Mapleleaf mussel (Quadrula quadrula) COSEWIC assessment and status report: chapter 16

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Biographical Summary of Report Writers

Joseph Carney, at the start of this document, was an assistant professor at Brandon University, Brandon, Manitoba. He is currently an assistant professor at Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Ontario. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Manitoba in 2000 investigating the evolution and community ecology of parasites of yellow perch (Perca flavescens). Since 2002 he has initiated a research program investigating the ecology and conservation of freshwater mussels (Mollusca: Unionidae) within the Red River drainage in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and North Dakota. He has published 11 scientific papers and reports. Four of these have focused on freshwater mussels, with an additional three pending. He is a member of the Society for the Study of Evolution, Ecological Society of America, Society for Conservation Biology and the Freshwater Mollusk Conservation Society.

Janice Metcalfe-Smith is a Research Biologist with the National Water Research Institute of Environment Canada in Burlington, Ontario. She has a B.Sc. (Hons.) in Zoology from the University of Manitoba (1973) and M.Sc. equivalency from the University of Waterloo (1990).  Over her 31-year career with the federal government (EC and DFO), she has conducted research in many areas including on the effects of forestry practices and acid rain on Atlantic salmon, the use of benthic macroinvertebrates in water quality assessment, the development of biomonitoring techniques for contaminants in freshwater ecosystems and aquatic toxicology.  She has published over 75 scientific papers and reports and has been conducting research on the conservation status of freshwater mussels in Ontario since 1995. She is a member of the Molluscs Species Specialist Subcommittee of COSEWIC.

William Watkins is the senior zoologist with the Conservation Data Centre (CDC) of the Manitoba Department of Conservation.  He has a B.Sc. Hons. (1978) and an M.Sc. (1982) from the University of Manitoba.  During his 19-year career with the Manitoba government he has been involved in protected lands planning and wildlife management planning in all areas of the province.  He has participated extensively in consultations with First Nations respecting the establishment of new provincial parks and is a member of the joint Manitoba Conservation/Skownan First Nation Wood Bison Management Committee.  Since 2002 he has been compiling historical and recent data on the distribution of freshwater mussels in Manitoba for the CDC database and has initiated mussel surveys in southern Manitoba for the purpose of reassessing provincial conservation status ranks and contributing to national general status ranking.  He has written 8 scientific papers and reports and has extensive experience in producing government extension and consultation materials.