Topic: Habitat Selection by Sandhill Cranes (Antigone canadensis) in Alberta using passive acoustics

Presenter: Wyatt Villetard, Master’s Student, University of Alberta.

Presenter Biography: My name is Wyatt Villetard, I am a master’s student in Dr. Mark Boyce’s Lab at the University of Alberta. I was born and raised in Edmonton, but like many Edmontonians, I have family in Calgary and love spending time in your city. On my spare time you will most likely find me spending time at Elk Island National Park, playing hockey, or cheering on the Oilers (sorry). My thesis focuses on habitat selection of migratory and nesting Sandhill Cranes in Alberta. Specifically, I am determining the effects of weather on migration and predicting high quality nesting habitat across the northern portion of the province using passive acoustics. For my talk I will primarily be focusing on Sandhill Crane life history, the background of my master’s thesis project, how passive acoustics work, the pros and cons of passive acoustic monitoring versus radio telemetry, and some preliminary results from my research.

Zoom details will be emailed to members.