Regional Wildlife Advisory Committees - Thompson-Okanagan Region

Kari is a settler living on the traditional and unceded territory of the Sylix/Okanagan people. She is passionate about, and feels a responsibility to build relationships and trust with Indigenous communities, as well as the land and natural beings, while bringing all voices to the table. Kari is an animal and nature communicator, a Hakomi Practitioner and she works in the realms of the healing arts. Kari invites people to remember the laws of nature and help them develop a relationship with the land to support their healing. This experience rekindles an awareness that we are related to all beings and that it is our collective responsibility to care and advocate for the land, plants and animals.   

Casey grew up in the Similkameen Valley and as a child, spent a lot of time on the back of a horse in the mountains of the southern part of the area. Casey's dad was a guide outfitter in the Ashnola Valley Snowy Mountain Cathedral parks. Growing up, Casey learned the ways of the mountains and the animals that live there. He also grew to love hunting, and today works at protecting spaces for wild animals. He is a First Nations person; a member of the Wild Sheep Society of BC and he has a huge passion for all the wildlife in his local territory.  

Peter grew up with a love for the outdoors. He was raised in North Vancouver but was fortunate to spend his summers on a small acreage in the Chilcotin. In 2015, he moved his young family to Penticton to live at a slower pace and increase his connection to the land. He first learned about the complexities of the natural world through his dad and his Opa, a retired forester in Germany. Throughout his life, Peter has witnessed the decline of habitat and wildlife across British Columbia, and his move to the Okanagan spurred his desire to make a positive impact. He joined the board of directors of the Wild Sheep Society of BC in 2018, where he has served in a multitude of roles. This volunteer work has led to network building with indigenous communities throughout southern BC and enabled him to assist on multiple wild sheep projects with government wildlife professionals. Peter is passionate about bringing people together to work for the benefit of wildlife and their habitat, as he believes we can have the greatest impact through a collaborative approach. 

Lauren has lived and worked in the South Okanagan since 2011.  She has been involved with the Burrowing Owl Conservation Society of BC for over 14 years and has served as executive director since 2016.  She has a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Simon Fraser University and a Master’s of Science in Animal Welfare and Behaviour from the University of Edinburgh. Her work has revolved around grassland conservation and reintroduction of various species.  She is also involved in many other local conservation and habitat initiatives in the South Okanagan. 

Rick retired from the Canadian Wildlife Service in Delta, BC, after more than 30 years managing migratory birds, and more recently, implementing the Species at Risk Act. He left CWS as the manager of the Pacific Wildlife Research Centre. He moved to Penticton in 2005, where he was manager of the South Okanagan Similkameen Conservation Program for a short time, after which he worked as a consultant. He has been fully retired since 2009, but is still active in the biology field in the local area, working to have Penticton old river channels or "oxbows" recognized as the important wetlands they are. His outdoor interests include hiking and cycling in the summer, and skiing and snowshoeing in the winter, as well as wildlife photography and bird watching.

Dr. Tal Avgar (he/him) is a quantitative wildlife ecologist with expertise in space-use (movement and habitat selection) ecology, wildlife population biology, animal conservation, predator-prey interactions, and statistical and mathematical modelling. Tal received his Ph.D. from the University of Guelph in Ontario where he studied the spatial ecology of caribou, moose and wolves. Since then, Tal has studied a variety of wildlife species in a variety of systems across North America. Tal was a professor at Utah State University before moving to Kelowna to serve as a senior research scientist at the Wildlife Science Center (Biodiversity Pathways). Tal has been a professor in the Department of Biology at the University of British Columbia Okanagan since October 2023. 

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Ciel is concerned about wildlife and habitat conservation in Kootenay-Boundary region of B.C., including challenges such as biodiversity loss and climate change. Ciel grew up in the Pacific Northwest and enjoys being out in nature. She lives in the Boundary region and looks forward to helping with policy development and finding ways to bring people together to improve wildlife and land management.  

Jeff is a PhD candidate at the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan campus, with a research focus on conservation planning and wildlife management. He has experience working with diverse communities and organizations, including First Nations, industry, and government on projects throughout BC related to wildlife management, environmental impact assessment, and land use planning. Prior to Jeff’s time in academia, he worked for the BC Wildfire Service for four fire seasons on a unit crew based out of Princeton, BC. With a passion for hunting, Jeff strives to give back to the land and wildlife of British Columbia, so that future generations can continue to access the interrelated values of subsistence, adventure, and sense of purpose which he has had the privilege of experiencing.   

