts in the state of Florida, USA. Kim has been certified as a Professional Wetland Scientist for 25+ years, finding it important to ensure stakeholders from public, academic, and consultancy sectors that she has the education, work history, and skill-set necessary to deliver professional wetland services, and that she is committed to upholding a high standard of ethical behavior. Kim has been involved in leadership with the Society of Wetland Scientists since 2007, was SWS President in 2015, President of the SWS Professional Certification Program (SWSPCP) in 2020, and currently serves as Co-Chair of the SWSPCP Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. Kim is actively involved in helping to globalize the SWSPCP by making the Program accessible to qualified individuals, regardless of geography or financial standing. Kim’s approach has always been one of a collaborative spirit, which she believes is one of the most powerful mechanisms to further the cause of conserving, restoring, and protecting wetlands.
Joseph Schubauer-Berigan Ph.D.
Jace Standish
Jace Standish, P.Ag., R.P.F., holds a B.S.F. degree (Forest Resource Management) and a M.Sc. (Soil Science) from the University of British Columbia. Between 1991 and 2020, he taught courses in plant identification, soils, terrestrial ecosystem classification, aerial remote sensing, and Environmental Assessment at the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT). He also served as Program Head for Forestry and for the Ecological Restoration degree program. Jace has worked in natural resource and environmental consulting for over 50 years. Before joining McTavish, he worked with Talisman Land Resource Consultants, Norecol Environmental Consultants, Westland Resource Group, Stewart & Ewing Associates (SEAFOR), and Rescan Environmental Consultants, and as an independent consultant for various public and private sector clients. He has worked in all regions of British Columbia and in Alberta, Yukon Territory, Northwest Territory, Nunavut, New Hampshire, California, Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Guyana (SA) and the Dominican Republic. Jace has worked in the fields of soil survey, ecosystem classification, land capability and suitability mapping, environmental assessment, and permitting. He has authored technical papers on wetland delineation, mining reclamation, forest biomass, deforestation, soil development, soil degradation and ecological classification. He carried out biogeoclimatic ecosystem mapping of Tree Farm Licenses 1 and 41 in northwestern British Columbia and worked with the B.C. Ministry of Forests Research Branch to help implement the biogeoclimatic ecosystem classification. He was Education Coordinator for the Canada-Guyana Interim Forestry Project, Project Leader for BCIT’s Yew Tree Project, and Project Manager for a 3-year study to develop a forest biomass prediction system in BC, for the Canadian Forest Service.
Jordan Thakar
Wetland Policies
- The Federal Policy on Wetland Conservation (Government of Canada 1991): https://publications.gc.ca/site/eng/100725/publication.html
- New Brunswick Wetland Conservation Policy - https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2010/ec/CW69-5-497-eng.pdf
- City of Saskatoon - https://www.saskatoon.ca/business-development/development-regulation/developers-homebuilders/wetland-policy
- Alberta Wetland Policy https://open.alberta.ca/publications/9781460112878
- Nova Scotia Wetland Conservation Policy https://novascotia.ca/nse/wetland/docs/Nova.Scotia.Wetland.Conservation.Policy.pdf
- Manitoba Wetland Protection Bill 5 https://web2.gov.mb.ca/bills/40-5/pdf/b005.pdf
- British Columbia’s Water Sustainability Act https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/14015
- A Wetland Conservation Strategy for Ontario https://files.ontario.ca/mnr_17-075_wetlandstrategy_final_en-accessible.pdf
- Wetland Offsetting in Ontario https://ontarionature.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/wetlands_report_Final_Web.pdf
Wetland Classification and Field Guides
- Canadian Wetland Classification Systems - http://www.wetlandpolicy.ca/wetland-classification-systems
- Wetlands of British Columbia: Field Guide to Indicator Species for Wetland Classification - https://wetlandsworkforce.ca/wetland_plants_of_bc/
- Wetlands of British Columbia: A Guide to Identification (Mackenzie and Moran 2004) - https://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfd/pubs/docs/lmh/lmh52.htm
