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INSTRUCTOR TEAM

Out to Learn is a team of professionals that has the expertise to develop and deliver programmes that are accurate, interesting and tailored to the Ontario curriculum.  The following provides profiles of the Out to Learn instructor team.

Irene Heaven, Wildlife Biologist, Honours B.Sc.

Irene brings eleven years of outdoor and environmental education experience to Out to Learn. Irene's responsibilities include developing and delivering many of the Out to Learn programs as well as coordinating the Haliburton Muskoka Kawartha Childrens Water Festival.  Irene also teaches for the School of Environmental & Natural Resource Sciences at Sir Sandford Fleming College in Haliburton. Irene is a wildlife biologist with extensive field and public relations experience.  She was an instructor at the Leslie M. Frost Natural Resources Centre for four years and a wildlife biologist at the Haliburton Forest & Wild Life Reserve for seven.  Irene's responsibilities at the Haliburton Forest included interpreting the behaviour of a captive wolf pack, editing and writing for the Wolf Centre's annual magazine Wolves, developing a fisheries management plan and an ecological monitoring study to determine the differences between various silvicultural systems.  Irene also monitored the annual deer, bear and moose hunts at the Forest.

Internationally, Irene was a research assistant and scientific interpreter for a guanaco (wild form of llama) study in Patagonia, Chile and a group leader for a sea turtle nesting program in Belize.

Irene has hands-on experience working with sea turtles, Belizean river turtles, snapping turtles, waterfowl, songbirds, white-tailed deer, moose, black bear, stump-tailed macaques, harbour seals, guanacos, flying squirrels and wolves.

Paul Heaven, Wildlife Biologist, Honours B.Sc.

Paul is a consulting ecologist who conducts floral and faunal inventories, environmental impact assessments and wetland evaluations.  In Ontario, he is working closely with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and the Haliburton Highlands Land Trust to map potentially suitable habitat for Species at Risk. Paul is a certified and practicing Wetland Evaluator and Managed Forest Plan Approver; and develops forest management plans for private landowners.  Paul directs and oversees all aspects of studies and research projects, as well as field work and data collection, conducted by Glenside Ecological Services Limited.

Paul's international experience includes developing an ecological monitoring program to minimize the impact of the clearance of unexploded ordnance from the Panama Canal rangelands; developing a database for the Monterey Bay Sea Otter Rehabilitation program in California; and conducting radio-telemetry for a guanaco parental investment study in Chile. 

Paul has enjoyed applying his practical expertise to ecological and natural resources education as part of the Out to Learn team.

Barrie Martin, Wildlife Biologist, Honours B.Sc.

Barrie has twenty-eight years of experience with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (OMNR) coordinating, planning, developing and presenting outdoor and natural resource education at the Leslie M. Frost Natural Resources Centre.   With extensive experience in event and conference planning Barrie has led several special projects including an education strategy for the OMNR, an Aboriginal Awareness Training and Education plan, coordination of Project WILD, Fish Ways, and Focus on Forests in Ontario, and co-coordination of Environmental Science AQ courses in partnership with Nipissing University.  He has served on boards and committees for the Haliburton District School Board, Toronto Zoo Council of outdoor Educators of Ontario, Ontario Trails Council, Haliburton Highlands Trails and Tours Network and is a member of Environmental Education Ontario. Barrie has also worked as a biologist, research technician, park naturalist and resource technician. Barrie is also the owner and operator of Yours Outdoors; a company that offers unique learning vacations and outdoor adventures that explore the rich natural and cultural heritage of Haliburton County.

Rick Whitteker, Outdoor and Experiential Educator, B.Ed., B.A.

Combining a Bachelor of Education and specialty certificate in Outdoor and Experiential Education with 20 years of experience in a wide range of capacities and settings, Rick brings a rich teaching and facilitation background to the team of Out to Learn.  Rick has worked several seasons as a wilderness and ecotour guide in Ontario, as well as overseas, and as an environmental educator at a variety of outdoor centres.  Rick is well grounded in adventure education having worked with such organizations as Outward Bound Wilderness School and Haliburton Forest and Wildlife Reserve.  Rick is presently the coordinator and faculty in the Outdoor Adventure Skills program at Fleming College in Lindsay.  

 

Experiential learning that lasts a lifetime!

 
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