Integrated Expertise, Ready To Help

We are an interdisciplinary team of scientists, consultants, and software developers focused on providing a strategic understanding of the consequences of human activities on our planet and societies. Our passion is delivering the knowledge our clients need to make informed decisions.

Our Team

ALCES Landscape & Land-Use Ltd. is a collaboration of environmental scientists, ecologists, planners and management consultants. We are a unique group of colleagues working together to provide leading edge land and resource management solutions to government, business and society.

Dr. Brad Stelfox

Founder, Landscape Ecologist

Dr. Brad Stelfox established Forem Technologies and the ALCES Group in 1995 and is the architect and developer of the ALCES model. He is an adjunct professor at the Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, and the Department of Environmental Design, University of Calgary. Brad's research and teachings focus on the interface between human land uses and regional landscapes. The major development stream of Forem has been ALCES (A Landscape Cumulative Effects Simulator), a program gaining rapid acceptance by governments, industry, the scientific community, and NGO's to explore issues between landscapes, land uses (agriculture, forestry, oil and gas, mining, human populations, tourism, and transportation sectors), and ecological and economic integrity. Dr. Stelfox has received the Alberta Emerald Foundation Award (2004) and the Alberta Science and Technology Award (2003) for his contributions with the ALCES model in advancing understanding of land use sustainability issues and in seeking solutions that balance economic, social, and ecological indicators.

Brad and his wife Sarah live in Calgary. When Brad is not working on the ALCES model or guest lecturing on land use issues, he is likely on horseback exploring the mountain trails of Alberta's east slopes.

Matt Carlson

Ecologist

Matt is an ecologist interested in applying a systems dynamics approach to communicate land use concepts and develop pragmatic solutions to natural resource management challenges. Over the past ten years, Matt has developed and applied simulation tools to explore the future effects of land use in a variety of landscapes from the Mackenzie Watershed in northwestern Canada to the Mbaracayu Biosphere Reserve in Paraguay.  Recent projects have focused on applying ALCES to inform the development of land-use plans that appropriately balance ecological and socioeconomic objectives.  Matt is also an ecologist for the Canadian Boreal Initiative, and has a Masters of Science in Conservation Biology from the University of Alberta. Matt lives in Ottawa with his wife and two children.  When not at work Matt can be found running trails, or after his kids.

Noah Purves-Smith

Manager, Software Development

In 1997 after completing a course in Computer Engineering at the University of Victoria, and studying art fundamentals at the University of Calgary Noah created Ursudio Multimedia. A talented designer and programmer; Noah uses his talents to create effective web applications, designs, multimedia content and print advertising. Applying well-honed communication and team-building skills that Noah acquired after many years as a skipper on the Canadian National Sailing Team. 
When not working on stunning multimedia designs, Noah can be found sailing or making music with family and friends.

Justin Straker

Soil Scientist, Forest Ecologist

Justin Straker is a soil scientist and forest ecologist, and a principal of the Integral Ecology Group in Victoria, British Columbia. Justin has over 15 years of experience in applied terrestrial ecology, focusing on three primary areas:

 

 1.       terrestrial reclamation of industrial disturbances, including design, implementation, assessment, review and regulatory inspection of reclamation and reclamation-research programs for the mining and forestry sectors;

2.       terrestrial environmental-effects research/biomonitoring programs, including  design and implementation of studies on the effects of industrial atmospheric emissions and fugitive dusts (acidifying emissions, nitrogen and metals) on terrestrial ecosystems; and
3.       assessment of the interactions of human land uses and other ecosystem components, including development of land management frameworks and State-of-Environment reporting. 

In his work, Mr. Straker has provided technical advice and research support to industry, government and stakeholder clients throughout western Canada, and in Quebec and Peru.

Devin Cairns

Scientific Application Developer

Devin Cairns is a geoscientist and programmer with 12 years of experience consulting on a dynamic range of projects, primarily related to geospatial analysis, hydrogeology, hydrology, landscape and land use, climate, population, and risk. He combines a rich history of project experience with robust programming skills, data analysis, and scientific knowledge. Devin has worked in both North and Central America in scientist, technical leadership, and project management roles for government, industry, and NGO's, which includes pioneering open-source software. He has worked on many challenging geoscience and simulation projects of multi-disciplinary nature ranging from watershed, climate, cumulative effects, and population modelling to aerospace path optimization. This experience has enabled Devin to build a rich technical foundation to find novel solutions to complex geospatial problems, and creative communication skills to disseminate results.

