Chimney swift (Chaetura pelagica) COSEWIC assessment and status report: chapter 15

Biographical Summaries of Report Writers

Jean Gauthier completed a master’s degree in biology at Laval University in 1974. His masters’ work examined movement of the Common Eider (Somateria mollissima) in the St. Lawrence estuary. From 1974 to 1978, he worked as a biologist on environmental impact assessments for the government of Quebec. In 1978, he joined the Canadian Wildlife Service (Quebec region) and pursued his work on environmental assessments. Amongst other research, he studied the effects of insecticide spraying on forest birds. He was the coordinator and one of the authors for the Quebec Atlas of breeding birds. Since 1996, he has been a senior biologist for CWS. His work brought him to study forest bird populations in the boreal and southern forests of Quebec, where many of the projects were part of the Partners in Flight program. Since 1998, he has coordinated the Chimney Swift inventories in Quebec. Over the years, he developed expertise fin terrestrial bird interference with human activities.

Mark Dionne completed a bachelor’s degree at Laval University and master’s degree at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton (UNBF). His honour’s thesis looked at the behaviour of the brittle star (Ophiopholis aculeata) towards its main predator, the sea star (Asterias vulgaris). His Mmaster’s thesis studied interactions between diving ducks and cultured mussels in Prince Edward Island, Canada. Since Feburary 2004, he has been working as a biologist at the Canadian Wildlife Service, preparing the COSEWIC status report on the Chimney Swift in Canada.

Josée Potvin has a bachelor’s degree in biology from Laval University and a master’s degree in renewable resources from the University of Quebec at Chicoutimi (UQAC). Her master’s degree thesis looked at the significance and impact of predation on black spruce (Picea mariana) cones by the red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus). She then worked for some years in forestry research, particularly on the ecology of the black spruce for the Consortium de recherche sur la forêt boréale commerciale [Commercial boreal forest research consortium] and on wildlife-related research projects in relation to forest habitat, carrying out a research project for Parks Canada on the impact of the Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) on the forest ecosystems of the Mingan Archipelago National Park Reserve. In 1998, she took part in a study on Alpine chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra) at a French hunting and wildlife reserve. In 1999, Ms. Potvin’s interest in birds brought her to the Canadian Wildlife Service, where she has been working on the Quebec Chimney Swift Survey since her arrival.

Mike Cadman obtained a B.Sc. in Wildlife Biology from the University of Guelph in 1976 and an M.Sc. in Ecology from the University of Toronto in 1980. His master’s thesis was on foraging strategies of the American Oystercatcher. From 1981 through 1987 he coordinated and was editor of the Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Ontario. He then coordinated the Ontario Rare Breeding Bird Program from 1988-1992. From 1992 until today he has been the Songbird Biologist for the Canadian Wildlife Service Ontario Region. During that period he wrote or co-authored COSEWIC status reports on Hooded Warbler, Loggerhead Shrike (update report), Short-eared Owl, Yellow-breasted Chat, served as Chair of the Loggerhead Shrike Recovery team and Hooded Warbler/Acadian Flycatcher recovery team, and was a member of the Henslow’s Sparrow and Prothonotary Warbler recovery teams. Since 2001, he has been on assignment with Ontario Nature – Federation of Ontario Naturalists as Coordinator of the second Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas project.

Daniel Busby received a B.Sc. (honours 1975) and an M.Sc. (1978) in ornithology from the University of Manitoba. His masters’ work examined the feeding ecology of Yellow Warblers (Dendroica petechia) at Delta Marsh, Manitoba. He worked briefly on the effects of contaminants on waterbirds in the Great Lakes under contract for the Canadian Wildlife Service. In 1978 he joined the CWS permanently, where he conducted a long-term study of the effects of forest insecticide spraying on birds in New Brunswick’s forests. He later moved into his current position as Senior Wildlife Biologist – Landbirds, where he is involved with a variety of programs including Migration Monitoring, the Breeding Bird Survey, West Nile Virus, Bicknell’s Thrush conservation, Partners in Flight and boreal forest bird science.

 

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