Summer is such a busy time for us at the Flats, and each year we hire summer staff to plan and deliver programs, conduct field research, manage special initiatives and support the organization in advancing our priorities.

We are thrilled to introduce our Summer team for 2020 – they are keen to apply their skills and knowledge to our work on birding, habitat restoration, nature education, indigenous plants, environmental visual communications, research and reconciliation. You may see them on one of our online programs, or meet them in the Nursery or on the trails. Say hello to Alice, Kirsten, Maddie, Marisa and Senaqwila!

Alice Sun

Communications Coordinator

Ever since a young age, Alice has had a passion for conservation, photography, and storytelling. That led her to pursue a BSc in wildlife biology, and a post-grad certificate in environmental visual communication. Now at Wild Bird Trust, she is excited to tell the diverse stories that have come together here at Maplewood Flats, especially ones that relate to science and traditional ecological knowledge.

Kirsten Bradford

Habitat Plan Project Manager

I hold a BSc in Marine and Freshwater Biology and recently completed a Certificate in Sustainable Community Development. I am passionate about creating sustainable, resilient communities where people are connected to nature and each other.  I am excited to be part of the team at Wild Bird Trust, specifically contributing to the Habitat and Cultural Use Plan.

Marisa Bischoff

Environmental Programs Coordinator

I recently graduated from BCIT with BSc in Ecological Restoration and I’m looking forward to working with the WBT this summer. My interests lie mostly in ecology and conservation issues, but I have recently come to understand the absolute necessity and value of communicating these issues to non-scientific folk. I hope to gain some experience doing that this summer, and I’m excited to be involved in an organization trying to make reconciliation its central focus.

Maddie Edmonds

Conservation and Restoration Coordinator

Maddie recently graduated with a MSc in Ecological Restoration from BCIT & SFU. She has a passion for native plants, and how they can support both humans and a diversity of wildlife. She has volunteered for the last year with Wild Bird Trust, managing the Coast Salish Plant Nursery and is thrilled to work as a summer staff member to further develop the project and engage in even more plant scheming.

Senaqwila Wyss

Coast Salish Programs Coordinator

Senaqwila Wyss is Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation), Tsimshian, Sto:lo, Hawaiian and Swiss. She holds a Bachelors of the Arts Degree in the faculty of Communications, Arts and Technology, minor in First Nations Studies. This is her 4th year as a summer student staff at Maplewood Flats. She also holds a First Nations Languages Proficiency Certificate in the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Sníchim. She is raising her 3 year old daughter and adopting her 8 year old niece  to be a first language speaker, which has not been done in her family four generations after colonial impacts. She practices ethnobotany with traditionally trained mom Cease Wyss with indigenous plant medicines. She was raised learning these ancestral teachings and uses plants as teas, medicines, tinctures and ceremony.