Meg was inspired to pursue a career in conservation biology while volunteering at wildlife rehabilitation centers. The experience of witnessing first-hand the direct impacts humans have on wildlife, sparked her life-long passion in advocating for wildlife. She holds a Bachelor of Science Honours degree in Environmental Biology and a Masters in Sustainable Environmental Management. She currently works as the conservation research and policy coordinator for the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society – BC Chapter, advocating for connected and protected habitats. Previously she worked on wildlife co-existence and wildlife collision prevention programs and projects, mostly focused in the Okanagan.

Mike has been an avid outdoors person since he was a youngster. He grew up in central B.C. and learned to live off the land at a young age. Mike strongly maintains those lessons and values to this day. He is active in the trapping community; the current president of the region 8 local of the BC Trappers Association and he sits on the BC Trapper Association Board of Directors. Aside from his regional and provincial work, he is also the owner/ operator of Critter Catchers where he specializes in human and wildlife conflict in rural and urban areas.  

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Originally from Alberta, Maxine has lived in B.C. for the past seven years and has recently relocated to the North Thompson Valley. She is an avid outdoor recreationist and enjoys backcountry camping, getting outside with her dog into the fresh air and listening to the sounds of nature. She believes that to become a good steward of the land all values, interests and concerns must be recognized. As a registered professional forester with a Bachelor of Science in Forestry she brings numerous years of forestry planning experience as well as sustainably managing landscapes and its wildlife to the Thompson-Lillooet Wildlife and Habitat Advisory Committee.

Allen is a regional coordinator at the BC Conservation Foundation in Kamloops, responsible for fish and wildlife conservation projects in the Thompson-Nicola and other regions. He has a PhD in wildlife ecology and his past experiences and interests have included habitat and feeding resource ecology, species at risk, protected areas and spatial analysis. His current passion is to create more local conservation projects and habitat conservation work opportunities in the BC's dry interior areas.  He is excited to be a part of this committee and contribute to wildlife/habitat policy in his home province.    

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Elias has lived most of his life in the Thompson/Secwepemc region, and is interested in the outdoors and wildlife, whether that involves birding, hiking, fishing or hunting. Those interests ultimately led to a forestry career that spanned most of a decade. Though he now no longer works in the bush, he remains deeply interested in our shared outdoor spaces and how we leave them for others to enjoy. Elias is also passionate about a "whole ecosystem" perspective as a way of looking at management and conservation decision making. 

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With an BSc in environmental and conservation science, Danielle has worked on a range of programs and projects spanning agriculture, riparian management, sustainable ranching, conservation of threatened ecosystems, and invasive species impact and mitigation. She has over 20 years of experience addressing ecological issues and building public awareness. Danielle brings a collaborative and curious mindset to a wide range of ecological projects, planning, and facilitation. With a passion for building and supporting partnerships to improve conservation outcomes, she focuses her energy and efforts on maintaining and improving wildlife, habitat and ecosystem integrity. 

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Jeremy is a biologist with his company Phyla Biological Consulting Inc, based in the Salmon Arm area where he works with a variety of species and ecological systems. Jeremy completed an MSc through the University of Northern BC, researching the ecological role of mineral licks used by moose, elk, Stone’s sheep, and mountain goats in the northern Rockies. Jeremy has spent the past 16 years working to archive fish and wildlife data and reports to provincial government repositories. Recent long-term projects also include 12 years as the provincial coordinator for the BC Sheep Separation Program, working with provincial government staff, First Nations, wild sheep conservation groups, and domestic sheep farmers across the province to mitigate the risk of respiratory disease transmitted from domestic sheep to wild sheep. Jeremy is a founding director of the Shuswap Outdoor Learning Foundation and a director for the Columbia Mountains Institute of Applied Ecology. He is also a volunteer BC Parks Ecological Reserve warden for a wetland fen complex in the Shuswap. 

Danielle grew up in Kamloops and has spent over 20 years working in wildlife and habitat stewardship across western Canada. She has an undying appreciation for grassland and dry forest ecosystems. Her experience ranges from grassland restoration and species at risk recovery to game harvest allocation and land use referral. Currently she is the program director of the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s BC interior team. Danielle and her team work with local communities, conservation partners and municipal, provincial, federal and Indigenous governments to accelerate conservation in BC’s interior through securement and stewardship actions. She is thankful for the opportunity to participate in the Thompson Lillooet Wildlife and Habitat Advisory Committee.

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Jason grew up in Salmon Arm B.C., on a family run cattle farm. Working the land and taking care of livestock was a way of life for Jason. His passion for the outdoors has grown over the years and he has been fortunate enough to see most of the province while in the pursuit of fish and game. Jason's passion for the land and wildlife are something that he and his wife are now passing along to their two young daughters. He believes we must all look after our wildlife and their habitats for our children and grandchildren to enjoy.

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