- Alberta Classification System (Government of Alberta 2015) - http://www.wetlandpolicy.ca/alberta-wetland-classification-system
- Alberta Wetland Classification System Field Guide - https://boreal.ducks.ca/alberta-wetland-classification-system-field-guide/
- Ontario Wetlands Evaluation System - https://www.ontario.ca/page/wetlands-evaluation
- Ontario Wetland Evaluation System Southern Manual 3.2 - https://files.ontario.ca/environment-and-energy/parks-and-protected-areas/ontario-wetland-evaluation-system-southen-manual-2014.pdf
- Ontario Wetland Evaluation System Northern Manual 3.2 - https://files.ontario.ca/environment-and-energy/parks-and-protected-areas/ontario-wetland-evaluation-system-northern-manual-2014.pdf
- A Wetland Conservation Strategy for Ontario - https://ontarionature.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/a-wetland-conservation-strategy-for-ontario-2017-2030.pdf
- Nova Scotia Wetlands (wetland types, functions, inventory, and other resources) - https://novascotia.ca/nse/wetland/
- New Brunswick Wetland Guides - https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2010/ec/CW69-5-497-eng.pdf
Wetland Inventories
- Canada-wide - https://maps.ducks.ca/cwi/
- Manitoba - https://mhhc.mb.ca/our-programs/mapping-and-assessment/
- Ontario - https://geohub.lio.gov.on.ca/datasets/mnrf::wetlands/explore?location=49.275000%2C-84.498000%2C5.15
- Alberta - https://geodiscover.alberta.ca/geoportal/rest/metadata/item/bfa8b3fdf0df4ec19f7f648689237969/html
- New Brunswick - https://www2.gnb.ca/content/gnb/en/news/news_release.2011.01.0029.html
- Quebec -
- Nova Scotia - https://novascotia.ca/natr/wildlife/habitats/wetlands.asp
Functional Assessments of Wetlands
- Wetland Ecological Functions: An Assessment of (Hanson et al. 2008) - https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2010/ec/CW69-5-497-eng.pdf
- Introduction to Nova Scotia Wetland Evaluation Technique (NovaWET 3.0) - https://novascotia.ca/nse/wetland/assessing.wetland.function.asp
- BC FREP Evaluating the Health of Wetlands: Wetland Management Routine Effectiveness Evaluation - Protocol, Technical Supplement, and Field Data Sheet
RE3 Conference: From Reclaiming to Restoring and Rewilding
June 11-15, 2023
The SWS Canada Chapter has partnered with the Society for Ecological Restoration – Eastern Canada (SER-EC), Canadian Land Reclamation Association (CLRA), Ontario chapter of SER (SER-O), International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS), and International Peatland Society (IPS) for RE3 2023. Learn more about the conference here.
Webinar - Peatland-fire interactions: A review of wildland fire feedbacks and interactions in Canadian boreal peatlands
Thank you to everyone that could attend Kailyn Nelson’s talk on peatlands and fire interaction on April 27, 2022. For more details, please see her published co-authored paper provided here. You can also view a recording of the webinar on the SWS YouTube channel here.
Please contact us if you are interested in presenting your work at an upcoming webinar or have a topic that you would look like to learn more about.
International Conference on Environment, Water, and Wetlands (ICEWW)
This conference will be held from June 15-16, 2022 in Toronto, Canada. Find more information and register here.
Building Restoration & Enhancement Projects that Make a Difference
Register today for Building Restoration & Enhancement Projects that Make a Difference, a four-part webinar series offering hands-on, practical solutions to build resilience into your ecosystem restoration and enhancement projects.
Are you interested in knowing more about what makes a well-developed restoration project? Looking for ideas on how to build climate resiliency into your projects? Curious about how to develop effective monitoring and evaluation of your project’s results? These types of questions typically come up when designing practical solutions for on-the-ground problems, and preparing funding applications.
Learn more about the sessions and presenters. Register today for one or more of these one-hour sessions on four Wednesdays in February 2022, starting on February 2 at 10 a.m. PT / 11 a.m MT.
The Columbia Basin Trust and the Kootenay Conservation Program are hosting this Winter Webinar Series with support from the Fish & Wildlife Compensation Program. Please share this information with others!
International Conference on Environment, Water, and Wetlands (ICEWW)
This conference will be held from June 15-16, 2022 in Toronto, Canada. Find more information and register here.