I am grateful to have worn many hats in the ACS lab since 2016. I first began as a volunteer and Work Study student, where I spent many hours preparing bear and mouse hair for stable isotope analysis and looking through remote camera images. I then became a Directed Studies student, where I analyzed spatial variation in the diets of black bears within Gitga’at First Nation Territory, and then an Honours student, where I researched the prices charged to hunt different ‘big game’ species in North America. I asked whether prices related to ‘costly’ (i.e. high failure risk to the hunter), yet ‘desirable’, characteristics, following theory in evolutionary psychology. More recently I was the ACS lab manager, which saw me coordinating volunteers and daily lab logistics. I have also worked with the Heiltsuk and Gitga’at Nations as a field technician on the Raincoast Bear Monitoring Project throughout this time.

I am currently a MSc student and Raincoast Fellow within the lab, researching temporal foraging dynamics in wildlife.

Publications:

Mihalik, I., Bateman, A.W., and Darimont, C.T. 2019. Trophy hunters pay more to target larger-bodied carnivores. Royal Society Open Science 6, 191231. Open Access.

Contact:

ilonammillie@gmail.com