Hilary Cooke joined WCS Canada in 2010 as Research Associate for the Northern Boreal Mountains landscape. Hilary has a breadth of experience partnering with governments, industry, academia, private land managers, and non-governmental organizations. In the Northern Boreal Mountains landscape, Hilary is undertaking research and monitoring activities to fill key wildlife information gaps and bring science-based conservation solutions to resource management and land-use planning initiatives.
Hilary began her career with WCS as a member of the North America Program in 1998, where she worked with WCS Researcher Dr. Steve Zack on riparian conservation issues in semi-arid regions of the western United States. Through field studies in Oregon, California and Wyoming, they linked healthy riparian bird communities with alternative riparian management practices used by private and public land managers.
After completing her M.Sc. in Wildlife Management at Humboldt State University in 2002, Hilary returned to her native Canada in 2003 to complete a Ph.D. in Ecology at the University of Alberta. Her Ph.D. research focused on conservation of old forest cavity-using birds and mammals in the boreal plains of Alberta and Saskatchewan. Using field research and landscape simulations, she determined the best management practices across multiple scales for conserving old forest cavity users in landscapes managed for forestry.
Throughout her academic and professional career, Hilary has been committed to delivering science-based solutions for wildlife conservation in landscapes managed for resource use.