HomeDucks Unlimited Increases Service in Atlantic Canada with Two New Staff Members 
Amherst NS, July 10 – Ducks Unlimited's conservation team in Atlantic Canada has recently increased in size. The wetland conservation organization has added two new positions to take advantage of the conservation opportunities that exist in the region. The people of Nova Scotia will be among those benefiting from DU's newly acquired expertise in agriculture and geographic information systems according to Mark Gloutney, DU's conservation program manager for Atlantic Canada.
"Our program delivery has really taken off in Atlantic Canada," said Gloutney from DU's Amherst office. "The people living here are generally very willing to address the sustainability of their land-use practices. We are expanding our staff so we can enhance our conservation programs and better address the needs of the people in the province and the region."
Carolyn Connell is a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) specialist working in Ducks Unlimited's Amherst office. Through GIS computer programs, Connell can combine elements on maps to increase the amount of information available to Ducks Unlimited staff involved in directing conservation programs in Atlantic Canada.
Prior to joining DU, Connell worked for an environmental consulting company in Hinton, Alberta. She completed her undergraduate degree in Natural Resource Management at the University of Guelph, Ontario. After graduation, she spent a year at the College of Geographical Sciences in Nova Scotia studying GIS. Connell's GIS skills and her fluency in French and English will complement Ducks Unlimited's conservation program staff.
"As the first GIS specialist in the Maritimes, I hope to target our conservation efforts to areas where the benefits are maximized," Connell said. "I'm anticipating the opportunities to travel to DU offices across the Maritimes to assist staff in planning."
Also joining Ducks Unlimited's Amherst office is agricultural specialist for Atlantic Canada, Nicole Allain. She is a professional agronomist who, prior to DU, established conservation clubs for agricultural landowners in New Brunswick. The clubs, which bring together people within a watershed, provide a social and educational environment for the introduction and adoption of economically viable, sustainable land use practices. Allain worked extensively with conservation club landowners to develop nutrient management plans.
In her new position, Allain will oversee the development, evolution and delivery of DU's programs to agricultural landowners.
"I am eager to contribute to the growth of sustainable development and to generating solutions for general environmental issues and agricultural sector problems," Allain said. "I look forward to meeting and working with DU's existing agricultural landowner partners and to attracting more landowners by offering programs that will address their needs."
Fluently bilingual in French and English, Allain is a graduate of the Agriculture College in Truro, Nova Scotia, and of Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick, where she obtained BSc degrees.
Ducks Unlimited Canada is a private, nonprofit organization that conserves wetlands and associated habitats for the benefit of waterfowl, other wildlife and people. Since DU started working in Nova Scotia in 1965, it has invested over $20 million in wetland habitat conservation in the province and over $54 million in the region.
