Ralph Bird Award Recipient 2015
Paula Grieef has been the Resident Naturalist at the Oak Hammock Marsh Interpretive Centre, Manitoba for 17 years. She coordinates the management of the leased land on which the Centre is located, in collaboration with Ducks Unlimited Canada and the Province of Manitoba. She manages all employee training, and delivers Natural History workshops to staff and general public. She also coordinates all wildlife surveys including bird counts as well as the songbird banding program offered at Oak Hammock. During this time, she has shown exceptional observational and recording skills. As well, her ability to educate and train others (staff, students and general public) as to the importance of this research widens the scope. Outside of Oak Hammock, Paula is also the co-ordinator for Region 3 (Red River Valley) for the Manitoba Breeding Bird Atlas. She helped get the atlas project up and running, co-ordinated volunteers for five years and is part of the data review committee. Paula also sits on the steering committee for the Manitoba Important Bird Area program and has volunteered for both Christmas Bird Counts and Breeding Bird Surveys for over 20 years. She started the Delta Marsh Bird Observatory in 1995 and has been involved with that organization since then. She currently sits on the board of directors. All of these accomplishments make Paula a deserving recipient of the Ralph Bird award.