Dr. Shanti Berryman

Vegetation Ecologist, Lichenologist

Shanti Berryman is a vegetation ecologist, and lichenologist with more than ten years of research and consulting experience related to terrestrial ecology, lichenology, biodiversity, air pollution and environmental sciences. More recently, she has been working with Aboriginal communities on environmental and land management issues in western Canada. Shanti has applied her knowledge to a diversity of projects focusing on terrestrial ecosystems, biodiversity and land‐use within the Alberta, and in Alaska, Oregon and Washington. Since 2002, Shanti has worked extensively on social‐environmental issues related to impacts of air quality and industrial development on ecosystem health in the area of oil sands development of northeastern Alberta.

Shanti is currently an adjunct professor at University of New Mexico. She provides technical advice and research support to industry, government and stakeholder clients in Alberta, British Columbia and Alaska. Shanti is currently an adjunct professor at University of New Mexico and she provides technical advice and research support to industry, government and stakeholder clients in Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Alaska and Hawaii.

Ryan MacDonald

Hydrologist

Dr. MacDonald has been conducting research and working in the hydrological sciences for over eleven years. He is currently an independent consultant based in Cranbrook, B.C. and an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Lethbridge. His work focuses on hydrological processes, modelling, and aquatic ecosystems. He has worked throughout western Canada and has an excellent understanding of key issues facing water resources in this region. He has conducted extensive work related to stream temperature in mountain environments and is interested in how thermal regimes affect aquatic organisms. He has been a lead modeller for multi-stakeholder collaborative modelling initiatives looking at large-scale water management in Alberta. Ryan has played a technical advisor role in the Columbia River Treaty Collaborative Modelling Work Group. He has also led several watershed-scale assessments looking at the interface between human land use, climate, and the natural environment, particularly focusing in British Columbia and Alberta. He led the Elk Valley Cumulative Effects Management Framework project for the ALCES Group, including the development of models and assessment of Valued Component response. His background in process-based hydrology, modelling, and inter-disciplinary studies enables him to pursue research questions that can be applied in a practical management context. 

Ann Garibaldi

Ethnobotanist

Ann Garibaldi has more than fifteen years of experience related to ethnobotany, traditional ecological knowledge (TEK), traditional use studies and vegetation ecology. She has worked extensively with indigenous communities in Alberta, British Columbia and Alaska on social-ecological issues in changing environmental systems.

Ann�s work explores processes to support meaningful and respectful dialogue between indigenous communities, government, industry and the private sector, with an emphasis on the interface between traditional knowledge and western science. Ann has brought her expertise and training in botany (B.Sc. Ohio University) and Ethnobotany (M.Sc. University of Victoria) to bear on issues related to: TEK and Traditional Land Use in mine reclamation processes; forest harvest management practices that support traditional land use; biodiversity and wildlife habitat reclamation and land management decisions, and more. Her approach emphasizes community participation in defining the project intent and outcomes, and she is committed to inclusive relationships with communities with whom she works. Ann has developed and executed multiple training courses on TEK discourse and applications. She has authored the book Medicinal Flora of the Alaska Natives (Garibaldi 1999) and sits on the Ethnobotany Advisory Board with the University of Alaska.

Dr. Bob Holmes

Ecologist, Associate

Bob is a veteran science journalist who has spent more than two decades as a correspondent for New Scientist magazine, an international newsweekly of science that reaches more than three quarters of a million readers worldwide. He also freelances for a variety of other publications and research organizations and acts as communications consultant for the ALCES group.

Bob holds a PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Arizona. He lives in Edmonton with his wife and standard poodle. Look for them all in the woods of Alberta, hunting for mushrooms.

Jennifer Janzen

Alberta Tomorrow Project Coordinator

Jennifer Janzen joined the ALCES group in 2008 as the project coordinator for Alberta Tomorrow, a web-based educational land-use simulator. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Land Use & Environmental Studies and Biology, and a Bachelor of Education from the University of Saskatchewan and has worked for various government and non-profit organizations as a plant ecologist and educator in Saskatchewan and Alberta. She taught high school Biology in Alberta for 10 years while at the same time working with the Elbow River Watershed Partnership and Parks Canada to develop lesson plans on various environmental issues.   She and her husband now live in Cochrane, raising two wonderful daughters and instilling in them an appreciation for our natural world.

Thom Stubbs

Regional Planner, Associate

Thom Stubbs has spent 30 years working with people, industry, communities and governments around natural resource management questions, as a senior government official, Deputy Minister, project manager, consultant and mediator.

