Caribou biologist calls it a career after 27 years

What started for Leslie Wakelyn as a six-month mapping contract in 1996 turned into a 27-year career as a caribou biologist.

Now Wakelyn is retired, as of Jan. 1, from her position with the Beverly and Qamanirjuaq Caribou Management Board.

Reflecting on her career, Wakelyn said she felt like she played a small role in conservation.

“Something that I believe is very important and where you can make a difference,” she said.

The Beverly and Qamanirjuaq barren-ground caribou herds are found in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.

The board’s responsibility is to protect these herds in collaboration with nearby communities as well as provincial and territorial governments and the federal government.

Wakelyn said there were multiple reasons that she stayed with the board for 27 years: The variety of projects, the people she worked with, and the ability to work in the world of caribou were some of them.

She said she had the chance to participate in projects involving mapping and community-based monitoring as well as caribou management plans.

But what Wakelyn said she will miss most is the people. That includes the board staff she worked with as well as those with other wildlife organizations, such as the hunters and trappers in the Kivalliq region.

She’s grateful for having the chance to travel throughout the North and learn from people from different cultures.

“Meeting people in their own communities has been really valuable to me,” Wakelyn said.

She pointed to challenges in her career as well. When the board first formed in 1982, its mandate was to address the “quite deep divisions” between how the government and local communities viewed conservation.

“There’s been a lot of work that’s been done to get people to understand each other’s point of view,” Wakelyn said.

People still have disagreements over conservation, she added, but the points of view from Nunavummiut on conservation are included in land-use plans.

“The main point is everybody needs to work together,” she said.

As for future challenges, Wakelyn pointed to climate change and the need to ensure there are no barriers to caribou movements.

“That’s fundamental to the continuance of caribou herds,” she said.

Even with those challenges, Wakelyn said it’s a good time to retire, as there are good, dedicated people working on caribou management.

“Things are in place to make good [outcomes] to happen,” she said.

Wakelyn anticipates the Beverly and Qamanirjuaq Caribou Management Board will soon release a new caribou management plan for the herds.