Staff

Dr. Steven Cooke

Steven Cooke is a Canada Research Professor in the Institute of Environmental and Interdisciplinary Sciences and Department of Biology at Carleton University. Dr. Cooke is the Director of the CEBC.  Research in his lab focuses on conservation science, environmental evidence, applied ecology, and the human dimensions of natural resource management.  He is particularly active in freshwater and marine systems but has broad taxonomic, geographical, and realm interests.  Cooke also serves as Secretary of the College of the Royal Society of Canada, Editor in Chief of the journal “Conservation Physiology”, and a Board Trustee for the Collaboration for Environmental Evidence.

Contact – steven.cooke@carleton.ca

Dr. Joseph Bennett

Joseph Bennett is an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Environmental and Interdisciplinary Sciences and Department of Biology at Carleton University. He is a co-director of the Geomatics and Landscape Ecology Laboratory (GLEL). Research in his lab focuses on conservation prioritization, invasion ecology, optimal monitoring, biogeography and spatial statistics. Dr. Bennett has a particular interest in applied questions regarding management to protect threatened species and invasive species control. He also works on theoretical questions regarding the value of monitoring information and the determinants of community assembly in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

Dr. Vivian Nguyen

Dr. Vivian Nguyen is an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Environmental and Interdisciplinary Sciences and Department of Biology at Carleton University. Her research focuses on the interface of science, society and policy within the themes of environmental change, natural resource management, and food insecurity. Dr. Nguyen is a Mitacs Canadian Science Policy Fellow alumni, and spent two years working in the Office of the Chief Scientist at Natural Resources Canada to better understand the challenges of and opportunities for science policy integration. She continues to conduct research to understand the mobilization of scientific knowledge, as well as other ways of knowing, into decisions, policy, and practice. She also has a particular interest in the human dimensions of environmental issues, including fisheries and other natural resources management, and how human perceptions and behaviours can lead to successful or unsuccessful conservation/management strategies and policy initiatives. 

Dr. Trina Rytwinski

Dr. Rytwinski completed her PhD at Carleton University in 2012 working with Dr. Lenore Fahrig in the Geomatics and Landscape Ecology Research Lab (GLEL). There she studied the circumstances in which roads and traffic affect wildlife populations. After taking some maternity leave, she returned to the GLEL as a Post-doctoral fellow with Dr. Fahrig (2013-2016) focusing on two main road ecology themed topics; (1) determining ways to improve knowledge on the influence of mitigation measures on wildlife populations through experiments, and (2) assessing the effectiveness of mitigation measures intended to decrease road related impacts on wildlife through meta-analysis. Trina joined the Canadian Centre for Evidence-Based Conservation in 2016 where she works as a Research Scientist and project manager conducting evidence syntheses and meta-analyses to help inform various Canadian government agencies. Trina is also a Research Associate, working with Dr. Steven Cooke (Fish Ecology and Conservation Physiology Lab) and Dr. Joseph Bennett (Bennett Lab/GLEL), and Instructor at Carleton University. Trina is endorsed as a Collaboration for Environmental Evidence (CEE) trainer  and has co-developed an introductory evidence synthesis workshop.

Contact – trinarytwinski@cunet.carleton.ca

Adrienne Smith

Adrienne earned her MSc in Biology from University of Waterloo in 2014 where she studied the impacts of varying flow from a hydroelectric dam on the food web and critical spawning habitat of Lake Sturgeon and Walleye. She work as an aquatic biologist for the Ministry of Natural Resources in Thunder Bay before she joined the Canadian Center for Evidence Based Conservation in February of 2019. As a Senior Research Assistant, she conducts evidence syntheses under the guidance of the CEBC’s project managers and following protocols developed under the Collaboration for Environmental Evidence (CEE). She is primarily focused on a systematic review of the extent to which fish passage facilities and culverts allow upstream and downstream passage of fish at barriers.

