Ilona Mihalik

Topic

Applied conservation science to support wildlife stewardship by the Haíɫzaqv First Nation

Department of Geography

Date & location

• Tuesday, September 15, 2026

• 8:30 A.M.

• David Turpin Building

• Room B215

Reviewers

Supervisory Committee

• Dr. Chris Darimont, Department of Geography, University of Victoria (Supervisor)

• Dr. Paul Paquet, Department of Geography, UVic (Member)

• Dr. Gretchen Roffler, Division of Wildlife Conservation, Alaska Department of Fish and Game (Outside Member) 

External Examiner

• Dr. Marco Musiani, Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche, Geologiche e Ambientali,
  Università di Bologna 

Chair of Oral Examination

• Dr. Brian Starzomski, School of Environmental Studies, UVic 

Abstract

Industrial timber harvest can change forests and habitat for ecologically and culturally important wildlife, as well as the processes through which they interact. Evidence from forested systems throughout North America provide insight into the responses of wildlife to high proportions of logging activity. However, given the relative novelty of industrial forestry in coastal British Columbia (BC), little is known on how logging and associated landscape modification may influence wildlife and their interactions here. Working with the Haíɫzaqv First Nation on the central coast of BC, and amidst growing pressure from human-induced environmental change and demand for natural resources, I address in my dissertation key information gaps they identified about wildlife species important to them. Additionally, and more practically, each of my data chapters provided spatial data products for landscape planning decisions by the Nation. In Chapter 1, I first provide background information on the broad impacts of human-induced landscape modification on wildlife and ecological communities around the world. I further narrow in and provide context on the study system my dissertation focuses on in coastal BC, and details for how my objectives align with management priorities of the Haíɫzaqv First Nation. In my first data-driven chapter (Chapter 2), I build on research that initially began during my MSc to predict and map functional connectivity for grizzly and black bears (Ursus arctos and U. americanus, respectively) among aggregations of spawning Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) within Haíɫzaqv Territory. In Chapter 3, I develop a reproducible habitat suitability index model for predicting critical black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus sitkensis and O. h. columbianus) winter range (DWR) within the Territories of the Haíɫzaqv, Kitasoo Xai’xais, Wuikinuxv, and Nuxalk First Nations of the central coast, BC. In my third data-driven chapter (Chapter 4), I use DNA metabarcoding of wolf (Canis lupus) fecal samples collected throughout Haíɫzaqv Territory to evaluate the effects of recent clearcut logging on wolf-deer interactions. The aims and objectives of these three chapters were developed to address challenges and priorities highlighted in the Heiltsuk Land Use Plan (2005) and Great Bear Rainforest Land Use Order (2016), as well as from discussions with Haíɫzaqv land managers. More broadly, this work illustrates an example of applied wildlife research to support management and policy-related decisions by an Indigenous Nation in an era of resurgence.