MOUNTAIN LIFE - Blue Mountains | Fall 2018

FALL 2018 ML BLUE 37 about their findings in Algonquin as well conducting the various monitoring projects that we do within the Provincial Park. I had my mind set on getting into a profession that would help protect the natural environment I loved. ML: At that time, were there many women doing the hands-on field research you were doing? JH: Growing up I knew a couple of great female biologists working for the Ministry of Natural Resources. They were doing work similar to what I do now. They were well respected and very clever and I definitely looked up to them. I also had fantastic female professors at Malaspina. ML: During your time studying and working throughout Canada have you noticed any patterns in the attitudes or roles of women in the field of ecological science? JH: I’ve always had female peers or known other female biologists who were doing field monitoring or research studies—enviable things like a friend in the Yukon flying caribou surveys while pregnant or another girlfriend climbing up into an old eagle nest to get a better view of sea otters. There are lots of women out there and they’re studying anything you can think of. From my perspective it’s becoming less remarkable and more just the way things are. Women still have to work their butts off but I don’t think people are surprised to see them leading this type of work. ML: Algonquin Provincial Park is one of Ontario’s largest operating provincial parks and is just a three-hour drive from the most densely populated part of Canada. The Provincial Park has a long history of research. Describe the research community in Algonquin and what it contributes to. JH: Algonquin is a hub for research. The two main research stations in the park today are Harkness Laboratory of Fisheries Research (established in 1936), and Algonquin Wildlife Research Station (established in 1944). Algonquin Park in autumn. OTMPC LEFT A midland painted turtle ( Chrysemys picta marginata ) hatchling in Algonquin Park. ABOVE A spotted salamander ( Ambystoma maculatum ) near Bat Lake. PATRICK D. MOLDOWAN