Trevor Barker, Wildlife Technician

Preserve the caribou

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"The most important aspect of my job is preserving habitat, which in turn preserves the animals for the future.

"This Owl Lake herd of caribou that we’re working with is the most southern herd of woodland caribou left in Manitoba and we have to be very delicate with them.

"And through our research we can almost guarantee that they’ll keep thriving."

Collaring caribou

We hire a capture company to do the caribou capture. They net-gun the animals, so there aren't any drugs used.

They get the animal out into an opening, throw a net over it and subdue it. We then go and take the collar off the animal and put a new one on.

Typically, caribou herds range from forty to one hundred animals. We try to collar least ten percent of a herd.

 

Bio-samples

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"A lot of my job is science. We work a lot with bio-samples*, mainly from bears. We take teeth out of bears just to get an age of the bear.

"We also take the repro tracts out of the female bears that have been harvested. We find out whether she had young that year and how many.

"On our Caribou Project we take blood and we do a lot of blood work with animals."

*A biosample is a part of the animal's body used for research. Samples are taken from downed game, usually by the hunter or outfitter, and given to Manitoba Conservation. A repro tract is a reproductive tract or uterus.

New technology

I use very new technology. The Telemetry Receiver I use is basically a mini computer. It stores all the frequencies from all the caribou that we've collared.

One type collar put on the animal is a Global Positioning System (GPS), which has a logging device that marks the actual location of the animal for every hour of the day for an entire year.

The VHF collar just sends out a specific-frequency beacon.

Big game tracking

I am a Wildlife Technician for the Eastern Region for Manitoba Conservation. We track the data for the Caribou Project from our hunting seasons, to see how many animals have been harvested.

We also do other big game surveys. For instance, we study areas for moose communities where we evaluate the status of the moose population.

Many meetings

I deal directly with outfitters to review the status of their licences and look at how many they're going to have for the coming years.

I also work with several First Nations communities, such as Hollow Water and Black River. I've been invited to many, many meetings of their traditional area advisory committees, working as a liaison between the First Nations and government.

Beautiful province

I love the scenery in this province. I like the fact that you can go from prairie right up into the rugged Canadian Shield in probably an hour's drive. To me that's the most beautiful geography.

 

Annual hunter

I like to participate in the annual hunt. It's a tradition for me.

I spend quite a bit of my time in the fall hunting and I like the fact that we have a lot of wildlife out there to hunt.

Peaceful weekends

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"I like to get out of the city to a cabin that my wife’s family owns out in Long Lake Manitoba. At the cabin we have a quad and snowmobile and boat. It’s a real peaceful place to get away to.

"We try to get away at least once a month, if not every second weekend. My kids love being at the lake."

Enjoy flying

I enjoy flying, which is a good part of this job. I am in the process of acquiring my private helicopter licence. You have to have forty hours of ground school and forty hours of flight time.

I have finished the forty hours of ground school. I just have to work on the forty hours of flight time. I do all this on my vacation time and overtime leave.

My mentor

I've always wanted to be in this line of work because of my great-grandfather, George Barker. His trap line was in the local area of Hollow Water.

He was always interested in preserving the land for the animals for the future. I think that's really what got me interested when I was very young.

Air and ground

Most of what I do in the air is telemetry work for the Caribou Project, tracking the animals through the collars we've put on them. We usually do one flight a month. We also have to fly to do the moose surveys. We try to do one every winter.

For on-the-ground work, we get out into the back country with vehicles, either boats, ATV's or trucks. We do this to assess impacts on wildlife habitat.

Pace varies

The pace varies. For example, the first few days on the caribou count are very hectic, with early mornings and late evenings.

But after that, the work of data loading and logging makes for pretty slow, pretty easy days.

I'm fortunate enough to work with people who are very knowledgeable and also very easy-going.

 

Travel hectic

It can get hectic when there's a lot of travel involved. What I generally try to do is find enough work in each district to complete one day.

Or if it's a long travel day, maybe two or three projects and stay overnight. I'll then complete it the next day and return.

 

Early start

(TEXT FROM SOUND BITE)

"Generally our day starts about six o’clock in the morning, getting the helicopters fuelled up, making sure all of our equipment is ready: our GPS's, our cameras, kits for handling the animals.

"And from there, we proceed to our first area of capture, find the animals that we wish to target, and proceed with the capture work."

Plan the day

A typical caribou count starts off in the early morning with the capture company arriving at the base site.

We get to know each other and then talk about what we want to accomplish.

Then we prepare a daily event log of what we would like done first, second, third and fourth captures.

Fun and important

I really love working with the caribou. My job is as much fun as it is important, and I believe it's going to get more important in the future in Canada as a whole.

I'm proud of my work because it's making sure that the caribou have a future in Manitoba.

 

Working outside

I really like my work environment. There's a lot of office time, but I do a lot of outdoor work too. I oversee different kinds of wildlife projects ongoing in the eastern region of Manitoba, so I have a very vast outside office.

That's where I prefer to be since I was brought up in the outdoors. But you have to take the office time with the fun time. I take it in stride.

 

Indoor work

My office is a very easy environment to work in. There are all the different departments of Manitoba Conservation together; fisheries, environment, drinking water inspectors and Parks. This makes it very convenient.

If there's a problem with any specific department, you can approach them easily and talk face to face to come up with a solution.

Keeping balanced

My home and work life is balanced by having a very understanding wife. In the summer time I am pulled into duty for the fire program for Manitoba Conservation.

I am a Helitac officer which is a helicopter the Conservation Department uses for fire fighting. I work every second weekend in the fire programs, so I'm not home very often during those months.

