NAMOS BC is a non-profit society founded in 2008 (Registration#: S-53578). Our constitution identifies the purposes of our society:
1. To conduct ecological and environmental inventories of amphibian populations and their habitats of the Central Interior (CI) of British Columbia.
2. To record long-term monitoring and population trends within three key monitoring areas, but not limited to:
Forested lands adjacent to the UNBC campus
3. To serve as a sentinel for population declines by devising, revising, and implementing monitoring methods that yield reliable and scientifically defensible data.
4. To contribute inventory data in support of provincial, national, and global amphibian monitoring programs responding to the global decline of amphibian species.
5. To establish collaborative partnerships and communication with Government, Universities, First Nations, Industry, non-profit organizations, and volunteers within our community for the purpose of conserving amphibians in the Central Interior.
6. To provide educational support for, and thus promote awareness about the presence and ecology of amphibians by designing and teaching learning modules for University, high school, and elementary students.
7. To implement a systematic conservation plan that threads amphibian census data and feedback from students, community, and collaborative networks into an evolving management strategy for the purposes of sustaining amphibian populations, their ecological services, and migratory links that allows for continuous gene flow and range adjustments in response to climate change and other forms of disturbance.
The board of directors for NAMOS BC are situated in Prince George, British Columbia. Our constitution states that we are responsible for the Central Interior of British Columbia. The Government of British Columbia websites provide descriptions of the provincial ecoprovinces. The Central Interior Ecoregion is part of the Nature Conservancy of Canada's Ecoregional Assessment. The GoogleEarth map below shows the location and distribution of the Central Interior. Please contact us if you live in this area and are interested in participating in any one of our amphibian citizen science projects.
Mark recieved his BSc from UNBC in Wildlife Biology and his MSc in Zoology from The University of Calgary in Zoology. His masters thesis analyzed the amazing post-glacial migration of long-toed salamanders treking through the mountain valleys of British Columbia. The study was performed by using DNA analysis of tissue samples that were collected from populations across the range and distribution of this species. Since completing his thesis, Mark has worked at UNBC as the Molecular Genetics Support Specialist where he runs the DNA sequencing and gene expression facilities. Mark is working on his second masters degree in Education at UNBC and NAMOS BC is part of his thesis and research. His roles within the organization include grant writing and applications, co-directing the ecological reserach of amphibians and analysis with Dr. Migabo, supervising student reserach assistants, storing and maintaining the NAMOS BC amphibian database, webprogramming, and networking.
Tonia Mills was previously Research Assistant Professor and Lecturer at the University of Virginia, USA. She earned her BA from Radcliffe/Harvard, and her PhD from Harvard. First Nations land claims, religion and law, and reincarnation beliefs and cases are her current research interests. She has conducted field work with the Beaver Indians since 1964. Tonia co-edited (with Richard Slobodin) Amerindian Rebirth: Reincarnation Belief Among North American Indians and Inuit (1994), and is author of Eagle Down is Our Law: Witsuwit'en Feasts, Laws and Land Claims, published by UBC Press (1994). This latter book is the result of her spending three years living in Witsu wit'en territory and serving as an expert witness and writing an expert opinion report for the Delgamuukw case. Her book, supported by a SSHRC Grant, "Hang On To These Words: Johnny David's Delgamuukw Testimony" was published by the University of Toronto Press (2005). She has been awarded a Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute Fellowship for "A Longitudian Study of Young Adults who were said to Remember a Previous Life". She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses and one on "Indigenous Perspectives on Reincarnation and Rebirth" (at both levels). Tonia has also published in a variety of journals such as Culture, B.C. Studies, and the Journal of Anthropological Research, and chapters in books. Tonia is on the board of NAMOS BC to help us build a strong link and relations with the First Nations of the Central Interior in BC, which have strong cultural impressions of amphibians through frog clan members.
Dr. Migabo,s background includes ungulate foraging ecology and habitat selection, wildlife productivity, rare and endangered plants and ecosystems and has many years of experience classifying terrestrial ecosystems using both PEM and TEM frameworks. Dr Migabo teaches courses in the Wildlife and Fisheries Program. Starting summer 2008 until the present, she co-supervises student research assistants conducting field and laboratory amphibian research.
Melanie is also a member of and project coordinator for the Aleza Lake Research Forest Society. Ms. Karjala holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Geography and Environmental Studies from McGill University (Montreal, Quebec, 1995), and holds a Master of Natural Resources and Environmental Studies at UNBC. She has been a research associate and part-time lab instructor in the UNBC Forestry Program. Her master's thesis and published research examines aboriginal values, perspectives, criteria and indicators of sustainability in forest planning.
Board members:
President: email: thompsma@unbc.ca, ph: 250-960-5572, Fax: 250-960-5538
Vice President: email: millsa@unbc.ca, ph: 250-960-6690
Treasurer: email: karjal0@unbc.ca, ph: 250-960-6338
Secretary: email: migabos@unbc.ca, ph: 250-960-5009
c/o The University of Northern British Columbia
3333 University Way
Prince George, BC
V2M 6X4
If you are interested in becoming a citizen volunteer: ecology@namos.ca
All other inquiries: community@namos.ca
Ph: 250-960-5572
Fax: 250-960-5539