Brielle Reidlinger (Photo courtesy of Brielle Reidlinger)
Brielle Reidlinger
MSc student, University of Saskatchewan (2022-present)
Brielle Reidlinger, Weston Family Conservation Science Fellow with the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC), is passionate about the Prairies, birds and ranching. With the help of the Fellowship, she hopes her research will help further the understanding of songbirds in the Prairies. Working with NCC allows her to be out in the field where she feels like she can make the most difference.
Brielle grew up in a ranching community in southern Alberta and her family has owned and operated a cattle ranch for over 30 years. Her love for animals was instilled at a very early age, but it wasn’t until she went into post-secondary education that she began to recognize her passions.
In Brielle’s own words, her growing interest in conservation was mostly “a fluke,” as she studied general sciences at Mount Royal University in Calgary.
However, she turned that interest into a true passion as she moved to Victoria the following year to study geography and environmental studies at the University of Victoria (UVic). Spending six years on Vancouver Island, Brielle became more passionate about birds, which she attributed to her volunteer work at a bird observatory. She volunteered with Rocky Point Bird Observatory, which focuses on bird populations on the West Coast. She began to have fun banding birds and conducting bird surveys.
After her studies in UVic, Brielle pursued a master’s degree in plant science at the University of Saskatchewan. She worked at NCC in Alberta as a national engagement intern for one summer and then as a conservation technician for four months before being accepted into the Weston Family Conservation Science Fellowship Program. This opportunity brought Brielle to a new part of the Prairies to learn more about Saskatchewan’s birds.
Brielle's first field season in 2022 was filled with many long and physically taxing hikes through the Cypress hills, early morning bird surveys and vegetation surveys. She conducted her work on one of NCC’s most pristine grasslands, the Old Man on His Back Prairie and Heritage Conservation Area.
Her research has her looking and listening for songbirds. She wants to understand how the breeding success of different species relates to grazing by cattle compared to bison and different grazing pressures. She hopes to shine a light on how grassland management and grazing affects breeding grassland songbirds.
Brielle is extremely proud of the field work that she has done so far with NCC and the Fellowship Program. She overcame early field days and long hours on the land with perseverance and passion for her research.
Looking to the future, Brielle sees herself moving back to southern Alberta and continuing to work in conservation. She hopes she can find a way to research the birds of Alberta and compare them to the birds that she has observed in Saskatchewan and BC. Brielle looks forward to all opportunities that the Fellowship is giving her to further her education in a hands-on way and hopes that she will be able to continue her passion for grassland conservation, ranching and birds.
