Connected Estuary: a webinar series on the Fraser River Estuary
Join us and explore how the Fraser River Estuary connects people, salmon, whales and birds across ecosystems.
Connected Estuary
As a nursery and feeding ground, the Fraser River Estuary connects a food web linking people, fish, birds and marine mammals across two hemispheres. Connected Estuary is a 6 episode webinar series that explores what science can tell us about the history, vulnerability and connectivity of the Fraser Estuary.
Watch Connected Estuary webinars below
We’ve recorded each webinar!
Webinar #1: The Fraser Estuary – connecting past to present
Wednesday, March 17, 2021
12pm Pacific
In our first webinar of Connected Estuary we will explore the cultural and ecological importance of the estuary to the Indigenous Nations of the Lower Fraser River. We will also discuss the extent of landscape change and habitat loss that has occurred in the last 150 years (since contact) and the challenges facing the estuary today.
Featured Guests
Riley Finn is an MSc student at UBC with Dr. Tara Martin in the Conservation Decisions Lab. He has a particular interest maps and using spatial information to guide conservation decision making and understand historical ecosystem change.
Steve Stark is an executive councillor of the Tsawwassen legislature.
Webinar #2: The Fraser Estuary – a mosaic of habitats for Chinook salmon
Wednesday, March 31, 2021
12pm Pacific
The mosaic of habitats in the Fraser River Estuary are crucial for juvenile Chinook salmon. In this webinar scientists active in the estuary will share what we are learning about the importance of the estuary to juvenile salmon, as well as insights into how we can restore habitat connectivity within the Fraser Estuary.
Featured Guests
Lia Chalifour is a a PhD candidate in the Baum Lab at the University of Victoria and co-supervised by Tara Martin (University of British Columbia). Her research aims to shed light on nearshore habitat use by fish of the Fraser River Estuary and coastal British Columbia, with a particular focus on the recovery of Pacific salmon.
Dave Scott is a biologist, who has lead Raincoast’s juvenile salmon research in the Fraser Estuary for the last five years, and a PhD student in the Pacific Salmon Ecology and Conservation Lab at the University of British Columbia.
Webinar #3: The Fraser Estuary – Chinook and Southern Resident killer whales
Wednesday, April 14, 2021
12pm Pacific
The health of Southern Resident killer whales is directly associated with the health of Fraser River Chinook salmon populations. In this webinar we will explore how healthy estuary habitats means for Chinook and the recovery of Southern Resident killer whales.
Featured Guests
Misty MacDuffee is a biologist for Raincoast and Wild Salmon Program Director. She has a particular interest in the role of salmon as critical food sources for wildlife and incorporating their needs into salmon management decisions.
Dr. Deborah Giles (she goes by her last name) received her PhD from the University of California Davis in 2014. Her master’s thesis and PhD dissertation both focused on the federally listed southern resident killer whales. Giles is the killer whale scientific adviser for the Orca Salmon Alliance, a program advisor for Killer Whale Tales, and is on the Steering Committee for the Salish Sea Ecosystem Advocates (SalishSEA).
Webinar #4: The Fraser Estuary – climate change
Wednesday, April 28, 2021
12pm Pacific
In this webinar we will focus on the threats climate change poses to the estuary, and the role this ecosystem can play as communities adapting to a changing climate. We will also discuss how nature-based solutions and green infrastructure can support ecological resilience in the face of uncertainty.
Featured Guests
Eric Balke is the Coordinator of the South Coast Conservation Land Management Program, and leads the collaborative management of over 37,000 hectares of provincial conservation land throughout the BC South Coast in partnership with the province of BC, Ducks Unlimited Canada, The Nature Trust of BC, and the Canadian Wildlife Service. Eric earned a BSc in Biology from the University of British Columbia (UBC) and a MSc in Ecological Restoration from Simon Fraser University (SFU) and the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT). During the latter degree he studied the causes of ongoing tidal marsh loss throughout the Fraser River delta front. Eric continues that research as project leader of the Sturgeon Bank Marsh Recession Project.
Deborah Carlson is a staff lawyer at West Coast Environmental Law working with communities for long term ecosystem and community health. She works on legal strategies that support nature-based climate adaptation, and new approaches to policy and management on the landscape that fully recognize Indigenous laws, jurisdiction and authority.
Webinar #5: The Fraser Estuary – birds on the Pacific Flyway
Wednesday, May 12, 2021
12pm Pacific
The Fraser Estuary is a part of an intricate network of bird stopovers that make up the Pacific Flyway. In this webinar we will discuss how the Fraser Estuary is linked to estuaries, and other ecosystems along the entire Pacific coast of North and South America.
Featured Guests
Amie MacDonald is the Motus Wildlife Tracking System coordinator for British Columbia with Birds Canada. She is interested in using tracking technologies to support shorebird research and conservation in the Fraser Estuary and more broadly.
James Casey is the Fraser Estuary Specialist at Birds Canada.
Webinar #6: The Fraser Estuary – conservation in the 21st century
Wednesday, May 26, 2021
12pm Pacific
in the final webinar of Connected Estuary we will be joined by Morgan Guerin, a community member, past Councilor, and Senior Marine Planning Specialist for the Musqueam Nation. Morgan is also an artist who has developed materials for the c̓əsnaʔəm exhibit at the Musqueam Community Cultural Centre and he continues to share his knowledge, expertise and teachings through tool-kits for use in schools and other communities.
Our last episode will also include Raincoast’s Ross Dixon, Communications and Development Director. Ross helped develop Raincoast’s Lower Fraser Conservation Program, including the report, Toward a vision for salmon habitat in the Lower Fraser River.
Featured Guests
Morgan Guerin is a community member, past Councilor, and Senior Marine Planning Specialist for the Musqueam Nation. Morgan is also an artist who has developed materials for the c̓əsnaʔəm exhibit at the Musqueam Community Cultural Centre and he continues to share his knowledge, expertise and teachings through tool-kits for use in schools and other communities.
Ross Dixon is Raincoast’s Communications and Development Director. Ross helped develop Raincoast’s Lower Fraser Conservation Program, including the report, Toward a vision for salmon habitat in the Lower Fraser River.