The Honourable Bernard Davis, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, today announced two appointments to the Wilderness and Ecological Reserves Advisory Council (WERAC.) The three-year terms were effective February 9, 2024.
The newly appointed members of WERAC are Darin Brooks and Heather Ward.
Biographical information is provided in the backgrounder below.
WERAC is a legislated, volunteer, independent advisory body appointed by the Provincial Government to provide advice on the establishment and management of the province’s wilderness and ecological reserves.
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“I’m pleased to appoint Mr. Brooks and Ms. Ward to the Wilderness and Ecological Reserves Advisory Council. They each bring a wealth of knowledge and experience, and I am confident in their ability to support our government in continuing to prioritize the province’s natural areas, ecological reserves and protected areas through the work of the Council.”
Honourable Bernard Davis
Environment and Climate Change
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Wilderness and Ecological Reserves Advisory Council
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BACKGROUNDER
Biographies
Darin Brooks
Darin Brooks has more than 28 years’ experience in geospatial analysis through his work as a consultant, researcher and academic. Mr. Brooks is currently the lead instructor of the GIS Applications Specialist (post-diploma) program at College of the North Atlantic. He has delivered this program since 2009, specializing in geostatistical analysis, ecological modeling and cartography/geovisualization. Mr. Brooks continues to conduct extensive research in related areas, with his current research projects focusing on juvenile Atlantic salmon habitat modelling (Newfoundland and Labrador), impacts of climate change on rangeland forage and water resiliency (British Columbia), and mapping fossil fuel lock-in and contestation in Eastern Canada (Atlantic Canada).
Mr. Brooks holds two honours degrees from the University of Saskatchewan, a master’s degree from the University of Northern British Columbia and is completing his PhD work at Memorial University (Grenfell Campus) in Boreal Ecosystems and Agricultural Sciences.
Heather Ward
Heather Ward is the director of the Reality Capture and Digitization Technology Access Centre at College of the North Atlantic and has 10 years’ of experience as an environmental consultant. Prior to her current role, Ms. Ward worked in the private sector as a senior GIS/remote sensing specialist. Throughout her career, she has worked extensively with satellite, aerial and drone imagery (multi-spectral and hyperspectral), as well as Lidar, Sonar and Radar. Her areas of expertise include image processing, spatial data analysis and data visualization.
Ms. Ward holds a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science, both in geography, from Memorial University.