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Implementing road ecology into Municipal Road Projects: A recipe for success!
Monday, November 27 @ 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Implementing road ecology into Municipal Road Projects: A recipe for success!
Monday, November 27 @ 7:30 pm
Join Kari Gunson as she provides an overview of road ecology and its application to road projects in Ontario. She will focus on particular case studies of road mitigation for a variety of wetland-forest animals such as turtles. For each project she will discuss the challenges and successes of the project highlighting efforts of her monitoring work. In conclusion, Kari will synthesize lessons learned to provide recommendations for improvement. She will conclude with a summary of her ‘Wildlife on Roads’ Handbook and how complete and accurate ‘wildlife on roads’ data can be used by community scientists to promote inclusion of necessary wildlife mitigation in our regional road projects.
Kari has worked as a full-time road ecologist on projects in North America and Mexico for the past 23 years. Beginning with 6 years of monitoring work on the wildlife overpasses in Banff National Park (1999 to 2005) working alongside a research team of engineers and ecologists, she is now the primary road ecologist for planning, designing and monitoring work for many of Ontario’s road-wildlife mitigation projects on a provincial and municipal level. Kari works closely with exclusionary fence suppliers to inform appropriate exclusionary fence design and installation on a site-specific basis. Kari has a diverse skill-set that supplements her ecological and zoological training in University and this includes proficient use of Geographic Information Technologies, Statistical analysis softwares, and camera monitoring technologies to capture both cold- and warm-blooded animal behaviours and movements in relation to new wildlife-road mitigation projects.
Most recently, Kari has been appointed as the Project Manager for the Road Ecology Working Group with the Long Point Biosphere Foundation, and has led the establishment of a road ecology strategy document which is currently being implemented in the Long Point Walsingham Forest Priority Place designated by Environment Canada. Kari’s work has contributed to the publication of 17 peer-reviewed journal articles, six book chapters, and led to the development of a hand book titled ‘Wildlife on Roads’. Ms. Gunson has also written, and compiled Best Management Practice and literature review document on practical road mitigation solutions and effectiveness monitoring for the Ontario provincial Government, the Canadian Wildlife Service and the Transportation Research Board in the U.S. over the past ten years.
This will be a hybrid meeting and you can choose to attend either in-person or via Zoom.
To attend via Zoom, register at: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwrfuyrqDMqHtxyQReLNFBvqxdYsPxKqvof
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