Traditional knowledge

(TEXT FROM SOUND BITE)

"Traditional knowledge in my job is knowing how the First Nations operate. They're a lot different than what government thinks.

"My knowledge from being raised on a reserve and the knowledge of the people within these reserves only makes my job easier than somebody who is going in to a community and not knowing how the internal governments of the local First Nations work."

 

Leaving home

I was seventeen years old when I left my home for Bottineau, North Dakota. It was a little tough at first, moving away from home, but I soon saw the benefits of education and stuck it out.

A lot of people find it hard leaving home and they end up returning back to the reserve. But if you can get past the first two weeks away from home and stay focused on what you have to do, you have it beat.

Started part-time

I graduated in 1995 and that summer I became a crew member on the local Fire Program crew for Conservation. There were no positions in the government at that time for Wildlife Technologist, so I spent six summers on the crew in Bissett and worked my way up through the ranks to Helitac Officer.

In 2000 the department approached me and asked if I would like to move into the Wildlife Technician position full-time. It was what I'd been hoping and working towards so I took the job.

Knew what I wanted

I always knew that I wanted to be in the wildlife field, ever since I was very young, whether it was as a Conservation Officer or in my present position as Wildlife Technician. So I didn't really see anything as being a barrier to me.

I like completing a job that I set out to accomplish. There always will be minor barriers in the way, but you just have to keep going.

Straight to university

In 1993 I graduated from high school and instead of taking a year or two off to go to work, I went to North Dakota State University. I enrolled in a Wildlife and Fisheries program and got my Wildlife and Fisheries Technology degree.

At that time it was the program that was closest to what I wanted to do for a career.

School helped

(TEXT FROM SOUND BITE)

"I knew that someday I would like to pursue this occupation. Through high school, I went to the school counsellor and asked to explore this line of work and he supplied me with names of schools that would point me in this right direction.

"The toughest part was getting the degree in Wildlife and Fisheries Technology. But after that it was no shortage of work."

 

More flying

After I obtain my private helicopter licence, I would really like to finish my commercial helicopter licence process.

That takes a lot of money and time, but it's something I would really like to accomplish

Do the research

My advice to people is to do a lot of research to get the best education you can. Look for schools that specialize in the field you want.

The school that I went to was well-known for their wildlife, fisheries and forestry programs, so they had probably the best professors in the whole field.

Also, keep up with changing technology. It advance every day and there is always something there that makes your job just a little easier.

Exciting work

(TEXT FROM SOUND BITE)

"It’s a very interesting line of work. I never thought I’d do half of the stuff that I deal with day to day. It's much more exciting than I would ever even dream of - dealing with animals, dealing with people.

"I thought the people part would be a lot harder, but it isn’t. They look up to you, they don’t look down at you. It’s a bit of a hard road to get to where you want to be, but once you’re there, for me it was very, very fulfilling."

Growing field

The work right now for the Wildlife Department is going become more intense in the next few years, with the Sierra legislation and the Species-at-Risk Act, for dealing with the caribou.

The department is going to want to know what our plans will be for these herds and how we can maintain or even grow these herds in the future.

That's going to be a major focus for my line of work and it is going to assure a lot of work in the future.

Develop skills

A career like mine requires strong computer skills and people skills. You deal a lot with the public, with different groups and organizations and do lots of presentations. It's a major stepping stone if you can perfect your people skills.

Knowing how to handle yourself in the outdoors, survival skills and emergency training skills are also very important for this job.

Job market info

The links below take you to federal and regional government information on employment, education, salary ranges and long range prospects for this career.

The official name for Trevor's occupation is "Wildlife Technician" and its NOC* code is 2221.

Manitoba Job Futures

Who Hires - Manitoba Labour Market Information

*Each occupation has an official name and unique number called the 'National Occupational Classification' code or 'NOC'.

Education

Useful High School Subjects*

- Sciences
- Math
- Social Studies
- English

*Source: Job Futures.ca

For those out of school, Adult Learning Centres can help you get or upgrade your high school diploma, including adding subjects that are required for work or further education. All Manitobans are normally entitled to 4 free courses.

After high school 

Below are links to various programs and courses that will put you on the path to a career in Wildlife Conservation.

State University of North Dakota

College of Science and Mathematics, Fisheries and Wildlife 

University of Manitoba

Joint Program in Ecology
Department of Zoology

University of Winnipeg

Environmental Studies

Red River College

Animal Health Technology
Applied Environmental Studies

Collège universitaire de Saint Boniface

Facultè des Sciences

Brandon University

Environmental Science Program

Assiniboine Community College - Brandon

Land and Water Management

University College of the North - The Pas/Thompson

All Programs (PDF)
Natural Resources Management - Page 43

Skills

Useful Experience/Skills*

- Team project work
- Proposal writing
- Presenting
- Committee work on industry ethics
- Computer skills

*Source: Job Futures.ca

There is not yet an Essential Skills* profile for this occupation.

*Essential Skills provide the foundation for learning all other skills and enable people to evolve with their jobs and adapt to workplace change.

Professional associations

Certified Technicians and Technologists Association of Manitoba
Certifies Engineering Technicians and Technologists in Manitoba

Canadian Council of Technicians and Technologists
Ensures that technicians and technologists maintain high standards of excellence

Hollow Water First Nation
Part of the Southeast Tribal Council Community

Wanipigow School
Located on the Hollow Water Reserve and part of the Frontier School Division

Frontier School Division
Provides partnership with parents and community, high quality education for all students so that they can develop the skills, knowledge, attitudes, and character essential for successful participation in our changing society

Technical Vocational Initiative
Works with education partners, business, industry and labour to develop and recommend strategies that address the six "Action Pillars" that form the core of its mandate

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