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Meet Our People

We are a unique team of ecologists, data scientists, and software developers
who bring dedication and passion to the work we do

Meet Our People

We are a unique team of ecologists, data scientists, and software developers who bring dedication and passion to the work we do

Colin photo - 1

Colin Daniel

Systems Ecologist

Colin is a systems ecologist and president of ApexRMS. He holds a Ph.D. in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology (University of Toronto), an M.Sc. in Zoology (University of British Columbia), and a B.A.Sc. in Systems Design Engineering (University of Waterloo). As an ecological consultant for over 25 years, Colin has under-taken over 200 projects for natural resource management agencies around the world. Most of these projects have focused on ecological modeling, landscape change, ecosystem carbon, wildlife management, spatial analysis and decision support.

Leonardo photo - 1

Leonardo Frid

Systems Ecologist

Leonardo is a systems ecologist with over 20 years of consulting experience. He holds an M.Sc. in Zoology and a B.Sc. in Conservation Biology (University of British Columbia). Leonardo’s work focuses on landscape simulation modeling, wildland fire risk and fuels management, invasive plant management, species at risk, and land use/land cover change. Leonardo has led numerous workshops, covering topics ranging from technical and scientific issues to strategic planning, and regularly delivers training courses in the use of landscape simulation modeling tools for decision support.

Bronwyn Rayfield

Bronwyn Rayfield

Landscape Ecologist

Bronwyn is a landscape ecologist with 10 years of experience in applied ecological research and consulting. She holds a Ph.D. in Spatial Ecology (University of Toronto) and a B.Sc. in Environmental Science (University of Guelph). Bronwyn’s expertise lies in landscape modeling, conservation decision support, and ecosystem service assessment. Her work focusses on the ecological consequences of land use and climate change, particularly the effects on wildlife habitat, landscape connectivity, and ecosystem carbon storage. 

Diego Bilski

Diego Bilski

Systems Ecologist

Diego is a biologist with a Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Ecology and Conservation, and a B.Sc. in Biology (Federal University of Parana). He has experience working on a broad range of wildlife conservation and management projects using large spatial and temporal datasets. Diego also has extensive experience working in industry settings outside of ecology, with a focus on developing technical documentation and robust project management systems. His programming languages of choice are R and Python.

katie-img-crop

Katie Birchard

Data Scientist

Katie is a data scientist and research software developer. She holds a Master of Data Science (University of British Columbia), an M.Sc. in Computational Genomics (Queen's University) and a B.Sc. in Biology (Queen's University). She has experience with a wide range of data science techniques, including in machine learning, neural networks, Bayesian inference and frequentist statistics. Katie is also skilled in using high performance computing environments to analyze big data. Her programming languages of choice include Python and R.

Sarah Chisholm-Head Shot

Sarah Chisholm

Spatial Ecologist

Sarah is a spatial ecologist. She holds an M.Sc. in Biology and a B.Sc. in Biology with a specialization in Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior (University of Ottawa). Sarah is experienced in working with large spatial data to answer ecological questions and support conservation decisions. She uses a range of Geographic Information System (GIS) tools to conduct spatial analyses including ArcGIS, QGIS, Google Earth Engine, R, and Python.

Alessandro Filazzola

Alessandro Filazzola

Data Scientist

Alessandro is a data scientist and computational ecologist. He is an Adjunct Faculty member at Western University and holds both a Ph.D. and B.Sc. in Biology (York University). Alessandro enjoys finding new data sources or approaches to improve our ability to manage and conserve biodiversity. He has expertise in spatial data analysis, predictive modelling, and machine learning. He often uses high performance computing for analyses of big data and codes in R, Python and Javascript, among other languages.

Carina Firkowski

Carina Rauen Firkowski

Quantitative Ecologist

Carina is a quantitative ecologist. She holds a Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (University of Toronto), an M.Sc in Ecology and Conservation, and a B.Sc. in Biology (Federal University of Parana). Carina has a background in ecological modeling and data analysis applied to decision-making contexts. She has experience monitoring change in biodiversity and ecosystem services due to the impact of management actions. She enjoys communicating science through data visualization using R and Adobe Creative Cloud.

