Newly hired: invasive species coordinator

Natalie Stafl is ready to do battle with the region's invasive species. — Photo courtesy CSISS/Revelstoke Current

Invasive species are not a small issue. Every year B.C. spends millions of dollars combatting them with much more felt in losses throughout the agriculture sector. The Columbia-Shuswap Regional District has recently formed a group to help control these unwanted plants and organisms. The Columbia-Shuswap Invasive Species Society (CSISS) has successfully hired Natalie Stafl as coordinator. The biologist will be helping keep invasive species at bay. The Revelstoke Current shares more on Stafl’s background.

She conducted her Master’s research on the impact of hiking traffic and temperature on American pika foraging behaviour in the Selkirk mountains. Natalie has worked in BC and the Yukon monitoring fish and wildlife as well as studying glacier climatology and alpine plant communities in the area. She completed her Bachelors of Science in 2009 from the UBC Faculty of Forestry in Natural Resource Conservation. When she is not working, Natalie can be found playing in the mountains or tending to her backyard garden. -Revelstoke Current

Given the nasty toll that invasive species can have, we can only wish Stafl good luck in her future endeavours.