Six years in the making, the first edition of Sharing the Skies compiled information collected by Transport Canada. Under the direction of Bruce MacKinnon, cooperative education students from the University of Waterloo and the University of Manitoba gathered, researched and analyzed much of the content. Additional material was created through private consulting-firm contracts paid for and managed by Transport Canada. Jacques Whitford Environment Limited of Ottawa, Canada, managed and administered the contract to produce Sharing the Skies.
Editors
Bruce MacKinnon
Mr. MacKinnon is a graduate of the University of Calgary, where he specialized in large mammal behaviour. He spent 22 years working throughout Canada in the National Park Warden Service, and was involved in wildlife-management, mountain-rescue and avalanche-control programs. He is currently the Wildlife Control Specialist for Transport Canada, Civil Aviation, and has chaired Bird Strike Committee Canada since 1993. He is also chair of awareness for the International Bird Strike Committee. Mr. MacKinnon has written and edited numerous publications on wildlife-hazard issues, and has been involved as an advisor and expert witness in the management of bird-strike issues and land-use conflicts around the world. He is a general-aviation pilot, and builds experimental aircraft.
Captain Richard Sowden
Captain Sowden is a 21-year veteran of Air Canada, and is currently an A320 Line Indoctrination Training Captain. A 1977 graduate of the Aviation and Flight Technology program at Seneca College, Richard has maintained a keen interest in flight-safety issues throughout his career. He was instrumental in the development of the Air Canada Pilot Association’s (ACPA) Technical and Safety Division, serving for five years as its first Chairman. He is also active as ACPA’s representative on the NAV CANADA Advisory Committee, where he chairs the safety sub-committee. Captain Sowden is a member of the Bird Strike Committee Canada, and has been a pilot representative on wildlife-hazard safety-review teams since 1991. In 1993 Richard founded Avian Aviation Consultants to evaluate bird- and wildlife-strike hazards, develop reduction strategies and provide related aviation-industry training. A 13,000-hour pilot intimately familiar with today’s highly sophisticated flying environment, Richard finds his escape in a simpler pursuit. As a member of the Ontario Aviation Historical Society, he builds, flies and demonstrates replicas of the open-cockpit, fabric-covered aircraft of World War I.
Kristi Russell
A graduate of Ontario’s University of Waterloo (Honours Bachelor of Environmental Studies in Geography), Kristi has been an important part of Transport Canada’s wildlife-management team since 1999. She began with the Department as a co-op student, during which time she participated actively in preparing the first edition of Sharing the Skies. Since joining the Aerodrome Safety Branch as Assistant Wildlife Control Specialist in 2002, Kristi has made a number of important contributions to the field. She played a key role in researching, writing and revising the third edition of the Department’s Wildlife Control Procedures Manual, and currently manages Transport Canada’s National Birdstrike Database. Most recently, Kristi supervised revisions for the second edition of Sharing the Skies.
Stewart Dudley
As a senior writer with the firm of Stiff Sentences Inc., Stewart Dudley is a seasoned communicator with 20 years experience as a writer, editor, video director and producer. Honours for his creative accomplishments range from Gemini Awards nominations to New York Film Festival commendations. Meticulous, determined and creative, Stewart brought his considerable knowledge of the fine points of grammar, syntax and diction to bear on the final drafts of this work.
Contributors
Rolph A. Davis, Ph.D.
Dr. Davis received his doctoral degree in Avian Ecology from the University of Western Ontario in 1972. He joined LGL Limited—an environmental research consulting company—that same year and became president in 1979. A specialist in aircraftrelated bird-hazard issues, Dr. Davis has appeared as an expert witness before numerous regulatory bodies and tribunals. Dr. Davis authored and co-authored more than 100 reports and papers on aircraft bird hazards, as well as bird health and nuisance issues related to landfills and airports.
Terry Kelly
Mr. Kelly’s career in safety spans more than 20 years. He was educated at the University of Waterloo and obtained a graduate degree from the University of Alberta. Starting his career as a military pilot, Mr. Kelly has acquired more than 5,000 flying hours. Since his move to the private sector, he has dedicated his professional energies to safety. Mr. Kelly led proactive safety-risk assessments of such multi-million dollar projects as the runway expansion at Toronto’s Lester B. Pearson airport and the development of the Sea Island Conservation Area at Vancouver International Airport. He is the author of numerous articles and technical papers, and is president of Safety Management Systems, based in Ottawa, Canada.
Ron Huizer, B.Sc.
A Senior Biologist with Jacques Whitford Environment Limited, Mr. Huizer is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario where he earned an Honours B.Sc. in zoology. He is a specialist in biological and ecological surveys and environmental assessment. Over the past decade, Mr. Huizer has developed wildlife-control management plans for airports, conducted assessments of potential bird hazards associated with various land uses near airports, and participated in the establishment of bird-hazard zones for Canadian airports. Through the 1990s he was a primary instructor for the Transport Canada Wildlife Control Training course provided to airport staff across Canada.
W. John Richardson
Dr. Richardson received his B.Sc. in biology from McMaster University in 1968, and his Ph.D. in animal behavior from Cornell University in 1976. He is Executive Vice President of LGL Limited, where he has worked since 1973. From 1965 to 1971, Dr. Richardson conducted radar studies of bird movements in many parts of Canada and the Caribbean on behalf of the National Research Council Associate Committee on Bird Hazards to Aircraft. He helped to establish the bird-forecast system at Canadian Forces Base Cold Lake, and to initiate radar studies of roost and migratory movements in Ontario. After joining LGL, Dr. Richardson performed radar and bird studies near Toronto as part of the planning for a new Toronto airport at Pickering during 1973-74; he also conducted migration studies using DEW radars in Yukon and Alaska between 1975 and 1977. As an ongoing project, he is compiling a worldwide database of serious bird-strike accidents, emphasizing military experiences. Since 1980, Dr. Richardson has devoted much of his time to studies of marine mammals, especially their reactions to noise and disturbance.
Paul A. Hayes, M.B.A.
Mr. Hayes was one of the founding partners of AeroCan Aviation Specialists Inc. in 1983, and is now president of the firm. He has more than 30 years of experience providing management-consulting and aviation-planning services to clients in both the public and private sectors. Prior to establishing AeroCan Aviation, Mr. Hayes spent 13 years as a senior consultant and manager with KMPG in the firm’s general-management consulting practice. He is a commercial pilot, licensed on fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft, and brings a strong practical viewpoint to all his aviation-consulting assignments.
Howard M. Malone, P.Eng., MCIP, RPP
One of the founding partners of AeroCan Aviation Specialists Inc. in 1983, Mr. Malone is now a vice-president of the firm. He has more than 25 years consulting experience with specific emphasis on aviation planning. Mr. Malone also has more than 30 years of flying experience and holds a current Airline Transport Rating pilot’s licence endorsed for the DC9, DC8, B727, B767 and B747. Mr. airside-master and system planning, airport crash, fire and rescue capabilities, general aviation operations, aviation policy and regulation, airport zoning and obstacle-clearance protection and bird-hazard assessment and management.
Ross E. Harris, M.Sc.
A wildlife biologist with specialized knowledge and experience in ornithological studies, Mr. Harris has observed and closely studied birds for more than 30 years. He works with LGL Limited, and has conducted over 20 bird-hazard projects in Canada and the United States. These include many studies of gull populations and movements associated with landfill sites near airports, an extensive literature review of the efficacy of bird-control products and techniques for use at airports, and a review of the wildlifecontrol program at Lester B. Pearson International Airport.