FRI Research

06/16/2026

We're at the NACW in Yellowknife to present Caribou Program research! Catch Laura's talk this morning and swing by the poster session Wednesday evening. In addition to Leonie's poster, you can also find our friends , who will be sharing info about a virtual fence pilot project to protect caribou along Highway 40!

06/05/2026

It's a double header! The crews are already bringing us back the critical data we need – trail camera photos, veg measurements, fish surveys, and as a bonus, a cool science fact and a new song recommendation! Find out how frogs keep an eye on their food here:

https://friresearch.ca/news/meet-the-2026-field-crews

Next: a rookie field tech far from home shares the good and the bad from his first ever shift:

https://friresearch.ca/news/a-green-field-techs-view-of-fieldwork

Meet the 2026 Field Crews A welcome BBQ. Photo: Solène Williams Each spring is exciting. Bursts of wildflowers decorate the ground, migrating birds stop off to sing their songs for us, and our office once again hums with the added energy of the new field crew. The mix of new and returning faces are...

05/29/2026

The 2026 field season launched this month, and Sue is back to tell us about it! What's new this year, what makes field work special, and what's the latest on Sew the cat? Photos and answers in the first blog:

2026 Grizzly Bear Field Work | Part 1 Crew members Sierra and Zach (centre) teaming up with biologists Beth and Andrew at the Cardinal River Mine. Written by Sue MacKinnon; photos from the crew. It’s the most wonderful time of the year – the day I’ve been counting down to since Christmas. It.....

05/12/2026

If you're at the 2026 conference , you can catch preliminary results from 2 of our projects:
1️⃣What's affecting moose population trends
2️⃣The accuracy vs time sweet spot for image classification

04/08/2026

The Caribou Program is looking for a new member of the team! Apply by April 26.

Employment Opportunity: Biologist The Biologist will be part of a team working on applied research questions linked to moose and other ungulates in Alberta. The Biologist will lead a project building multi-scale habitat selection/occupancy models. The position consists of desk-based work (data analy...

04/07/2026

How big is a grizzly bear? At full stretch, this bear was about 1.25 field techs tall.

03/24/2026

Rompaging bears at the hair snag site!

03/23/2026

It's World Bear Day! Since 1998 we have been on the forefront of grizzly bear research in Alberta, learning about the species, honing our methods, and finding answers to better manage this threatened species.

03/22/2026

SPOILERS BELOW
This footage is from one of our summer 2025 surveys in the Willmore Wilderness. Our Water and Fish Program is working all along the eastern slopes to improve our understanding of Alberta's streams.

03/20/2026

These beauties are back! 😍
🛑 Please, please, PLEASE SLOW DOWN and drive with extra caution within the Caribou Corridor on 🆎 Hwy 40 btwn Hinton and Grande Cache. Pay special attention btwn the Big Berland River and Muskeg River.
Thank you for reporting your caribou sightings! 🤗