Team

Jamille McLeod is a Wildlife Health Research Technician at the Prairie and Northern Wildlife Research Centre (PNWRC), working for the Ecotoxicology and Wildlife Health Division (EWHD; Science and Technology Branch, Environment & Climate Change Canada). Jamille provides technical support for studies in the lab and the field to help understand impacts of large-scale environmental stressors (contaminants, stress, disease, etc.) on wildlife and ecosystem health.  Jamille absolutely loves her job! It gives her the opportunity to travel, learn new things, and have fun and adventure everyday while working outside with wildlife and nature. Jamille especially enjoys meeting new people and working with such an amazing team at PNWRC.

Jordyn is a research technician on Kirsty’s team handling data quality, analyses, and writing community reports and manuscripts. She received her B.Sc. at the University of Saskatchewan in Environmental Biology. In 2018, Jordyn completed her M.Sc. at the U of S where she was studying provisioning patterns, diet, and reproduction of Mountain Bluebirds in clearcut and grassland habitats. She joined Kirsty’s team in 2019 and has been involved in many diverse projects. In her spare time, Jordyn enjoys birding, camping, and spending time with her husband and twins (and cat, Achilles!).

Alana Weber is a Wildlife Health Research Biologist with Kirsty’s team and will soon be moving on to new adventures in Beautiful BC! Congratulations Alana, on your new position at WSP in Langley. You will be missed!!

Zhijian Chai is a molecular biologist with extensive experience in genomics, molecular biology, and biological research. He holds a Master of Science in Developmental Biology from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Over the course of his career, Zhijian has worked with various prestigious organizations, applying his expertise to a wide range of research areas. His current work with Kirsty’s team focuses on applying genome sequencing techniques to study wildlife health, including the role of microbial communities in bird health and ecology as part of the microbiome project. With expertise spanning molecular biology, wildlife research, and agriculture, Zhijian brings a multidisciplinary approach to research and data-driven decision-making. In his free time, Zhijian enjoys climbing, staying active, and continually learning new skills.

Congratulations to Lynsey, for successfully defending her M.Sc. in January 2025!! She's moved back to her hometown of Edmonton, Alberta and is now busy getting manuscripts ready, hanging out with her terrier cross, Peanut, and making sure that everyone knows about potential environmental risks related to lead ammunition.

Congratulations to Christina, who successfully defended her M.Sc. in December 2024!! Christina is now working on preparing manuscripts, getting the word out about the amazing Horned Grebe (check out her thesis 😊), and enjoying the best that West Virginia has to offer. Outside of her bird nerd interests, she continues to enjoy biking, skiing, local breweries and distilleries, and playing with her dog, Dipper.

Andres Rosales is a M.Sc. student in Biology who joined Dr. Gurney's lab in May 2023. He is investigating potential impacts of agriculture on Upland Sandpiper - including how landscape level factors and pesticides may be linked to variable population trends on the breeding grounds. He completed his undergraduate degree in Range and Wildlife Management at Texas A&M University- Kingsville in Texas. During his time in Kingsville, he gained his passion for wildlife management while working with shorebirds, seabirds, and upland game species. In his spare time, Andres enjoys birding, hunting, and spending time outdoors. Congratulations to Andres for supporting his work through successful funding applications to the Alberta North American Waterfowl Management Plan Partnership and the Saskatchewan Environment Fish and Wildlife Development Fund Student Research Award program.

Sydney-Marie was born and raised outside of Atlanta, Georgia and earned her B.A. in Biology from Carleton College (Northfield, MN) in 2022. Before coming to Saskatoon, she conducted research on a variety of ecological systems, including wetland bird habitat use in Florida and Uganda, periodical cicada site selection in the southeastern United States, phytoplankton size distribution in the Sargasso Sea, and grassland restoration in Minnesota. Her interest in long-distance migratory birds and spatial ecology led her to the University of Saskatchewan, where she is studying migratory connectivity and genetic population structure in the Upland Sandpiper. In her free time, she enjoys baking all things with lemon and peaches, cycling, playing any kind of pickup sport, and attempting to watercolour.

Phoebe Johnson completed her Bachelor’s degree in Animal Bioscience at the University of Saskatchewan in 2023 and started her Master’s degree in the Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM; Department of Veterinary Biomedical Sciences) shortly afterwards. She is evaluating the physiological and metabolomic effects of plastic additives in waterfowl. Phoebe has also worked at Living Sky Wildlife Rehabilitation since 2020, helping sick, injured, and orphaned wildlife. In her free time, Phoebe coaches figure skating and plays soccer. Congratulations to Phoebe for supporting her work through a successful application to the WCVM Research Trust Scholarship.

Levi is a Master of Science candidate. She finished her B.Sc. in Biology in 2023 and has worked as an entomology lab demonstrator and a forest entomologist. Her interests include entomology, ecological remediation projects, entomological-agriculture, invasive species, outdoor activities, teaching, and learning. During her M.Sc., using migratory bird models, she will identify whether chemicals added to plastics are (i) present in wildlife (and at what quantities) and (ii) are transferred maternally to eggs. Levi also hopes to create a side project to address how plastic additives affect the metabolic processes of  aquatic-emergent insects.

Tori completed her B.S.A. in Environmental Science at the University of Saskatchewan and has joined our team to pursue her M.Sc. in Biology.  During her undergrad, Tori worked as a summer student at Prince Albert National Park, where she was first introduced to boreal bird monitoring.  One opportunity led to another, furthering her involvement in boreal bird projects with Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC). Through ECCC, she is collaborating with a community in northern Saskatchewan for her master’s research, which will evaluate potential effects of forestry-related landscape change on boreal songbirds. Outside of academia, Tori loves spending time in nature, admiring dogs, and enjoying local live music. Congratulations to Tori for supporting her work through a successful funding application to the Saskatchewan Environment Fish and Wildlife Development Fund Student Research Award program.

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Delipa Ekanayake is a graduate (Health Sciences) of the University of Saskatchewan. He is currently working as a lab technician for the Ecotoxicology Team and helps with prepping samples for storage, collecting data, and fieldwork. Delipa has always been excited to work in a lab environment and learned a lot during his time working with the EWHD team, including hands-on work and collaboration. Delipa is always interested in learning new things and in gaining experience in the lab and field. He loves to work with other people.

Xavier is an undergraduate student at the University of Saskatchewan, who is graduating this spring with a major in Animal Bioscience and a minor in Computer Science. He has gained field and lab experience while helping with many of our projects over the past three years and hopes to be on his way back to the Arctic soon!