The Yukon Wildlife Preserve Operating Society is run by a volunteer Board of Directors elected each year at an Annual General Meeting.
Executive
Dave Mossop, President
Dave is a biologist currently instructing at Yukon College. He has carried out research and management generally in the area of Conservation Biology in the Yukon for the last 30 years – initially as thesis research, later with the Yukon Government and now through a partnership between the College and the Yukon Government. A long associate of the Yukon Game Farm, now Yukon Wildlife Preserve, he partnered at the facility in, among other things, education, a management project raising Peregrine Falcons for wild release, an experimental gyrfalcon breeding project and wild bird rehabilitation work.
Laura Merkle, Vice President
Laura has been a member of the preserve for four years, served as secretary for one, and is in her second year as a board member.
Kimberly Porter, Past President
Kimberley joined the YWPOS board in 2007. She has a BSc in biology and geography from Simon Fraser University, where she also worked in the forest entomology lab. She has a BEd from Malaspina University-College and has worked as an educator in Dawson City and Whitehorse since 2000. While in Dawson City, she was on the board of the Dawson City Museum and Historical Society. As a volunteer, she finds the Yukon Wildlife Preserve a good fit for her interests in science, education and tourism. As a parent and teacher, she values the preserve as a place for people of all ages and backgrounds to learn more about northern ecology.
Bonnie Love, Treasurer
Bonnie holds the position of Treasurer. She arrived in the Yukon in 1985 and fell in love with the north. Bonnie holds a Certified General Account designation and has used these skills in a number of Yukon government departments working in the areas of finance and human resources. Her interest in the Preserve was piqued during a brief assignment in the department of Environment just when it was being established. Bonnie has also been the treasurer of Kaushee's Place and Yukon Minor Hockey.
Katrina Wohlfarth, Secretary
Katrina is a born and raised Yukoner who began her post
secondary education at Yukon College, returning home from the University of
Northern British Columbia in 2011 with a BSc in biology. While reluctant to
call herself an ornithologist, she has primarily studied birds including an
undergraduate thesis on the morphometrics of Black-capped Chickadees and
current research into the food habits of Boreal Owls. An avid underwater hockey
player, Yukon Sourdough Rendezvous cancan dancer and member of the local Midnight
Sun Pipe Band, Katrina is an active member of the community. Katrina sees the
Wildlife Preserve as an amazing tool to educate the public of the ecology of
the north and her role as an exciting opportunity.
Directors
Richard Farnell, Chair - Animal Care Committee
Rick worked as a wildlife biologist
for the Yukon Department of Environment since 1978. He was responsible for the
Yukon’s caribou management program and has taken the lead on several very
successful caribou recovery programs since the early 1980’s. Most notably among
these projects and respecting the YWP needs, Rick was the project manager
of the international Chisana herd caribou recovery program dealing with caribou
held in captivity for release in the wild to bolster numbers in this threatened
herd.
Now retired, and along with all other directors, Rick is mutually dedicated to the well-being of the animals on the YWP. As such, Rick serves and takes responsibility as the chair of the Animal Care Committee. With the primary goal of soon seeking accreditation of the YWP with the Canadian Aquarium and Zoos Association, Rick works closely with staff to ensure the best care for the animals. His primary interest is to explore the possibility of bringing in a small number of free-ranging Yukon species to ensure healthy genetic diversity for the YWP's population. In doing so, there could eventually be a reservoir of healthy & genetically fit representative wildlife species from our area available to other certified wildlife parks & zoos for the world's appreciation of our indigenous species.
W.J. (Bill) Klassen
Bill has lived and worked in the Yukon and Northwest Territories and Alaska for the past 40 years as a peace officer (RCMP), conservation officer, wildlife technician, environmental protection biologist, and senior administrator for the Yukon Government. Bill was Deputy Minister of Health and Human Resources for three years and Deputy Minister of Renewable Resources for five years. Since November 1990, he has consulted to government, First Nations, and the private sector on a wide range of projects. Mr. Kalssen holds a BSc in Wildlife Management from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, and obtained a MSc in Forestry from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.
Rayanne Klassen
Rayanne has lived in the Hot Springs Road area for around 35 years. Along with her husband, Bill, she spent several summers living on the "Game Farm" as Danny Nowlan's guests. Rayanne and Bill's two oldest children were born during those summers living on the farm. Danny would take the children in his truck to go feed the animals. Danny loved all children, so now as a grandparent, Rayanne has decided it is time to get involved with the preserve.
Chandelle King
Chandelle joined the board in fall 2009. She is currently doing her Bachelor of Science in Environmental and Conservation Sciences at Yukon College (University of Alberta). Chandelle first came to the preserve as a research student after receiving a grant from the Association of Canadian Universities for Northern Studies (ACUNS) to conduct environmental monitoring onsite. In addition to board meetings, Chandelle can be regularly seen at the preserve monitoring cavity nesting birds, winter track counts, feeder watch, waterfowl counts, FrogWatch, PlantWatch, and butterfly monitoring.
Rosa Brown
Rosa holds a BSc with a Specialized Honours in Wildlife Biology from the University of Guelph. The unbroken wilderness and diversity of wildlife brought her to the Yukon in 1996. Since then she has lived and worked in Dawson, Old Crow and Whitehorse. Rosa is currently employed with the Ta'an Kwäch'än Council, where she is mainly involved with First Nation participation in wildlife co-management initiatives, and activities related to subsistence wildlife harvest. Rosa has been interested in the goals and mandate of the wildlife preserve for many years. This year Rosa decided to take advantage of an opportunity to join the YWPOS Board and to become more involved with the preserve’s conservation and education initiatives.
Spence Hill
Spence is a committed environmentalist and believes the
health of the planet is the single most important issue of this century. Although
her university degree was in geography and Canadian Studies, Spence worked as a
journalist, communications officer, English teacher and environmental
educator. Now retired from those roles, Spence
and her husband operate a touring company that brings visitors to the Preserve.
In their business, a good tour is an educational dialogue and a tour of the
Preserve is often the highlight of a visitor’s Yukon experience. Spence believes
social change comes about through education and experiential learning; she
wants to assist the Preserve in contributing to future change to protect the
natural world.
Ed Van Randen, Co-Ex Officio - Dept. of Environment
Ed arrived in the Yukon in 1997, after completing an
undergrad in Psychology and Master’s degree in Biology, where he studied human
and insect behaviour. When Ed first arrived, his plan was to simply pay off his
student loans, and then return to British Columbia where he grew up. As is so
often the case, Ed caught the Yukon fever instead, and he has never left. Now
married and with two young kids, Ed works for Yukon government as the Assistant
Deputy Minister, Corporate Services and Climate Change at the department of
Environment. An avid fan of soccer and the rich outdoor experience the Yukon
has to offer, Ed divides his free time between Yukon youth soccer teams and
getting out canoeing, backpacking and camping.
Darrell March, Co-Ex Officio - Dept. of Environment