General Manager – Maret Tae
Maret is an Ecologist with over 35 years of experience in the Natural Resource management field. She has conducted environmental studies for the forestry, hydroelectric and mining industries, as well as government. Maret has coordinated multidisciplinary teams in the collection of Environmental Baseline data and preparation of Environmental Impact Assessments. She has completed vegetation, wildlife and aquatic studies in Ontario, Nunavut, Honduras, Cuba, Ecuador and Western Canada. Her technical expertise and extensive field experience encompasses wetland ecology, botany, fish and wildlife biology, ecological restoration, aquatic science and hydrology.
Maret has also spent some years teaching; biology to college and high school students, basic skills at the North Bay psychiatric hospital, advanced sailing skills and nature appreciation.
Maret spends time hiking, canoe tripping, kayaking, cross country skiing and quietly observing the natural environment. She has undertaken challenging canoe and skiing expeditions in northeastern Ontario, and travelled extensively in Europe. In recent years her efforts have focussed on market garden development, maple syrup production and running an off-grid ecotourism experience.
Contact: mtae@aofrc.org
Fisheries Biologist – Kenneth Dynia
Ken is a lifelong angler/conservationist/outdoorsmen with 30 years experience in the outdoors. He has a Natural Environment Technician diploma from Sault College and a BSc. (Hons) Environmental Sciences from Algoma University.
He has worked for the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry as a Fisheries Technician with the Provincially Significant Inland Fisheries section, Aquatic Monitoring Technician Crew Leader for the Broadscale Monitoring program and as a Fisheries Monitoring Assessment Biologist. He has also worked as a Conservation Area Technician for Credit Valley Conservation.
Research experience includes Brook trout community assessment which involved evaluating the impacts on Brook trout from interactions with increasing community complexity and presence of competitor species.
He has worked across the province of Ontario (Kenora, Thunder Bay, Algoma, Missinaibi, Temagami, Timmins, Sudbury, North Bay and various areas within the Credit River Watershed).
Contact: kdynia@aofrc.org
Fisheries Biologist – Ashlyne Norris
Ashlyne is a biologist with an Honours BEM from Lakehead University. She has worked across Ontario and Alberta working with DFO, Parks Canada, Conservation Authorities, and non-profits. Her fisheries field experience is greatly diverse and includes working with a large variety of nets, boat and backpack electrofishing, eDNA research, helicopter redd and snorkel surveys, OSAP, benthic monitoring, water quality sampling and acoustic telemetry studies.
Ashlyne is not only experienced in fisheries related work but has also completed a variety of terrestrial and amphibian surveys as well as large restoration projects and public workshops. She has experience managing and leading teams, developing projects, and writing reports.
Ashlyne joined the A/OFRC in November of 2021 and is looking forward to getting our new electrofishing boat up and running and utilizing the aging equipment we recently acquired.
Contact: anorris@aofrc.org
Fisheries Technician – Emily Heil
Emily joined A/OFRC in 2022 as a fisheries technician. From a young age, Emily has been passionate about aquatic life and knew she wanted to be a fisheries biologist someday. She has worked with Parks Canada as an environmental services student on the Rideau system, conducting surveys on invasive aquatic vegetation as well as shoreline surveys. She has also worked with the Ministry of Natural Resources as a resource technician doing Broad-scale monitoring on many inland lakes across northeastern Ontario. Emily grew up on lake Nipissing and Georgian bay which is where her love for the water and its ecosystems began.
Emily graduated from the University of Guelph with a degree in Marine and Freshwater Biology. During her degree she took many conservation courses growing her interest in fisheries conservation. Emily is looking forward to working along side members of partnering communities and gaining more knowledge regarding fisheries conservation.
Contact: eheil@aofrc.org
Fisheries Technician – Lucas Beaver
Lucas started working at the A/OFRC in 2014 as part of the Indigenous Fisheries Internship program. In 2016, after 2 years of internship, he was hired on as a full-time fisheries technician. From a young age, Lucas has been fascinated with plants and animals, always attempting to examine and identify everything around him. Previously, Lucas has worked at the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry as an Ontario Stewardship Ranger and Species at Risk Assistant, Ontario Parks as a Park Naturalist/Interpreter and Resource Stewardship Technician, and consulting companies working as a breeding bird and vegetation surveyor. Lucas attended Fleming College and earned his Fish and Wildlife Technician Diploma. Lucas is a member of Alderville First Nation, although he was born and raised in North Bay. Lucas is looking forward to using our new drone to develop and carry out new survey methods, as well as conduct index netting surveys.
Areas of specialization:
- Ability to pilot small Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) within Visual line-of-sight (VLOS).
- Able to safely operate commercial watercraft on large bodies of water.
- Experienced in helicopter safety and survey work.
- Experience conducting various terrestrial surveys such as breeding bird, marsh bird, aerial stick nest, amphibian, vegetation, Species at Risk, and more.
- Excellent field identification of birds, fish, benthos, plants, mammals, and reptiles and amphibians of Ontario.
Training and certification:
- Small Vessel Operator Proficiency (SVOP) certificate
- Small Non-Pleasure Vessel Basic Safety (MED A3) certificate
- Canadian Safety Council ATV Training certificate
- Snowmobile Safety Training certificate
- Firearms Possession and Acquisition License
- Radio-Restricted Operator Certificate with Aeronautical Qualification (ROCA)
- Pilot Certificate-small Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS), Visual line-of-sight (VLOS)-Basic Operations
- Commercial UAV Pilot Training Course certificate of completion
- Class 2 Backpack Crew Leader Electrofishing Certificate
- Ontario Stream Assessment Protocol (OSAP) training course certificate
- Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) Minnow Identification Workshop certificate of completion
Fisheries Technician – Briana Chevrier
Briana is a former Fisheries Intern with the A/OFRC and has recently rejoined the team as a Fisheries Technician. Briana is a member of Nipissing First Nation located along the north shores of Lake Nipissing and has been an avid fisherman for most of her life.
During her two years as a Fisheries Intern with the A/OFRC, Briana gained extensive experience in a variety of fishery assessments working with First Nations across Ontario. “My favourite part about the field season is working with members of our partner communities. They are always so welcoming and eager to share their knowledge about their lands and water”.
Briana also worked as a Fisheries Technician for her community, Nipissing First Nation. During those four years she conducted a variety of assessments on Lake Nipissing. She monitored an Indigenous Commercial fishery assessment and partnered with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry to complete creel surveys on Lake Nipissing, interviewing anglers in both the summer and winter months.
Briana graduated from Sault College in the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Technician program in 2015 and is currently working towards her Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Geography degree at Nipissing University.
Areas of specialization
- Variety of fishery assessments on large and small bodies of water
- Shoreline/habitat assessments
- Commercial fishery monitoring
Training and Certification
- Identification of Ontario Fishes, Royal Ontario Museum (2018)
- Identification of Ontario Minnows, Royal Ontario Museum (2018)
- Restricted Operator’s Certificate (Marine Commercial) ROC-MC, Georgian College for Marine Training and Research (2018)
- Small Vessel Operator Proficiency, Georgian College for Marine Training and Research (2016)
- Marine Emergency Duties A3, Georgian College for Marine Training and Research (2016)