Gray Whales with Dr. Aimée Lang - Incredible Journeys

Gray Whales with Dr. Aimée Lang - Incredible Journeys - RES Speaker Series

Gray Whales with Dr. Aimée Lang Raincoast Education Society Speaker Series

Raincoast Education Society is excited to host their 2026 Speaker Series, Incredible Journeys, featuring guest speakers exploring the science behind some of the planet’s most remarkable migrations.

Dr. Aimée Lang will present insights into the status of eastern North Pacific gray whales based on monitoring whales on their migratory route and also highlight the importance of understanding movement patterns and migratory connectivity for effective conservation and management.

About the speaker: Dr. Aimée first began studying gray whales in 2002, when she began her Ph.D. work through the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. She spent the next six summers collecting photographs and biopsies from the gray whales that feed off Sakhalin Island, Russia. After completing her PhD, she continued to work on gray whales at the Southwest Fisheries Science Center, where most of her research focuses on using genetic and genomic tools to better understand the behavior and population structure of marine mammals. She also leads the field component of SWFSC’s two shore-based surveys to monitor abundance and calf production in the eastern North Pacific gray whale population.

Photo Credit: NOAA Fisheries

February 2026

Amphitrite Lighthouse Educational Centre - Wild Pacific Trail Society
February 01 - March 31
Daily Interpretive topics can be explored from the new Interpretive Centre overlooking the iconic Amphitrite Lighthouse. Learn about the Wild Pacific Trail, Ucluelet, and the array of ecosystems on the Pacific Rim!

Small Town Big Picture: Tofino - Ambassador Program
February 11
This three-hour orientation session delivers the “big picture” of living in Tofino.

Tofino Community Initiative Fruit tree pruning and grafting workshop — Fruit tree pruning and grafting workshop - Tofino Community Food Initiative
February 13
Join the Tofino Community Food Initiative along with expert farmers, educators, and fruit tree specialists Robin and Jordan of Gibsons Farm.

Supporting Outdoor Risky Play Workshop — Supporting Outdoor Risky Play - Free Workshop
February 16
The Clayoquot Biosphere Trust is hosting Rachel Ramsden from the BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, an Outdoor Play Specialist, for an in-person interactive workshop.

Arctic Turns with Dr. Mark Mallory Raincoast Education Society Speaker Series — Arctic Terns with Dr. Mark Mallory - Incredible Journeys - RES Speaker Series
February 19
Raincoast Education Society is excited to host their 2026 Speaker Series, Incredible Journeys, featuring guest speakers exploring the science behind some of the planet’s most remarkable migrations.

Arctic Terns with Dr. Mark Mallory - Incredible Journeys - RES Speaker Series

Raincoast Education Society is excited to host their 2026 Speaker Series, Incredible Journeys, featuring guest speakers exploring the science behind some of the planet’s most remarkable migrations.

Breeding biology and annual movements of Arctic Terns from Nunavut, Canada

Arctic terns (Sterna paradisaea) are a small seabird with a circumpolar distribution. Scientists and northern Indigenous Peoples have reported declines in numbers of Arctic terns in the 21st Century, but in Canada, very little was known about their breeding or movements. To that end, Dr. Mallory's team undertook a multiyear study of tern breeding, diet, and movement from a colony at Nasaruvaalik Island in the high Arctic. In this presentation, he will summarize some of what we found about the challenges they face during nesting, the incredible information they documented on their year-round movements, and how these data continue to give us benefits in considering issues like marine protection in Canada and on the open oceans.

About the speaker: Dr. Mark Mallory is a Canada Research Chair at Acadia University, Nova Scotia, where he studies effects of climate change, pollution, and human activity on coastal environments (especially seabirds) in the Canadian Maritimes and Arctic.

He has worked in Nunavut for 25 years, and lived in Iqaluit, Nunavut from 1999-2011. Although focused on birds in Canada’s high Arctic, Mark’s collaborations stretch from Alaska to Norway, and he has extensive work underway in Labrador and Nova Scotia.

He has written > 400 scientific papers, as well as the book Common Birds of Nunavut, and has led >25 Arctic research expeditions. His research led to the creation of Akpait and Qaqulluit National Wildlife Areas on eastern Baffin Island, and the uplisting of ivory gulls to Endangered status.

Mark has been appointed to two Arctic Council international expert groups, the College of the Royal Society of Canada, was made a Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, and was awarded a Fulbright Canada Chair in Arctic Studies at the University of Washington. Mostly, though, he just likes watching birds.

Photo Credits: Raincoast Education Society