As part of my postdoctoral fellowship, I am working on two different projects. The first project is partnered with the Government of the Northwest Territories and the National Council for Air and Stream Improvement (NCASI) to evaluate caribou habitat use of summer nutritional resources. Using models developing by Dr. John Cook and Dr. Rachel Cook (NCASI) for woodland caribou, I am predicting nutritional resources across the boreal extent of the Northwest Territories. I will then evaluate if nutritional resources used by wild caribou in the summer correspond to differences in body condition estimated in the winter. The second project is partnered with the Government of Alberta to evaluate the risk of chronic wasting disease for deer across Alberta. To estimate disease risk, I will develop spatial connectivity maps based on empirical habitat selection and movement data derived from wild deer. These maps of disease risk will then be incorporated in the development of integrated population models.
Congratulations to Phil Walker for the successful completion of his PhD. degree. Phil’s defense entitled, “Summer spatial ecology of woodland caribou across northern Ontario” was on March 23, 2023.
Presentations:
2023
Thesis defence – Summer spatial ecology of woodland caribou across northern Ontario, March 23, 2023.
2020
Walker, P., Rodgers, A., Shutter, J. Thompson, I. Fryxell, J. Cook, J. Cook, R. Merrill, E. Comparison of woodland caribou calving areas determined by movement rates in northern Ontario. Oral presentation at the Wildlife Society Conference held virtually, September 28- October 2, 2020.
Walker, P., Rodgers, A., Shutter, J., Thompson, I., Fryxell, J. Cook, J. Cook, R. Merrill, E. Comparison of woodland caribou calving areas determined by movement rates in northern Ontario. Poster presentation at the Gordon Research Conference: Predator-Prey Interactions held in Ventura, CA, January 26-31, 2020.
2019
Walker, P., Rodgers, A., Shutter, J., Thompson, I., Fryxell, J., Cook, J., Cook, R., Merrill, E. Calving areas and neonatal mortality in northern Ontario. Poster presentation at the World Mountain Ungulate Conference, held in Boseman, MT, September 10-13, 2019.
Walker, P., Rodgers, A., Shutter, J., Thompson, I., Fryxell, J., Cook, J., Cook, R., Merrill, E. Identification and evaluation of calving areas in northern Ontario. Oral presentation at the Alberta Chapter of the Wildlife Society Conference, held in Canmore, AB, March 22-24, 2019. *Won best student oral presentation.
Walker, P., Rodgers, A., Shutter, J., Thompson, I., Fryxell, J., Cook, J., Cook, R., Merrill, E. Identification and evaluation of calving areas in northern Ontario. Oral presentation at the Dr. R.E. Peter Biology Conference, held in Edmonton, AB, March 6-8, 2019.
2018
Walker, P., Rodgers, A., Shutter, J., Thompson, I., Fryxell, J., Cook, J., Cook, R., Merrill, E. Preliminary identification and evaluation of calving areas in northern Ontario. Poster presentation at the North America Caribou Workshop, held in Ottawa, ON, October 29- November 2, 2018.
Walker, P., Cook, J., Cook, R., Rodgers, A., Merrill, E. Characterizing understory communities by caribou nutrition in northwestern Ontario. Poster presentation at the Alberta Chapter of the Wildlife Society Conference, held in Lethbridge, AB, March 9-11, 2018.
Kushnerick, B., Walker, P., Kemna, C., Visscher, D. Spatial and temporal distribution of ungulates in relation to canids and humans in the Beaver Hills. Poster presentation at the Alberta Chapter of the Wildlife Society Conference, held in Lethbridge, AB, March 9-11, 2018.
Kemna, C., Vujnovic, K., Allen, L., Anderson, K., Karpuk, E., Maijer, M., Walker, P., Visscher, D. Multivariate analysis for the conservation of Antelope Hill Provincial Park. Alberta Chapter of the Wildlife Society Conference, held in Lethbridge, AB, March 9-11, 2018.
2016
Walker, P., DeJong, K., Nanninga, L., Loewen, K., Witter, K., Van Woerden, S., McFarlane, K., Visscher, D. Spatial and temporal distribution of wolves in the Beaver Hills. Poster presentation at the Undergraduate Research in Science Conference of Alberta, held in Edmonton, AB, April 1-2, 2016. *Honorable Mention.
DeJong, K., Nanninga, L., Walker, P., Loewen, K., Witter, K., Van Woerden, S., McFarlane, K., Visscher, D. Optimizing procedures for canid genomic analysis. Poster presentation at the Undergraduate Research in Science Conference of Alberta, held in Edmonton, AB, April 1-2, 2016. *Honorable Mention.
Loewen, K., Witter, K., Van Woerden, S., Walker, P., DeJong, K., Nanninga, L., McFarlane, K., Visscher, D. Scat based dietary analysis of the Beaver Hill’s canids. Poster presentation at the Undergraduate Research in Science Conference of Alberta, held in Edmonton, AB, April 1-2, 2016. *Honorable Mention.
Walker, P., DeJong, K., Nanninga, L., Loewen, K., Witter, K., Van Woerden, S., McFarlane, K., Visscher, D. Non-invasive monitoring of wolves in the Beaver Hills. Poster presentation at the Alberta Chapter of the Wildlife Society Conference, held in Drumheller, AB, March 4-6, 2016. *Won second place.
2015
Walker, P., Nobel, J., Visscher D. Critical Analysis of The Grey in light of Cultivation Theory. Oral presentation at the International Association of the Study of the Commons, held in Edmonton, AB, May 25-29, 2015.
Walker, P., Barszczewski, S. The Big Bad Wolf? Poster presentation at the Western Division, Canadian Association of Geographers, held in Kamloops, BC, March 13-14, 2015.
Publications:
Walker, P., Rodgers, A., Shutter, J., Thompson, I., Fryxell, J., Cook, J., Cook, R., Merrill, E. (2020). Comparison of woodland caribou calving areas determined by movement patterns in northern Ontario. In press. Journal of Wildlife Management, DOI:10.1002/jwmg.21961.
Janzen, M., Ritter, A., Walker, P., Visscher, D.R. (2019) EventFinder: A program for screening remotely captured images. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 191(6), 406.