Grant: Alliance Grants

This project seeks to leverage the burgeoning partnership between Burman University and Ellis Bird Farm (EBF) to explore the correlations between (a) pesticide use in central Alberta, (b) pesticide accumulation in insects, (c) the local abundance of such insects; and (d) determine whether such pesticides are transferred to the birds that feed on them, affecting their reproduction. Through this multidisciplinary, collaborative project, we will unite the academic/scientific background of Burman U, with the agricultural- and community-based background of EBF to close the gap between applied science and end-users and decision makers. This will be done through the involvement of farmers, community members and other stakeholders to mitigate the effects of pesticides on local wildlife through sustainable changes that benefit all members. As a primary outcome, we will make policy recommendations on sustainable agricultural practices and provide guidelines to track the indirect transmission of environmental contaminants from the diet (insects) to the consumers (birds) using non-invasive field sampling and molecular techniques. Together, we will overcome the existing barriers that separate academic conservation biology from policy makers and the general public, thus, increasing our impact by moving from primarily academic knowledge transfer to establishing creative solutions through community and farm committee collaborations.