Christopher Givelas

Christopher Givelas

Application Developer

Christopher is a software developer with a B. Comp. (Queen's University). He has 6 years of experience in the tech industry working on projects ranging from small web-based prototypes to fully integrated cloud and desktop applications. Chris is well-versed in a range of technologies including Java, C#, JavaScript, TypeScript, and SQL Query Languages, and is focused on supporting and growing the software ecosystem at ApexRMS.

SPG_Headshot

Skye Pearman-Gillman

Quantitative Ecologist

Skye is a quantitative ecologist with 5 years of experience working at the interface between ecological modeling and the management of natural resources. She holds a Ph.D. in Natural Resources (University of Vermont) and a B.Sc. in Biology (University of Washington). Skye specializes in species conservation, spatial and statistical modeling, and data analytics. Her work to date has primarily focused on climate and land use change, decision support for conservation and resource management, and wildlife risk assessment. Skye’s preferred programming languages include R and Python.

Amanda Schwantes

Amanda Schwantes

Quantitative Ecologist

Amanda is a quantitative ecologist with a Ph.D. in Ecology (Duke University). She also holds a double major B.Sc. in Environmental Science and a B.A. in Chemistry (University of Virginia). Amanda’s expertise lies in ecological modeling, remote sensing, geospatial analysis, and ecosystem service assessment. She has developed innovative ways to monitor, model, and forecast ecosystem change and its impacts on human well-being. Currently, she is focused on modeling the effectiveness of natural climate solutions in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and storing carbon. Her programming languages of choice include R and Python.

Alex photo - 1

Alex Embrey

Application Developer (Associate)

Alex is a software developer with over 15 years experience. He has developed ecological modeling software and is the lead architect for ApexRMS’s core products, including SyncroSim, ST-Sim and DG-Sim. Prior to joining ApexRMS, he was part of Microsoft’s Visual Studio team. 

Tom photo - 1

Tom Roe

Application Developer (Associate)

Tom is a software engineer with over 25 years of experience. He has broad literacy in multiple programming languages, operating systems and technology platforms. Tom has development experience in ecological modeling, spatial analysis, wildlife management and species inventory projects.

Colin photo - 1

Colin Daniel

Systems Ecologist

Colin is a systems ecologist and president of ApexRMS. He holds a Ph.D. in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology (University of Toronto), an M.Sc. in Zoology (University of British Columbia), and a B.A.Sc. in Systems Design Engineering (University of Waterloo). As an ecological consultant for over 25 years, Colin has under-taken over 200 projects for natural resource management agencies around the world. Most of these projects have focused on ecological modeling, landscape change, ecosystem carbon, wildlife management, spatial analysis and decision support.

Leonardo photo - 1

Leonardo Frid

Systems Ecologist

Leonardo is a systems ecologist with over 20 years of consulting experience. He holds an M.Sc. in Zoology and a B.Sc. in Conservation Biology (University of British Columbia). Leonardo’s work focuses on landscape simulation modeling, wildland fire risk and fuels management, invasive plant management, species at risk, and land use/land cover change. Leonardo has led numerous workshops, covering topics ranging from technical and scientific issues to strategic planning, and regularly delivers training courses in the use of landscape simulation modeling tools for decision support.

Bronwyn Rayfield

Bronwyn Rayfield

Landscape Ecologist

Bronwyn is a landscape ecologist with 10 years of experience in applied ecological research and consulting. She holds a Ph.D. in Spatial Ecology (University of Toronto) and a B.Sc. in Environmental Science (University of Guelph). Bronwyn’s expertise lies in landscape modeling, conservation decision support, and ecosystem service assessment. Her work focusses on the ecological consequences of land use and climate change, particularly the effects on wildlife habitat, landscape connectivity, and ecosystem carbon storage. 

