miistakis logo
header

Summer 2012

Newsletter Archive

 

Executive Director's Message

 
article image

Greetings,

Summer at Miistakis is typically quiet. With all the students gone, the university campus is calm and serene with no lines at the coffee bar. Our office is quiet too with staff taking much deserved vacation and spending time with family. Despite the lazy days of summer, this newsletter highlights some of our accomplishments and progress made over the summer months.

In August, my colleague Rachelle and I participated in a national Public Participation in Scientific Research (PPSR) conference in Portland. This meeting of science researchers, educators, evaluators and project leaders from various disciplines provided an opportunity for this community of practice to share insights to advance the field of PPSR. This meeting was a great opportunity for Miistakis to share our learnings from our citizen science programs and to learn from practitioners around the world. For those of you interested in citizen science and PPSR, I encourage you to check out the post-conference materials at http://www.citizenscience.org/community/conference2012.

It is with great sadness that we pass on our sincere condolences to the family and friends of Ted Smith. Ted Smith was a leader and visionary in the conservation community and his sudden passing leaves us with heavy hearts. As the past Executive Director of the Henry P. Kendall Foundation, Ted was instrumental in establishing Miistakis as an affiliated research institute at the University of Calgary in 2001. Ted's vision and support gave Miistakis legs to stand on and his continued advice and encouragement helped steer us in the right direction. Ted's quiet demeanor, sage advice and the twinkle in his eye always made our visits with him a pleasure. He will be greatly missed.