Governance & Documents

PRESIDENT

Joanna is the Carnivore Conservation Specialist with the Province of British Columbia in western Canada. A recent convert to the joys of working with the Guloninae, Joanna can unfortunately be found tied to her desk trying to help others do fun research. Joanna is looking forward to planning the 9th International Martes Conference in 2026.

PAST PRESIDENT

I had the great pleasure of being the President of the Martes Working Group since 2018 and am pleased to be handing over the reins of the organisation to Joanna Burgar. Working with a great team to organise the 8th International Martes Symposium in Scotland, and the positive feedback from the attendees, was the definite highlight of my term as President. You all can now look forward to fewer harassing emails from me!

SECRETARY

Hi everyone, I’m Sandra and I like weasels.  I currently work as a carnivore biologist with the Province of British Columbia, Canada, where I have the profound joy of spending most of my time working on fishers. I’ve been enthusiastic about Martes since I first laid eyes on the unbearable cuteness (and ferocity) of a marten, although I am still waiting for a wolverine sighting.

I look forward to working with the MWG community to share our research, knowledge, and ideas to help protect and enhance Martes populations and their habitats across the globe.

TREASURER

Rory is a wildlife biologist from central British Columbia, Canada, who still gets to go into the field on occasion. Rory has had fun with Pacific martens in the past, but his true passion is helping to conserve fishers in central BC. As the next MWG treasurer, Rory looks forward to receiving your membership dues, coordinating the financing of MWG events, and getting to see you all at the next Martes symposium.

OUTREACH & COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR

My background is in conservation science, where I am always wearing two hats, the ecological and the social, which has led me to a focus on human-wildlife conflict and coexistence. I have had the opportunity to work in a variety of countries collaborating with a range of people on different projects. 

More recently, living back in the UK, working on British wildlife and recovering nature, where managing a pine marten project led me to join the Martes Working Group and promote landscape scale nature recovery that includes species recovery and reintroductions in collaboration with local people and communities. Martes are a fascinating group of species, adaptable, caring, and funny – charismatic, so being part of the Martes Working Group to learn and collaborate with people around the world is inspiring. My vision for MWG is to create a shared vision for Martes species globally and to support us all achieving that vision, which is inclusive, collaborative and sustainable, ensuring the future of Martes globally.

STUDENT DIRECTOR

Alexia is a PhD student in the Applied Conservation MacroEcology Lab led by Dr. Jason Fisher at the University of Victoria. She is working on a collaborative project with Alkali Resource Management and Esk’etemc Nation, sponsored by Francis Johnson. Their work focuses on monitoring fishers (Pekania pennanti), mesocarnivores in general and wildlife of interest for the community, mainly through a lens of how wildlife respond to prescribed and cultural fire. The Mesocarnivore Team at the Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship, led by Dr Joanna Burgar, are providing additional support to expand the monitoring power of the project. This project and the budding relationships are the joyful highlight of Alexia’s professional career thus far. 

When not in PhD mode, you might find Alexia teaching in the Department of Renewable Resources at the British Columbia Institute of Technology, paddling, or trying to stay upright on a mountain bike. Alexia is looking forward to serving in the Student Director role for MWG.

DIRECTOR-AT-LARGE

Hi! I’m Bryn, and from my first encounter with the Best Species Ever™ as an intern on the Kings River fisher project, I was hooked on Martes for life. I meandered through some radio tracking and scat dog work on fishers in the Sierras, some large carnivore and ungulate projects as a scientific aide with California Fish and Wildlife, and an MSc on awesome-adjacent species in Wisconsin (otters are just wet martens, really…). In late 2021, I finished with a PhD from the University of Maine, conducting camera surveys for mesocarnivores at al., including American marten and fisher.

Since then, I’ve pivoted to teaching (though some of the same skills apply – young humans are actually more likely to bite than the fishers ever were!) and day-dreaming of ways for the MWG to expand and support Martes enthusiasts at all career stages and in all corners of our global distribution. 

I envision the following as a few concrete ways I’d use my almighty power as a member of the MWG executive: 1) facilitate Zoom workshops and mini-symposia to share skills, update members on ongoing research, and foster socializing between in-person meetings; 2) reach out directly to researchers in under-represented regions to identify ways that MWG can better serve them and encourage increased membership; and 3) work alongside the board to implement some of the suggestions brought forward at the 8th annual meeting in Scotland (e.g., establish a sliding scale fee system to support student members and provide a website/listserv for members to contact each other).

DIRECTOR-AT-LARGE

I am the Leader of the U.S. Geological Survey New York Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit and a Professor in the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment at Cornell University. I engage academic, state, provincial, federal, NGO, and international government partners in research to inform conservation and management. 

While my research encompasses a diverse array of mammal species, as we all know, Martes reign. I’ve conducted research on American marten, fisher, tayra, and yellow-throated marten. I’m running for director-at-large of MWG to help infuse some large-scale, collaborative thinking to advance Martes conservation and management and to explore ways to increase engagement with early career professionals. I also have expertise in decision science, which is informative in setting working group directions.

DIRECTOR-AT-LARGE

I am based in the UK, where I have spent the last 25 years working on pine marten conservation, restoration and recovery as well as advocating for them in various fora. I have been a member of the MWG since 2014 and really enjoyed being part of the organising committee and chair of the scientific committee for the most recent Symposium in Aviemore, Scotland. I love the range and diversity of the Martes species and the MWG membership.