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 (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.  She is responsible for managing the labs, developing good community relationships and strong field crews, as well as collecting, storing, transporting, validating, and analyzing biological samples and data. 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 laughing, 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 projects within Dr. Gurney’s research themes including: a scoping review about lead in the circumpolar region, a manuscript on temporal constraints and reproductive traits of geese, and a manuscript focusing on community-based monitoring of polycyclic aromatic compounds in the Mackenzie River Basin. 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. She holds a B.Sc. in Environmental Science and Spanish from Northern Arizona University and an M.Sc. in Ecotoxicology from the University of Saskatchewan where she studied the impact of wastewater on the gut microbiome of freshwater fish. For the past two years, Alana has been involved with the National Surveillance teams at Environment & Climate Change Canada, focusing on Sars-CoV-2 and Avian Influenza in wildlife. Now working with the Gurney Lab, Alana will be focusing on supporting and developing studies related to environmental stressors affecting wildlife and ecosystem health. Beyond her professional pursuits, Alana enjoys spending her time in the outdoors; be it kayaking, canoeing, hiking, or camping -- she loves an adventure!

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Eveling is a postdoctoral research associate on Kirsty’s team since 2020. She is also the Project Director for the Paracas Shorebird Research Project with Centro de Ornithología y Biodiversidad in Lima, Peru since 2011. She received her Bachelor of Biological Sciences and Licenciate Title in Biological Sciences in 2007 and 2013 from the Peruvian University Cayetano Heredia. Eveling completed her PhD at Simon Fraser University in 2020. Eveling has just finalized a manuscript on plastics pollution in shorebirds and is currently working on management and consolidation of isotope data from semipalmated sandpipers.

Lynsey Bent moved from her hometown of Edmonton, Alberta to start her M.Sc. degree with Dr. Gurney in November of 2021 after completing her Bachelor of Science in Environmental and Conservation Biology at the University of Alberta and dipping her toes in a variety of conservation-based jobs. Her project focuses on lead exposure in scavenging wildlife as a result of big-game hunting in Saskatchewan, Canada. More specifically, she will focus on techniques to quantify lead availability in field-dressed animal remains (i.e., offal) and determine factors that influence scavenger community assemblage. In her spare time Lynsey enjoys paddling the South Saskatchewan River, hiking in the Rockies, and hanging out with her terrier cross, Peanut.

Christina Howell is in her second year of her Master's in the Gurney Lab, where she is evaluating migratory connectivity and exposure to contaminants in Horned Grebes in Canada. Christina has been working as a wildlife biologist and environmental consultant since 2016, which has taken her to many regions of Alaska, the deserts of California, the beaches of New York, and now the prairies of Canada. Outside of her bird nerd interests, she enjoys 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 Kingsville, 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.

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 (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 and has volunteered at the Livestock and Forage Centre of Excellence, assisting with animal care and collecting data for research projects. In her free time, Phoebe coaches figure skating and plays soccer.

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.

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 Kirsty’s team, including hands-on work and collaboration within the scientific field. 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, majoring in Animal Biosciences with a minor in Computer Science. Xavier plays rugby for the University of Saskatchewan and is part of many environmental clubs at the University. A fun fact about Xavier is that he has lived in 6 countries over 3 continents. He is assisting with Kirsty’s work on environmental DNA and interlaboratory validations, as well as providing technical support to several other projects.