Meagan Harper

Meagan completed her MSc in Biology at Carleton University in 2021. She joined the Centre for Evidence-Based Conservation (CEBC) in 2018 and worked as a data technician on a systematic map of the impact of flow regime changes on fish productivity. Her master’s thesis with the Fish Ecology and Conservation Physiology Lab and the CEBC expanded on a subtopic (i.e., evidence cluster) identified during the map and investigated the impact of flow magnitude changes due to hydropower on fish abundance and biomass. She has previously worked as a GIS assistant at Carleton University and a  research assistant with Environment and Climate Change Canada. Currently she is a Research Assistant at the CEBC playing a supportive role on an evidence synthesis of the impact of natural flow alterations on fish abundance and diversity.

Raphael Anammasiya Ayambire

Raphael is a Doctoral Candidate at the University of Waterloo’s School of Planning. Raphael’s research focuses on environmental governance and planning in working landscapes. He is particularly interested in understanding the impacts of different governance decisions on ecological outcomes and human well-being. Raphael also synthesizes governance experiences across different contexts to inform policymaking.  Raphael is currently a Research Assistant at CEBC working on a systematic map relating to community-based conservation.

Cynthia Cadet

Cynthia completed her MSc in Life sciences at the University of Strasbourg (France) in 2017. Then, she participated in environmental education projects within a non-profit organization. In 2020, she received a master’s degree in environmental management from the University of Sherbrooke and the University of Montpellier. Before joining the Canadian Centre for Evidence-based Conservation (CEBC), she worked as a research assistant at the University of Quebec in Abitibi-Témiscamingue where she studied the revegetation of mining sites in the boreal forest. Currently, she is a research assistant at the CEBC helping on a project about the effectiveness of community-based conservation and other types of governance on wildlife conservation and human well-being. She is also involved in a project to identify trends in the funding of conservation projects in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

Adrianne Hajdasz

Adrianne completed her MSc in Biology from Carleton University in early 2023 where she studied the effects of habitat amount, fragmentation and connectivity on forest bird biodiversity in agro-ecosystems. Prior to that, she obtained her BSc at Thompson Rivers University in British Columbia. Adrianne’s main research interests include wildlife conservation, urbanization, landscape ecology and ornithology. She also has a passion for science outreach and enjoys simplifying complex topics in a way that easy for everyone to understand. Adrianne is currently a Research Assistant at CEBC working on a systematic map evaluating the effects of hedgerows on biodiversity conservation and crop production outcomes in agro-ecosystems.

Students

Lisa Kelly

Lisa Kelly is a PhD candidate at Carleton University in the Fish Ecology and Conservation Physiology Lab. Her thesis research focuses on the gut microbiome and its relationship to the fitness of migrating fish. Prior to her work in freshwater ecosystems, Lisa completed an MSc in Marine Biology at James Cook University in Australia, where she studied coral diseases on the Great Barrier Reef. Lisa joined the Canadian Centre for Evidence-Based Conservation in 2018 as a research assistant conducting evidence syntheses under the guidance of the CEBC’s project managers on systematic maps relating to the prevalence of antimicrobial resistance genes in aquaculture, as well as the effectiveness of captive breeding programs for imperilled freshwater fish and mussel species.

Jessica Reid

Jessica is a MSc student at Carleton University in the Fish Ecology and Conservation Physiology Lab. Her thesis research focuses on the movement ecology of freshwater fishes in urban Ottawa. She also received her BSc. in Honours Biology from Carleton University in 2021, where her undergraduate thesis work focused on the conservation status of endangered freshwater mussels and their symbiotic relationships with fish, in partnership with the Canadian Museum of Nature. She has gained a diverse background in fisheries science as a Research Assistant on projects related to Lake Trout diet and spatial ecology, behavioural effects ofcatch-and-release angling on Rainbow Trout, and led stream surveys to evaluate freshwater species diversity. Jessica has also worked for the Kenauk Institute, where she gained broader conservation ecology experience in fields such as herpetology, mammalogy, and ornithology. Since joining the Canadian Centre for Evidence Based Conservation as a Research Assistant in 2020, she has conducted evidence syntheses under the guidance of the CEBC’s project managers related to various topics in freshwater conservation as well as agricultural greenhouse gas emissions.

Affiliates

Dr. Nathan Young, University of Ottawa

Dr. Graeme Auld, Carleton University

Dr. Jesse Vermaire, Carleton University

Dr. Susan Aitken, Carleton University