Stu Barnes, Chair/Operations Manager
Stu Barnes (Axdii A Yee) is an active member of Wilps Dawamuukw in the Gitksan feast system and sits on council for the Kispiox Band, where he grew up and currently resides. He is a father of two, and has coached and played in the local sports scene since he was a child. As SFC Chair, Stu facilitates various engagements, including the Skeena Fisheries Commission Technical Committee. Stu was integral in developing the Skeena First Nations Technical Committee, as a representative for Upper Skeena First Nations on the First Nations Fisheries Council at both the Council and Executive levels. He sits on the Pacific Salmon Commission Northern Panel for Canada, and the Northern Integrated Commercial Fisheries Initiative.
Allison Oliver, M.S., Ph.D., Aquatic Ecologist
Allison is an aquatic ecologist and biogeochemist. She earned her Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy in Ecology at the University of California, Davis, and was a Hakai Institute postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Alberta. Her background includes a wide variety of aquatic ecosystem projects, including stream ecology, limnology, carbon and nutrient biogeochemistry, constituent flux modeling, watershed processes, aquatic community and benthic macroinvertebrate ecology, coastal estuarine processes, and more. Allison has over a decade of experience in grant writing, leading projects, and publishing in the peer-reviewed literature. She serves on several First Nations-led committees in the Skeena focused on restoring and protecting salmon populations and salmon watersheds, and is a Trustee with the Skeena Knowledge Trust and an AFS Climate Ambassador.
Kyla Warren, M. Sc., R.P. Bio, Fish Habitat Biologist
Kyla is a fish habitat biologist and environmental assessment specialist. She has a joint Bachelor of Science in Biology and Environmental Studies from Trent University and a Master of Science in Natural Resources and Environmental Science (Biology) from the University of Northern British Columbia. Her past experience includes fish and fish habitat studies from across Western and Northern Canada, including BC, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut. Her fieldwork has focused on the interactions between aquatic ecosystems and anthropogenic impacts, including surveying fish populations and communities, habitat mapping, radio-telemetry, benthic invertebrate surveys, habitat suitability modelling, and hydroacoustic surveys. She has extensive experience both conducting and reviewing environmental assessments and habitat restoration plans for major industrial projects including mines, roads, oil and gas, hydro, and pipelines.
Janvier Doire, M. Sc., R.P. Bio, Fisheries Biologist
Janvier completed a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a Master of Science in Environmental Sciences at the Université du Québec à Montréal. After moving to BC in 2004, he worked as a biologist for a small environmental consultant firm, and became a Registered Professional Biologist in 2008. He began working with the SFC in July 2010, where he runs various projects related to salmon and other species in the Skeena Watershed, including Chinook radio-telemetry, Chinook DNA baseline, Babine River sockeye smolt estimation, sockeye creel surveys, sockeye summer juvenile lake hydroacoustic estimation, Dungeness crab ultrasonic telemetry around Flora and Agnew Banks, and others. He is also an active member of the Skeena First Nations Technical Committee. In his free time, he spends as much time as possible around rivers, the ocean, or in the mountains, and hopes to transmit his passion for fish and the outdoors to his two daughters.
Ryneld Starr, Administration and Communications
Ryneld is a member of the Gitxsan Nation, part of the Gisgaast (Fireweed Clan) and Wilps Wii Gyet (House of Wii Gyet). His background is in journalism, having attended the University College of the Cariboo, Simon Fraser University, and the BC Institute of Technology. He has worked with some of BC’s leading news organizations such as CKNW Radio and CTV News. After leaving journalism, he spent two years as communications officer for BCAFN Regional Chief Shawn Ah-in-chut Atleo, culminating in a successful bid by Ah-in-chut as AFN National Chief. He worked with the Four Host First Nations and the Vancouver Olympic Committee during the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics supporting coverage for the Aboriginal Pavilion, Artisan village, and Business Showcase. Following his Olympic experience, Ryneld returned home to the Gitxsan territories to work with the Skeena Fisheries Commission where he continues in administration and communications.
Christine Scotnicki, J.D., In-House Legal Counsel
Christine has practiced Aboriginal law in the interests of Indigenous peoples since attending the University of Victoria law school and being called to the bar in 1989. After several years working with a downtown Vancouver firm providing general legal services primarily to Bands, Tribal Councils, and several national Indigenous organizations, Christine began working with the then Gitksan & Wet’suwet’en Tribal Council in early 1991. She became in-house counsel with the Gitksan Chiefs in November, 1994 and was involved with negotiations at the provincial and federal levels as the Chiefs implemented several governance initiatives, notably for community-based self-government, health services, and child welfare. She advised the Chiefs in treaty negotiations in the post-Delgamuukw era. Christine has worked for the Gitksan Watershed Authorities and Skeena Fisheries Commission since late 2003. With growing development pressures on the territories of the SFC First Nations, her work has increasingly involved issues at the intersection of Aboriginal and environmental law. She resides on southern Vancouver Island on the territories of the Lekwungen speaking peoples.
Jose Johnson, Fisheries Technician
Bio coming soon.
Jake Giguere, Fisheries Technician
Jake joined the Skeena Fisheries Commission in 2021 as a Fisheries Technician, offering support on various field projects and data analysis. Jake brings two decades of experience in the wildlife, fisheries and conservation industries. As a big game, mountain and fishing guide, Jake has managed camps and crews in Northwest BC, in challenging environments and geography, to conduct world class experiences for clients from around the world. He sits on the advisory committee for Bear Trust International, whose mission is to conserve all eight species of the world’s bears, reinforce ecosystem viability through habitat conservation, and education projects that build on timely research. Jake grew up in Northwestern BC in the Hazeltons surrounded by the Skeena Mountains. He shares his passion for the outdoors with his two daughters and partner by exploring, camping and enjoying the wilderness and mountains.