Diego Bilski

Diego Bilski

Systems Ecologist

Diego is a biologist with a Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Ecology and Conservation, and a B.Sc. in Biology (Federal University of Parana). He has experience working on a broad range of wildlife conservation and management projects using large spatial and temporal datasets. Diego also has extensive experience working in industry settings outside of ecology, with a focus on developing technical documentation and robust project management systems. His programming languages of choice are R and Python.

katie-img-crop

Katie Birchard

Data Scientist

Katie is a data scientist and research software developer. She holds a Master of Data Science (University of British Columbia), an M.Sc. in Computational Genomics (Queen's University) and a B.Sc. in Biology (Queen's University). She has experience with a wide range of data science techniques, including in machine learning, neural networks, Bayesian inference and frequentist statistics. Katie is also skilled in using high performance computing environments to analyze big data. Her programming languages of choice include Python and R.

Sarah Chisholm-Head Shot

Sarah Chisholm

Spatial Ecologist

Sarah is a spatial ecologist. She holds an M.Sc. in Biology and a B.Sc. in Biology with a specialization in Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior (University of Ottawa). Sarah is experienced in working with large spatial data to answer ecological questions and support conservation decisions. She uses a range of Geographic Information System (GIS) tools to conduct spatial analyses including ArcGIS, QGIS, Google Earth Engine, R, and Python.

Alessandro Filazzola

Alessandro Filazzola

Data Scientist

Alessandro is a data scientist and computational ecologist. He is an Adjunct Faculty member at Western University and holds both a Ph.D. and B.Sc. in Biology (York University). Alessandro enjoys finding new data sources or approaches to improve our ability to manage and conserve biodiversity. He has expertise in spatial data analysis, predictive modelling, and machine learning. He often uses high performance computing for analyses of big data and codes in R, Python and Javascript, among other languages. 

Carina Firkowski

Carina Rauen Firkowski

Quantitative Ecologist

Carina is a quantitative ecologist. She holds a Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (University of Toronto), an M.Sc in Ecology and Conservation, and a B.Sc. in Biology (Federal University of Parana). Carina has a background in ecological modeling and data analysis applied to decision-making contexts. She has experience monitoring change in biodiversity and ecosystem services due to the impact of management actions. She enjoys communicating science through data visualization using R and Adobe Creative Cloud.

Christopher Givelas

Christopher Givelas

Application Developer

Christopher is a software developer with a B. Comp. (Queen's University). He has 6 years of experience in the tech industry working on projects ranging from small web-based prototypes to fully integrated cloud and desktop applications. Chris is well-versed in a range of technologies including Java, C#, JavaScript, TypeScript, and SQL Query Languages, and is focused on supporting and growing the software ecosystem at ApexRMS.

SPG_Headshot

Skye Pearman-Gillman

Quantitative Ecologist

Skye is a quantitative ecologist with 5 years of experience working at the interface between ecological modeling and the management of natural resources. She holds a Ph.D. in Natural Resources (University of Vermont) and a B.Sc. in Biology (University of Washington). Skye specializes in species conservation, spatial and statistical modeling, and data analytics. Her work to date has primarily focused on climate and land use change, decision support for conservation and resource management, and wildlife risk assessment. Skye’s preferred programming languages include R and Python.

Amanda Schwantes

Amanda Schwantes

Quantitative Ecologist

Amanda is a quantitative ecologist with a Ph.D. in Ecology (Duke University). She also holds a double major B.Sc. in Environmental Science and a B.A. in Chemistry (University of Virginia). Amanda’s expertise lies in ecological modeling, remote sensing, geospatial analysis, and ecosystem service assessment. She has developed innovative ways to monitor, model, and forecast ecosystem change and its impacts on human well-being. Currently, she is focused on modeling the effectiveness of natural climate solutions in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and storing carbon. Her programming languages of choice include R and Python.

Alex photo - 1

Alex Embrey

Application Developer (Associate)

Alex is a software developer with over 15 years experience. He has developed eco-logical modeling software and is the lead coder on ApexRMS’s core products, including SyncroSim, ST-Sim and DG-Sim. Prior to joining ApexRMS, he was part of Microsoft’s Visual Studio team. 

Tom photo - 1

Tom Roe

Application Developer (Associate)

Tom is a software engineer with over 25 years of experience. He has broad literacy in multiple programming languages, operating systems and technology platforms. Tom has development experience in ecological modeling, spatial analysis, wildlife management and species inventory projects.