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What is the New Brunswick Cooperative Fish and
Wildlife Research Unit?
The NBCFWRU was established in April 1989 at the University
of New Brunswick within the Faculties of Forestry,
and Science, as a cooperative effort between the University
and the NB Department of Natural Resources and Energy.
The Unit has been modeled after the many successful
cooperative fish and wildlife research units within
the United States, and is the only one of its kind
in Canada.
The CFWRU has the following four objectives:
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To
conduct research related to the management and
conservation of wildlife and fisheries resources
and their habitats within New Brunswick and Atlantic
Canada.
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To
promote and enhance undergraduate and graduate
education in wildlife and fisheries science and
management, and to provide in-service training
and continuing education to employees of conservation
agencies.
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To identify research needs and sources of funding
with resource managers.
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To provide technical assistance and information
transfer of technical fish and wildlife resource
information to natural resource managers and the
public.
Presently,
the CFWRU has 3 staff members - Dr.
Graham Forbes (Director), Dr.
Allen Curry (Assistant Director for Fisheries
Research), and Steve Arndt, Fisheries Biologist. In
addition, some NB DNRE staff have been appointed as
adjunct professors with the Unit, in order to provide
outside expertise on graduate committees.
Recently, the Unit was a key participant in the development
of a proposal to the Sir James Dunn Foundation to
create the Sir James Dunn Wildlife Research Center.
The proposal resulted in creating a centre that will
serve as an umbrella organization, including both
the CFWRU and the Atlantic Cooperative Wildlife Ecology
Research Network (ACWERN) (senior chair), also located
on the UNB campus. More information on the structure
and research objectives of this Centre will soon be
available...stay tuned.
Projects currently underway at the CFWRU include:
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The
influence of moose browsing on successional forest
growth and vegetative species composition in Gros
Morne National Park, Newfoundland (Kevin Connors,
MSc student)
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Factors
affecting survival of young-of-the-year smallmouth
bass (Steve Currie, MSc student)
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Cover
benefit and food availability effects on winter
habitat selection by white-tailed deer (Dwayne
Sabine, MSc student)
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Nesting
and brood habitat use by greater scaup in the
lower Saint John River, New Brunswick (Andy Smith,
MSc student)
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Impact
of roads on black bears in the Greater Fundy Ecosystem
(Dr. Graham Forbes, principal investigator)
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Survival
and mortality of white-tailed deer in managed
forests of northern New Brunswick (Dr. Warren
Ballard, principal investigator)
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Prevalence
and intensity of P. tenuis in gastropods collected
from white-tailed deer summer and winter range
(Heather Whitlaw and Dr. Murray Lankester. (Lakehead
University), principal investigators)
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Effects
of landscape pattern on small mammal populations
(Dr. Warren Ballard, principal investigator)
All
of these projects are supported by one or more of
the CFWRU's cooperators. They include Fraser Inc.,
the Canada/New Brunswick Cooperation Agreement on
Recreational Fisheries Development, the Department
of Fisheries and Oceans, Parks Canada, the Cooperative
Agreement on Forest Development, Fundy National Park,
Gros Morne National Park, Canada/New Brunswick Agreement
on Forest Development, Human Resources Canada, Lakehead
University, the Newfoundland and Labrador Wildlife
Division, the Madawaska Fish and Game Protective Association,
the Victoria Fish and Game Club and J. D. Irving Ltd.
These cooperators are what make each research project
"a go". The Unit's base funding is provided by NBDNRE,
and is supplemented by UNB. These dollars allow us
to essentially keep the doors open. However, funding
for identified research needs is provided by outside
groups. These groups, agencies and/or companies may
either approach us with research ideas and financial
support, or in some cases, support for projects with
relevance to many interest groups is solicited by
the Units's Director. In either case, we attempt to
combine practical research, necessary and useful to
Atlantic Canada, with academic training, and support
a graduate student on each project. We encourage those
interested in research in Atlantic Canada to contact
us - we're always looking to be involved in new and
interesting projects in this "neck of the woods".
For more information about the NB CFWRU, or a copy
of our annual report, please contact us at:
New Brunswick Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research
Unit
Faculty of Forestry and Environmental Management
University of New Brunswick
P. O. Box 44555
Fredericton, NB E3B 6C2
Telephone: (506) 453-4929
Fax: (506) 453-3538
email: forbes@unb.ca
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