Naira Johnston has more than 15 years of experience working for non-profit, government, and private sectors in western North America where her work has focused on applied research and conservation of wildlife and wildlife habitat. In addition, Naira is accomplished in plant and wildlife identification, wildlife study design, field-data collection, field-crew supervision, statistical analysis (R and DISTANCE), technical report writing, and presentation of study findings.

Naira began her career banding birds and conducting point counts in Washington State, followed by studying nesting behaviours of provincially-listed sparrows within managed landscapes in the Okanagan region of British Columbia. Her M.Sc. research focused on flight behaviour of Golden Eagles along their migration corridor at a proposed mountain-top wind-energy development in the Rocky Mountain foothills of northeast B.C. A subsequent research associate position involved a post-construction study of behavioural responses of Golden Eagles to that development during operations.

As a professional consulting biologist, Naira’s portfolio includes technical input and guidance on major development projects in the oil and gas, mining, and wind energy industries. In this capacity, she has worked closely with regulators of federal and provincial environmental assessment in addressing matters of wildlife and habitat conservation, together with the rights and interests of First Nations situated nearby. Naira is a Registered Professional Biologist (R.P.Bio.) in B.C. under the College of Applied Biologists.