fRI Research

@friresearch.bsky.social

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Informing land and resource management since 1992. friresearch.ca

Alt text: Title text: “Featured Projects” Cut out graphics of grizzly bear and cup in front of a site bush with blood splatter and green stinky scent rising up next to text “Grizzly Bear Monitoring Project”. Caribou cut out with a cluster of fecal pellets by the text “Caribou Program Fecal Surveys. Spatial and Dietary Overlap of Caribou and White-tailed Deer in Alberta. Cut out of atrout and a cotton swab with mucus dripping off next to the text: “The effect of Thermal Stress on the Physiology of Juvenile Bull Trout.
Title text: “Mucus!” Narrative text: “Bull trout like it cold. Warmer temperatures cause them to stress out! Scientists can see if fish are stressed by dissecting the fish and testing their tissue. One problem: this kills the fish. BUT mucus may offer an alternative.” Photo by Dr. Analisa Lazaro-Cote of hands holding a bull trout above a bucket of water on the right. Text: “Fish continuously makes mucus that contains:” The words “Mucins (makes skin slippery), water, and RNA” are inside a graphic of a mucus blob.Arrow pointing from RNA to a green text box with statement: “ When stressed the things inside mucus changes. Allowing researchers to monitor stress with a simple swab of a fish’s slimy skin!”
Title text: “Feces!” Narrative text into a bulleted point list: “Feces, scat, poop: call it anything but waste! Caribou fecal pellets can tell researchers: Age and sex. If the caribou is pregnant. If the caribou is stressed. If the caribou has parasites – ew!” Photo of gloved hands swabbing a fecal pellet. Photo of researcher using calibers to measure a fecal pellet. Photo of a scientist collecting fecal pellets in the snow. Text “Swabbing, measuring, and scooping poo. It’s what the Caribou Crew loved to do!”
Title text: “Blood” Narrative text: Cow blood is used as a scent lure at hair snag sites to draw in grizzly bears. Photo of people wearing yellow hazmat gear in the woods bending down over buckets. Text: “The annual filtering of cow blood is a memory (and smell) the Grizzly Crews will never forget. Before image of a woman in rain gear pouring blood over a tree. After image of a grizzly bear and cubs rubbing in the scent.
Title text “Gross Science”. Subtitle “Sometimes the things that can tell us the most about an animal are the grossest”. Smallest text “Watercolor by Penny Snell”. Rest of page has the words Blood. Mucus. Feces. Cut out of grizzly bear and cup in front of a site bush with blood splatter and green stinky scent rising up. Caribou cut out on a snow pile with a cluster of fecal pellets. Cut out of a trout and a cotton swab with mucus dripping off. Center page has slime splatter with the word EW!
Bijaya is in a field, holding an ungulate skull complete with antlers. Tyler stands with a backpack on, mountains in the background.
Brianna Lyman stands in the parking lot before doing the Charlie Half Marathon Trail Race. She holds two thumbs up and is smiling.
20th north american caribou workshop tuesday 10:30 am katimavik c well how's it growin wildlife respones to wellsite reclamation and restoration in caribou ranges wednesday 5 pm caribou room cause-specific mortality of sympatric caribou and white-tailed deer in west central alberta.
CSEE-SCEE Toronto 2026. Talk: tuesday 4:45 at BA-1220 by Caroline Lesage. Moose population parameters correlate to forest management activities, wildfire and climate conditions in Alberta, Canada. Poster Tuesday 5:00 at the varsity ice rink by Rebecca Viejou. Optimal MegaDectector thresholds vary across taxa and image trigger type
Drone and Lidar equipment sitting on a road next to cow dung in the Sharples Creek watershed.
Photo of Claire Allore from the Water and Fish Program with the quote, “I wanted a job that kept me outside and allowed me to protect the environments that I enjoyed. Science was a natural avenue for me.”
Infographic showing the 5 themes for the moose research initiative: 📊 Theme 1: Moose populations: Population’s size & trends relative to forest management & landscape conditions. 🧩 Theme 2: Range & connectivity: Moose summer & winter ranges in Alberta: habitat & connectivity. 🌡️Theme 3: Climate and Forest Management: How forest management & climate factors impact boreal ungulates. 🚁 Theme 4: Drones for Moose Surveys: Drones vs. traditional methods for ungulate population surveys. 🌲Theme 5: Forest management & Ungulates: How forest practices shape ungulate habitat and populations.
