Western skink (Eumeces skiltonianus) COSEWIC assessment and status report: chapter 15

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The Authors

Kristiina Ovaska, M.Sc., Ph.D. completed her dissertation on social behaviour and ecology of the Western Red-backed Salamander, Plethodon vehiculum, at the University of Victoria in 1987. Subsequently, she carried out two post-doctoral studies: At the Bellairs Research Institute of McGill University in Barbados, she studied life history and male mating behaviour of the frog Eleutherodactylus johnstonei. At the University of British Columbia, she studied agonistic behaviour and territoriality in three species of syntopic, plethodontid salamanders. Over the past six years, Dr. Ovaska has participated in numerous surveys and research projects dealing with amphibians and reptiles, including efficacy of different marking methods on amphibians, effects of ultraviolet radiation on anuran eggs and larvae, biogeography and acoustic communication of neotropical frogs (Eleutherodactylus spp.), mark-recapture study of the Sharp-tailed Snake (Contia tenuis), amphibian and reptile surveys on Vancouver Island, and amphibian pond surveys in interior B.C. In 1997, she helped to design and deliver a training course on standardized terrestrial salamander inventories for the Resource Inventory Committee (B.C. Ministry of Environment, Lands, and Parks). Dr. Ovaska has also participated in numerous environmental assessments, including low-level military flight training in Labrador-Quebec, highway expansion in Banff National Park, coal mining in Alberta, and hydroelectric development in northern British Columbia. Currently, she is a consultant with Renewable Resources Consulting Services Ltd. (Sidney, B.C.) and a research associate at the Department of Forest Sciences, University of British Columbia.

Christian Engelstoft, B.Sc., has over 15 years of experience in wildlife inventories and environmental studies. He participated in numerous surveys and in long-term monitoring of migratory and breeding birds in Denmark, where he also initiated a countrywide survey of the River Otter. In British Columbia, his experience includes surveys of marine birds, the Northern Goshawk, amphibians, small mammals, and reptiles. He was part of the coordinating team of a biodiversity study in Tsitika and Carmanah Valleys on Vancouver Island. After an outbreak of waterborne toxoplasmosis in Victoria, Mr. Engelstoft participated in an assessments of the prevalence of Cryptosporidia, Giardia, and Toxoplasma in wildlife around the Greater Victoria community watershed. He is the owner of Alula Biological Consulting, which recently conducted a three-year inventory project on the red-listed Sharp-tailed Snake (Contia tenuis) and other reptiles on the Gulf Islands and Vancouver Island. Mr. Engelstoft is currently enrolled as M.Sc. candidate in the biology graduate program at the University of Victoria.