Meet the Team
Salmon Coast currently employs several full-time staff, along with seasonal and temporary employees throughout the year. We are guided by a volunteer Board of Directors, made up of Salmon Coast alumnus.
Staff
Amy Kamarainen
Amy is an ecosystem scientist and educator focused on supporting science learning across contexts (e.g., outdoor, classroom, online). During her doctoral work in Zoology, Amy’s fieldwork focused on human impacts on aquatic systems and contributed to the long-term ecological research network (LTER). She has been a senior research manager and principal investigator at the Harvard Graduate School of Education where she worked collaboratively on grant-based education research projects like AR Girls, a summer camp that engages teenage girls in designing augmented reality (AR) experiences about environmental issues in their communities and EcoXPT, a virtual world in which kids use science practices to investigate an ecological question. Amy is excited about bringing attention to the natural world through outdoor and immersive experiences. In her spare time, she enjoys skiing, sailing, kayaking, and hiking.
Jani Andersen
Originally from Sydney, Australia, Jani has spent the last 7 years in Canada, working with a variety of start-ups and non-profits in operations, project management and design strategy. Discovering a passion for the outdoors whilst living in BC Jani has found herself increasingly drawn to conservation issues and efforts and leapt at the chance to immerse herself in just that at Salmon Coast. When she’s not working, she’s most likely outside, skiing, hiking or biking, or she’s baking sourdough.
Birken Metza
Birken is an electrician and lifelong amateur naturalist from BC, he has come to Salmon Coast to work in a more science-adjacent role. His previous work includes building and maintaining off and on-grid electrical systems and various silviculture roles. He is excited to get to experience this unique part of the coastline over several seasons. In his free time Birken enjoys cross-country skiing, hiking, and fishing.
Leila Krichel
Leila is originally from Toronto and completed her master’s in ecology at the University of Toronto with Marty Krkosek. Looking to get experience in field biology, she came to Salmon Coast in 2022 and helped with a variety of projects, including eDNA surveys, sea lice monitoring, and kelp surveys. She now works as the research crew lead at Salmon Coast. Leila enjoys hiking, making art, and chatting with the Salmon Coast neighbours.Â
Olivia Cornies
Olivia grew up in the Greater Vancouver area, sneaking around the many urban salmon-bearing creeks and forests. With a B.Sc. in Molecular Biology, and genetics laboratory experience with Pacific salmon, she was itching to apply her technical skills in the field to do important work with tangible outcomes for communities, and for salmon. Olivia enjoys playing outside, getting strong, and making fish-focused art pieces in a variety of mediums.
Board of Directors
Andrew Bateman
After first coming to Salmon Coast in 2008, Andrew has remained inspired to combine his passions for biology and mathematics to ask – and hopefully answer – real-world ecological questions. He currently leads the Pacific Salmon Foundation’s Salmon Health Program, working closely with Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s Molecular Genetics Lab to use ecological & DNA data to better understand how disease and affect stress impact wild salmon populations. He is excited by the role that Salmon Coast plays in connecting people and facilitating research that is important to conservation, management, and local communities.
Sean Godwin
Sean Godwin is an Assistant Professor at the University of California, Davis. He completed his PhD at Simon Fraser University in 2018 under the supervision of John Reynolds, Larry Dill, and Martin Krkosek. The bulk of his research explores the interactions between wild and farmed salmon, with a focus on infectious disease dynamics and conservation. Sean first visited Salmon Coast in 2009 as a student volunteer and has since spent ten field seasons connecting with salmon and people in the Broughton Archipelago and Johnstone Strait.
Martin Krkošek
Dr. Martin Krkošek is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Toronto, having recently finished his posting as a lecturer in zoology at the University of Otago, New Zealand. He completed his PhD in 2008 on the conservation ecology of sea lice and salmon in British Columbia, under the supervision of Dr. Mark Lewis (Canada Research Chair in mathematical biology at the University of Alberta) and Dr. John Volpe (Seafood Ecology Research Group at the University of Victoria). He was awarded a Governor General’s Gold Medal for his doctoral dissertation. Martin’s interests lie in the sustainability and conservation of coastal systems, particularly as influenced by infectious disease. He uses mathematical tools in his work by developing theory and synthesizing datasets to address important policy relevant questions. Much of Martin’s work focuses on how salmon aquaculture changes the ecology of a native host-parasite system (sea lice and salmon), and how this affects the conservation of wild Pacific salmon.
Alexandra Morton
Alexandra (Hubbard) Morton was born in 1957. Her childhood dream to study animals led her to study killer whales, first in an aquarium in Los Angeles, then in their natural setting in British Columbia. Following a captive whale’s family into Johnstone Strait, she moved to the Broughton Archipelago in 1980. Alexandra and her late husband, filmmaker, Robin Morton, moved to Echo Bay in 1984, led by the matriarch orca, Scimitar. Alexandra’s research began by publishing on the transient orca, but has since become a renowned scientific voice with regards to salmon and aquaculture. While her research on whales continues, she believes that, at some point, one must move from researching to ensuring that their research subject survives the current decade. Thus, she has spent a lifetime working to scientifically determine if salmon farming had driven out the whales and caused epidemic outbreaks of bacteria, viral and parasitic infections in wild salmon. By partnering with international scientists and in some cases commercial fishermen, Alexandra has documented the loss of killer whales, thousands of escaped farm salmon, lethal outbreaks of sea lice, and antibiotic resistance near salmon farms.
Stephanie Peacock
Stephanie Peacock is a population ecologist who first connected with Salmon Coast as an undergraduate summer student in 2006. That experience not only made her want to carry on in research, but brought her back to the Broughton for a PhD on the complex relationship between salmon aquaculture, sea lice, and juvenile salmon. Stephanie is currently a Senior Analyst with the Salmon Watersheds Program at the Pacific Salmon Foundation. As a board member, Stephanie hopes to give back to the Salmon Coast community that has motivated her career and continue to work with young and inspired scientists on coastal conservation problems.
Scott Rogers
Working for this coast, Scott prioritizes her work around projects and organizations whose goals emphasize the protection and reinvigoration of this coastline, both through research and education. Scott came to the Broughton Archipelago as a research volunteer, determined to see first-hand the scientific findings regarding aquaculture and its impacts on wild salmon. As research progressed and Salmon Coast evolved, she chose to continue working for the Broughton ecosystems, contributing to the research that has helped protect its salmon and ecosystems. For Scott, it has been an amazing opportunity to work with top minds in the field and to witness the interface between research and management. Through participation with local communities, the research community, and visitors to the area, Scott hopes to continue keeping this research alive, and aiding to provide future opportunities for other keen researchers.