I began my work with the Applied Conservation Science Lab as an Honours student in 2019 and have been incredibly lucky to have the opportunity to continue working with the team. I was drawn to the lab’s work because of their priorities for community-led and locally relevant research. During my MSc, I partnered with the Kitasoo Xai’xais First Nation to assess potential influences of ecotourism on grizzly bear activity. My work specifically used the Anthropause, a period of decreased human activity resulting from COVID-19, to assess spatial and temporal displacement of bears across varied ecotourism presence and intensity.
After my MSc, I spent two years working for the Kitasoo Xai’xais Stewardship Authority continuing research work on grizzly and black bears, as well as in the planning and policy realm.
I have now returned to the lab as a PhD student to further examine the ways in which human activity influences wildlife, guided by the values and concerns of the Kitasoo Xai’xais Nation.
I am grateful to the Raincoast Fellowship, the Geography Department, and so many wonderful folks with the Kitasoo Xai’xais Stewardship Authority who are all making this project possible.
Publications:
Short, M. L., Service, C. N., Suraci, J. P., Artelle, K. A., Field, K. A., and C. T. Darimont. 2024. Ecology of fear alters behavior of grizzly bears exposed to bear‐viewing ecotourism. Ecology. Open Access.
Field, K. A., Short, M. L., Moody, J. E., Artelle, K. A., Bourbonnais, M. L., Paquet, P. C., and C. T. Darimont. 2024. Influence of ecotourism on grizzly bear activity depends on salmon abundance in the Atnarko River corridor, Nuxalk Territory. Conservation Science and Practice. Open Access.
Short, M. L. and C. T. Darimont. 2021. Global synthesis reveals that ecosystem degradation poses the primary threat to the world’s medicinal animals. Ecology and Society 26 (1):21. Open Access.
