David McPhie
Kudos to our first Acorn Award recipient, GOERT’s former Project Assistant Dave McPhie. Dave was with us courtesy of the University of Victoria’s Co-operative Education Program (Biology), and our partners at the Mt. Matheson Conservation Society.
Dave’s a hard-working biology student, and in his spare time, he used to show up at the GOERT office to work in the hallway, with only a computer and a small desk at his disposal. He was subject to hallway noise and constant distraction by the office dog and her ball, and yet he managed to keep ahead of his co-workers, always demanding more work to keep him going at his customary top speed.
Dave first became involved in ecological restoration while working occasionally as a volunteer for UVic’s Quercus project. On his third co-operative work term, he was employed as a Garry Oak Ecosystem Recovery Technician for Parks Canada, continuing work on a five-year restoration project at Fort Rodd Hill and participating in invasive species removal on islands in the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve.
He completed his Bachelor of Science in Biology (Honours) while working part-time for GOERT, and has now moved on to a co-op position with the provincial government, working as a climate change researcher for the Integrated Land Management Bureau of the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands.
We discovered a hidden talent of Dave’s, missing from his impressive resume: he can draw and paint! His artwork and photography (the website banner) are featured on this, our new, website. Hats off to Dave, the co-op student who could!