Our Board Members and Staff
When board member positions are open, you can apply by filling out our nomination form and emailing it to info@albertanativebeecouncil.ca. Voting will occur during an Annual General Meeting.
Board Members
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Lisa Neame
PRESIDENT
Lisa works at the science-policy interface, with a focus on biodiversity. Her graduate work at Simon Fraser University investigated pollinator diversity and pollination services in natural and agricultural ecosystems.
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Charity Briere
DIRECTOR
Charity studied entomology at the University of Alberta. She kept herself in entomology with invertebrate ID contracts, teaching at Red Deer College, and beekeeping. Charity has since shifted her interest to wild bee ecology. She is completing her MSc on the potential impacts of hobby beekeeping on bumble bees in Red Deer. Charity is landscaping her front yard to create wild bee habitat—so far, it looks like they’re interested!
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Caroline Whitehouse
TREASURER
Caroline is a forest entomologist, chicken herder, and drinker of fermented things. Lola the dog, though sometimes skeptical, supports her human in these endeavours.
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Mathias Fenton
SECRETARY
Mathias is an instructor at Mount Royal University. He has a passion for observing nature and has a particular interest in insects, birds, wildflowers and trees. For his MSc at the University of Calgary, he studied the acoustics of mountain pine beetles and lodgepole pine. To promote the conservation of native bees, he raises awareness for them among students and friends, and frequently contributes to citizen science.
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Alexandria Farmer
DIRECTOR
Alex is an instructor at Mount Royal University, where she's taught for over 25 years. Alex has an MSc in Ecology focused on how bumble bee species respond to clearcut logging. During her down time, you will find her bee-watching in her flower gardens or off enjoying nature in the backcountry.
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Brandon Allen
DIRECTOR
Brandon is a senior terrestrial ecologist with the Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute. He focuses on analyzing complex ecological data to develop provincial scale landscape and biodiversity indicators for land-use planning initiatives.
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Ron Miksha
DIRECTOR
Ron has kept honey bees since childhood, but became concerned about the impact they may have on native bees. He spent four years at the University of Calgary researching this complex relationship. Ron now teaches beekeepers how to mitigate environmental harm and foster native bee success. The photo shows Ron collecting pollen from honey bees to determine resource competition.
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Adele Beaudoin
DIRECTOR
Adele completed her BSc in sustainable agriculture systems from the University of Alberta. She is now working on her MSc on agriculture entomology. Her love of bees started a bit rocky—she was afraid! That fear quickly became fondness when her mom took up beekeeping. Now, Adele loves bees and is excited about the ways to sustain native populations. Adele can usually be found helping out on her parent’s bison farm or enjoying hobbies including reading, camping, and hiking.
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Tiffani Harrison
DIRECTOR
Tiffani loved following bugs around with a camera as a teenager. Since then, she pursued a degree in Environmental Management and a MSc in Environmental Science. Tiffani has spent most of her professional career on the monitoring, recovery, and community engagement for at-risk bumble bees across Canada. Currently, she works as a Conservation Coordinator with the Otipemisiwak Métis Government, assisting with the Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area initiative and leading the Native Bee Conservation Program. Tiffani is also a member of various pollinator task forces and is an active identifier on Bumble Bee Watch and iNaturalist.
Staff
Megan Evans
Executive Director
Megan holds a degree in Environmental Science and a master's degree in Ecology from the University of Calgary. She became interested in bees when she worked as a summer student on a pollinator research study with Agriculture Canada. Megan joined the Alberta Invasive Species Council as their Executive Director in 2000, after spending five years with the provincial government. Megan has participated as a Board Director for the Alberta Invasive Species Council; the Entomological Society of Alberta; and co-founded the Alberta Native Bee Council in 2017.
Ilan Domnich
Native Bee Stewardship Specialist
Ilan is an entomologist who completed his MSc at the University of Alberta examining entomology extension in agriculture in AB. Along with a BSc in animal biology, as well as a BCom in finance, Ilan also works as an artist, including scientific illustrations. His passion for science communication is evident with his work on the Bugs 101 MOOC, volunteering at the Royal Alberta Museum Bug Room, and in his role as the Outreach Director for the Entomological Society of Alberta since 2020. Ilan hopes that his passion for insects will get more people to care about native bees.
Sydney Worthy
ANBC Taxonomist (volunteer)
Sydney is a graduate from the University of Alberta who completed her MSc research on the native pollinators of southern Alberta, specializing in wild bees. Sydney has been a member since 2018 and was formerly on the board, but now works as an entomologist in Saskatchewan, continuing work towards the protection and appreciation of wild bees. She has contributed her photography and artwork to the ANBC stickers, tea towels, enamel pins, colouring pages, and the Bumblebee guides.
Sydney identified over 12,000 bees for the 2018 monitoring project and is helping with the 2024 monitoring project. Sydney also helps with social media management for the ANBC social media platforms.