{"id":1675,"date":"2024-09-28T07:10:37","date_gmt":"2024-09-28T07:10:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grad.biology.ualberta.ca\/boyce\/?p=1675"},"modified":"2024-10-07T18:27:18","modified_gmt":"2024-10-07T18:27:18","slug":"congrats-to-tawnee-for-winning-best-student-talk-at-the-iba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grad.biology.ualberta.ca\/boyce\/2024\/09\/28\/congrats-to-tawnee-for-winning-best-student-talk-at-the-iba\/","title":{"rendered":"Congrats to Tawnee for winning best student presentation at the IBA!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Boyce lab MSc student Tawnee Dupuis<\/a> and Dr. Mark Boyce<\/a> recently attended and presented talks at the International Bear Association conference held in Edmonton in September 2025. Mark was a keynote speaker at the conference, presenting a talk titled ” Ecology, hunting and politics”.<\/p>\n

Tawnee presented on her research on “Black bear habitat use and movement in response to wind energy”. Her research involves studying the movement behaviour of Black bears in response to the construction of a wind farrm\u00a0 in Southern Vermont. This work was funded in part by a grant from the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department and was done in collaboration with them.<\/p>\n

Tawnee’s presentation was very well received and she walked away with the best student presentation award at the end of the conference! Congratulations Tawnee!\u00a0 Please see below for the abstract for her talk.<\/p>\n

Abstract:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tawnee Dupuis1<\/sup>, Jaclyn Comeau2<\/sup>, Katherina Gieder2<\/sup>, Mark S. Boyce1<\/sup><\/p>\n

1<\/sup> University of Alberta<\/p>\n

2<\/sup> Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department<\/p>\n

The American black bear (Ursus americanus) is the most widely distributed bear species in
\nNorth America. Historically, black bears occupied the majority of forested areas on the
\ncontinent. However, with the growth of the human footprint, the quality and quantity of
\nforested habitats available to bears has declined substantially. To prevent human-bear conflicts
\nwhile maintaining a sustainable black bear population, preserving high-quality habitats is
\nessential. An emerging threat to habitat quality is wind power development. While the impacts
\nof wind energy projects on bats, migratory birds, and raptors are well-documented, there is
\nlittle research on the potential effects that these developments have on terrestrial mammals,
\nsuch as bears.
\nThe objective of this project is to quantify changes in black bear habitat use in response to the
\nconstruction and operation of a wind energy facility. Between 2011 and 2020, 40 black bears
\nwere collared and equipped with GPS transmitters in southwestern Vermont, USA, where the
\nfirst industrial-sized wind project within a National Forest was built in 2017. This construction
\nfootprint overlapped with areas of previously intact black bear habitat. Geospatial satellite-
\nderived data from collared bears was collected during all three phases of the wind project
\ndevelopment: before construction, during construction, and during subsequent operation. We
\ncompared used bear locations between the different construction phases using a mixed effect
\nlatent selection difference function. Additionally, step selection functions to describe
\nmovement and habitat selection during the different construction phases. This project aims to
\nquantify the magnitude and extent to which habitat use is impacted by wind development.
\nThese findings will direct future wind energy development plans to mitigate impacts on black
\nbears and other terrestrial mammals.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Additionally, earlier this summer, Tawnee also presented a poster at the Western Black Bear conference held in Jackson, Wyoming. Please see below to view her\u00a0 poster from that conference.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

TDUPUIS_POSTER_WBB_FINAL-2 (2)-compressed<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Boyce lab MSc student Tawnee Dupuis and Dr. Mark Boyce recently attended and presented talks at the International Bear Association conference held in Edmonton in September 2025. Mark was a keynote speaker at the conference, presenting a talk titled ”…
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