My Work Experience

Agriculture and AGri-Food canada

Beginning in 2010, I was selected through the Federal Student Work Experience Program for a position with Agriculture Canada in Vineland, Ontario. I worked for a total of fourteen months there, over a period of four summers. The first two summers I was involved with the Minor Use Pesticide Program (MUPP) which tested the efficacy and residue of unregistered chemicals on small yield crops (tender fruit, lettuce, peppers, etc.). The final two summers I worked under Robert Footit, Ph.D. based out of Ottawa. In this position I was responsible for the collection and analysis of aphids and thrips from four surrounding farms. I spent a considerable amount of time looking through a microscope in those eight months; sometimes counting over 10,000 aphids in a single week.

University of Toronto/Fisheries and oceans Canada

Starting as an employee of the University of Toronto Scarborough I identified voucher fishes from the Southern Ontario Wetlands, Round Goby Distribution, and Silver Shiner projects. I also had the opportunity to visit the Codrington Fisheries Research Facility and assist with Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) tagging of Brook Trout for a couple of days. This position transitioned into a role with Fisheries and Oceans Canada at the Great Lakes Laboratory for Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences in Burlington Ontario. Where, once completed, I had Identified nearly 10,000 specimens. This included a variety of Species at Risk such as the Lake Chubsucker, Eastern Sand Darter, Grass Pickerel, Warmouth, Silver Shiner, and Pugnose Shiner. I then changed gears to my GIS skill-set, preparing external Species at Risk permit data (Excel documents) for entry into a Microsoft Access database. This was an intensive quality control process. These data then underwent a spatial quality control step to ensure all reported coordinates aligned with the correct waterbody. Once completed the data were queried and sent to the GIS team for upload into the Geocortex web mapping system. The same process was then undertaken for the internal DFO data.

Skills