Thom’s work has been focused on helping communities and interests develop a better understanding of the issues they face and helping them reach agreement. He has mediated key resource issues such as polar bear management in Wapusk National Park, facilitated community impact-benefit agreements and recently served as the NEB-appointed mediator on the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Pipeline.

As a social scientist he has worked to assess the effects of resource and environmental decisions on people, communities and organizations. Thom was appointed as the lead socio-economic and aboriginal expert on the eight country Arctic Council Strategic Oil and Gas Assessment and provided advice on the Arctic Shipping Assessment.

Thom is formally trained as a land use planner and mediator and holds a Masters of Regional Planning degree from the University of British Columbia. Thom is a Certified Mediator and a Registered Professional Planner.

Dr. Doug Schindler

Biologist, Associate

Dr. Doug Schindler is the Principal and Senior Scientist at Joro Consultants Inc., located in Winnipeg Manitoba. He has over 40 years of experience wildlife, resource management, environmental assessment and research. He has designed, implemented, and conducted numerous research and monitoring programs involving terrestrial and avian wildlife related to assessing and mitigating effects of all season road and hydroelectric development in Manitoba. Throughout his carrier, Dr. Schindler has planned and implemented several significant telemetry studies on white-tailed deer, boreal caribou and wolves, designed to assess the effects of landscape and linear development. His involvement in ALCES stems from the desire to apply effective cumulative effects assessment in environmental assessment and land use planning. Doug also teaches Forest/Wildlife Management in the University of Winnipeg as a contract faculty member of the Environmental Studies faculty.

Doug is an avid waterfowler, outdoorsman and bush pilot. He and the family enjoy the vast wetlands and woods that surround their property located adjacent to Lake Winnipeg’s Netley Marshes. 
 

 Timothy Barker
tbarker@alces.ca
+1 780-625-5848

Timothy Barker

Forester, GIS Analyst, Programmer

Tim is a professional forester with 21 years of work experience in the Canadian forest industry.  Through his career he has steadily advanced in roles of increasing responsibility; both in technical areas and in management.  His particular focus is on applying spatial modeling to strategic forest management planning.  Through the clever application of GIS, statistics, and spatial modeling, Tim has provided consistent value to projects.  As an objective, visionary thinker, Tim always provides practical solutions that balance the long term needs of clients. 

When not working or spending quality time with his family in Peace River Alberta, Tim can be found hunting the vast northern forest or tackling some extreme DIY construction projects.

Dr. Michael Sullivan

Dr. Michael Sullivan

Fisheries Ecologist, Associate

Michael Sullivan's passion for wildlife has led him through three academic degrees at the University of Alberta and 25 years of fisheries, wildlife, and landuse management with the Alberta Fish and Wildlife Division. For much of this career, Dr. Sullivan's work has been focused on resolving fisheries and aquatic issues in the Lakeland and Athabasca areas of north-eastern Alberta. His successful work on restoring northern Alberta's walleye fisheries through the interaction of scientific models and public involvement has resulted in awards and recognition at local and international levels. Through close working relationships with other landscape management and research agencies (e.g., Parks Canada, Alberta Conservation Association, Alberta Cooperative Conservation Research Unit, Department of Fisheries and Oceans), Dr. Sullivan has built a network of strategic learning around the complex interplay between ecological and social systems. Michael is currently the Provincial Fisheries Scientist at Alberta Fish and Wildlife Division, Department of Sustainable Resource Development. He is also a Visiting Scientist at the Department of Renewable Resources (University of Alberta), where he is supervising graduate students, coordinating landscape-level research programs, and participating in ALCES projects with his colleagues at Forem Technologies. 

Barry Wilson

Systems Ecologist, Associate

Barry is an expert in comprehensive holistic cumulative effects modelling.  Some recent examples of his work in Western Canada include his leadership on several major multi-stakeholder land use planning projects such as the South Athabasca Oil Sands Regional Strategic Assessment: Land and Biodiversity Modeling, Innovative Directions in SAGD Planning,  development of the Terrestrial Ecosystem Management Framework (TEMF) and several follow-up projects for the Alberta Oilsands Region, cumulative effects modelling and analysis for the South Saskatchewan Regional Plan and the data assembly for cumulative effects modelling in the  Lower Athabasca Region. and.  In addition, Barry has led several innovative projects investigating multi-sector interactions including an investigation of regional growth in the Okanagan Valley of BC, a BC watershed risk assessment considering mountain pine beetle epidemics and climate change, historic stream network modelling for the North Saskatchewan Region and quantifying the biodiversity implications of electricity generation comparing coal fire vs. biomass combustion methods in a Life Cycle Analysis study in Ontario.