Marco Musiani talks about research on caribou and development in west-central Alberta and British Columbia. An Associate Professor for the University of Calgary, Muisiani shows and explains the distribution of caribou genetic lineages and the stability of climatic suitability for caribou.
Survival of caribou depends upon habitat, human impacts - such as cut blocks and seismic lines - and interplay with predation. The work they have conducted has included translating academic knowledge into applied products; determining the genetic units at which caribou could be managed and preserved; gathering and analyzing empirical data relating caribou to human impacts, and modelling and predicting future scenarios.
Such research helps industry to make decisions about locations for well sites; it is also important for regional planning. This presentation was a part of the Petroleum Technology Alliance of Canada (PTAC) Ecological Issues and Resource Access Forum in November of 2014.