Staff
Chris Miller, Ph.D.
Wilderness Conservation Coordinator
Chris is the Wilderness Conservation Coordinator for CPAWS-NS. He works to expand the protected areas system in Nova Scotia and improve forestry practices. Chris is an NSERC scholar with a Ph.D. from the Wetlands Research Centre and Department of Biology at the University of Waterloo, and is a part-time faculty member in the Faculty of Management at Dalhousie University.
Chris is a strong advocate for wilderness protection in Nova Scotia. He is the founding member of the Birch Cove Lakes Wilderness Society, which helped establish one of the largest urban wilderness parks in Canada: the Blue Mountain - Birch Cove Lakes Regional Park in Halifax. Chris also helped to protect several other key areas of the province, including Jim Campbells Barren Wilderness Area, River Inhabitants Nature Reserve, and Blandford Nature Reserve. He has designed a system of thirty-five protected areas on the private lands of the forestry company, Stora Enso Port Hawkesbury, including a large site on Cape Breton Island at Kelly's Mountain. Chris is also a scientific advisor for the Nova Scotia Nature Trust and serves on a number of environmental boards and committees. He has received several awards for his conservation efforts at the Federal, Provincial, and Municipal levels.
Ashley Sprage, M.Sc.
Marine Conservation Coordinator.
Originally from Fredericton, NB, Ashley is a proud Maritimer who has worked on a variety of coastal and marine projects around the Maritimes ranging from work with seabirds, shorbirds, mussel aquaculture and species at risk. Ashley completed her M.Sc. at the University of New Brunswick where she studied shorebird movements and habitat use around the upper Bay of Fundy. Following her M.Sc., Ashley spent a year working as a marine field scientist in a remote village in Madagascar, living in a hut overlooking the reefs where she was SCUBA diving daily. The work, led by the non-profit organization Blue Ventures, focused on establishing the country`s first community-run Marine Protected Area.
Ashley then moved to Nova Scotia where she spent a summer exploring the beaches along the South Shore working as an outreach biologist with Bird Studies Canada`s Piping Plover Conservation Program. She has now relocated to Halifax and has taken over the position of Marine Conservation Coordinator with CPAWS-NS. Ashley is looking forward to actively promoting marine conservation and working to protect the unique marine and coastal environments in Nova Scotia.
Jonathan Feldgajer,
Education Coordinator.
Jon has been coordinating the 2008 season of Nature Calls!, a wilderness program for urban youth. With a group of eager participants from the Boys and Girls Club of Spryfield, CPAWS will be visiting a number of places they have successfully protected, including the all new Blue Mountain Birch Cove wilderness area. Jon has also been very involved with coordinating the upcoming Big Wild campaign for the Nova Scotia chapter, and asks you to stay tuned as that develops.
Jon is a newly landed 'come from away' in Nova Scotia, but brings his professional and extracurricular environmental experiences to his new job. After graduating from the University of Toronto, Jon was involved for a number of years with the Toronto Food Policy Council working towards sustainable food and urban agriculture in the teeming metropolis. Following that, Jon worked with water pollution prevention at Toronto Water and coordinated the City's first ever Green Roof Pilot Project. Most Recently, Jon was working in the highlands of Ecuador with rural farmers on sustainable agriculture initiatives including soil conservation, rainwater harvesting, cover crops and agro-forestry. Luckily Jon brought his love of the outdoors, passion for environmental work and a dog named Inty back with him, when he returned to Canada and he loves the new province that he now calls home.
Aimee Gromack, MMM Candidate
Conservation Assistant
Aimee is a graduate from Saint Mary's University with a BSc in Environmental Studies and Biology. Upon graduation Aimee spent four months as a volunteer for a small NGO in Mexico, where she worked primarily with sea turtles, relocating their nests to protect them from poaching. She then taught English overseas and traveled for two years. After witnessing poor conservation practices, such as the sale of shark fins and unsustainable reef tourism, Aimee decided it was time to tackle some of these marine issues. She enrolled in the Marine Affairs Program at Dalhousie University, where she is a candidate for a Master’s degree in Marine Management. Aimee is working as a conservation assistant with CPAWS Nova Scotia on a research project to identify challenges and opportunities for establishing a system of coastal marine protected areas in Nova Scotia.
Lindsay Notzl, MREM Candidate
Conservation Assistant
Lindsay received an HBA in Environmental Policy and Practice, with minors in Aboriginal Studies and Political Science from the University of Toronto in 2007. After graduating, Lindsay worked as a Policy Analyst for Environment Canada-Ontario. Wanting a more grassroots experience that allowed her to engage directly with community members, she took a six month contract in Ecuador working with a local NGO on soil and water conservation. While travelling and working in this amazing country, she became increasingly aware of the need to promote good protected areas planning, especially for wide-ranging and large-bodied species like the Andean spectacled bear. A combination of diverse personal and professional experiences, and a desire to learn more about conservation biology, led her to Dalhousie University where she is currently pursuing a Master of Resource and Environmental Management . Lindsay is working with CPAWS-NS this summer to help maintain and enhance connectivity through a system of protected areas across Nova Scotia’s Chignecto Isthmus.