Bear Awareness Day

 

 

Don’t worry we’ll have inert bear spray, not the real stuff.

 

 

 

Bryon Benn is a retired wildlife ecologist who moved to the Columbia Valley in 2021. He started studying bears in 1980 on a grizzly bear study in Kananaskis Country, AB. He then worked on the Eastern Slopes Grizzly Bear Project and earned his Master’s degree before working on bears in many capacities… research, management, habitat assessment and bear/human conflict from Montana to the Arctic. In retirement, Bryon can be found out on mountain trails running, backpacking, skiing and exploring his backyard habitat.

 

Tawnya Hewitt is a Resource Management Officer II and is the human wildlife conflict and coexistence specialist for Mount Revelstoke and Glacier National Parks. She works with a team to manage both people and wildlife, with the goal of reducing negative interactions and increasing coexistence between us and the animals in our parks.

 

 

Giles Shearing is a Revelstoke based biologist, operating an environmental and project management consultancy since 2011. Prior Giles worked for BC Hydro, and Envirowest in Vancouver. Giles holds a BSc in Environmental Management from Royal Roads University and a MSc in Environmental Science from the University of British Columbia. Giles is a Registered Professional Biologist in BC, with specialties in fish and wildlife management, impact assessment and habitat restoration, and is a registered Applied Science Technologist with a specialty in environmental engineering with the Applied Science Technologists and Technicians of BC. Giles is the past chair of the City’s Environmental Advisory Committee where he gained experience with how best to manage human bear conflicts. Giles lives in Revelstoke with his wife and two children. As a family they enjoy skiing, rafting, mountain biking, cold dips, bird watching and exploring the mountains, here and around the world.