a field tech lies on his stomach pondering the vegetation in a sample plot. a shovel, backpack, and other field equipment are scattered around. the text says focus on your career at friresearch.
A mother moose stands with two calves beside a tree wrapped with barbed wire used as a grizzly bear hair snag. The moose family is sniffing and exploring the site in a forested area.
Three researchers operate a drone in a post-fire landscape, surrounded by grasses and scattered burned trees under an open sky. Photo credit: Sadie Russell.
arya horon behind a lectern giving two thumbs up
Arya Horon on a podium, behind a lectern, presenting on fine scale moose habitat selection and movement. A screen with a powerpoint is to her right.
Caroline Lesage on a podium and behind a lectern presenting to an audience. A screen to her right has a slide titled moose in alberta with a photo, map, and other text.
cam mcclelland at a podium on stage with headphones on, in front of a very large screen with a slide showing bears in a snowy landscape and the title "improving non-invasive monitoring methods for grizzly bears in alberta"
The wildlife society conference edmonton. Wednesday October 8 9:15 Hall D: Screen 2. Cameron McClelland, fRI Research Grizzly Bear Program. Improving the effectiveness and efficiency of non-invasive monitoring methods for grizzly bears
a grizzly bear on its hind legs rubbing its back against a tree and ripping bark off. a smooth bop plays in the background.
Dr. Darío Fernández-Bellon standing at a podium in front of an audience. beside him is a screen with a land acknowledgement slide
trail camera image of two American Martens in a snowy forest. they are investigating a hair snag site, with a strand of barbed wire visible
the wildlife society conference edmonton tuesday october 7 12pm salon 4. Dr. Darío Fernández-Bellon fRI Research Grizzly Bear Program Using hair hormone profiles to determine demographic parameters in grizzly bear populations
2 people discuss a scientific poster on deer mortality at a scientific conference
A scientific poster titled cause-specific mortality of white tailed deer in west-central alberta. it is colourful and contains photos of deer mortality sites and bone marrow
Dr. Laura Finnegan at a podium, on a stage, presenting at the wildlife society 2025 conference. a screen showing a map and forest diagram is visible on the left
The wildlife society conference edmonton monday october 6 9:15am salon 8. dr. leonard Hambrecht UBC integrated remote sensing sutdio simulating drone-based moose surveys: a viable alternative to helicopters
"Today we honour the children who never came home. We recognize the survivors, the families, and communities who continue to be deeply affected by the harm caused by colonialism and residential schools. This is not just another day off work. And it’s more than just wearing an orange shirt. It’s a time to listen, to learn, and to show empathy. It’s a day to reconfirm our support of Indigenous Peoples as they seek to preserve and celebrate their languages and culture and move along a journey with a sense of purpose." – Barry White, Executive Director
Truth and reconciliation week starts today! lunch and learn webinar: surviving the residential school system september 22 2025 12 pm CDT
An aerial photo of a moose in a snowy clearing
beadwork of orange t-shirts lying on grass
Video of a grizzly bear in the night exploring one of our scent piles. At first the bear just approaches the pile for a sniff, but then it starts rubbing its head and then finally does a full back roll onto the pile.
3 scientists stand in a stream. Léna trying to pull up a temperature logger.
A trailcam photo of a small bird in mid-flight flying across a cutblock landscape.
Getting a bearing to start marking out the test site. Five scientists stand in a mature pine forest, looking at a compass.
Visible light (RGB) image of a conifer forest.
two photos, one with two adult male moose with caption take your coffee de-calf, the other with a mother and calf with the caption or with calf.
a hair snag site in the forest with dozens of small envelopes hanging on barbed wire and a central tree.
Infographic showing two egg transportation methods tested in a bull trout captive breeding project. Eggs from Smith-Dorrien Creek, Alberta, were flown ~1,300 km to Manitoba. Field fertilized eggs had a 36% survival rate, while Lab fertilized eggs had a 46% survival rate.
Watercolour painting of an arctic grayling swimming at the bottom of a river. Icons for National Indigenous Peoples day have been added along with #NIPD2025
Wild horses at a forest edge. photo claire allore