MEET THE TEAM

Mike graduated from the University of Victoria in 1979 with a degree in Marine Biology and began his fisheries career in the same year. He began his career with DFO, followed by a stint with another consulting company and in 1987 he started his own company. Over the years he has worked on a variety of watersheds on Vancouver Island, the Sunshine Coast and the Lower Mainland conducting research on salmonid populations, habitat restoration (both freshwater and marine), impact assessments, prescription development and mitigation plans. Since 1981 Mike has worked closely with many of the First Nations on Vancouver Island, he has worked with one nation for a total of 41 consecutive years. His work with the nations includes everything from setting up specialized training courses such as GPS and GIS, providing on the ground training to First Nations Fisheries Personal all the way to acting as advisor in Treaty Negotiations, In the last fifteen years has begun to work with other nations on the Sunshine Coast and on the mainland. In 2007 he decided to add a software division to the company and has since produced software used by the salmon fishing industry for catch monitoring on the west coast and by part of the lobster fisheries on the east coast, as well as Habitat Bank monitoring software used by the Federal and Provincial governments and Industry. During downtime Mike travels the world with Terrie and now has his sights set on Antarctica.

December 18, 1957 – July 2, 2022 It is with heavy hearts that we announce that Terrie passed away unexpectedly at Nanaimo General Hospital on July 2, 2022. Terrie is survived by her loving husband/best friend, Michael “Mike” Wright; sisters, Barb (Geoff) Parsley, and Bonnie (Greg) Lynch; as well as sister in laws, nephews, nieces, and great nephews and nieces.Terrie is preceded in death by parents Shirley and Dennis Bale, and her beloved dogs Bilo and Bear. Terrie not only left behind family, she also left behind friends – especially Val, her dearest friend for the past 42 years, Kate, along with many others who would take so long to mention. Terrie loved to travel. Her lifelong dream to travel Africa became a reality for her first in 2010 doing Safari’s in Kenya, Tanzania, and South Africa. In 2019 she and Mike returned to Africa and went on Safari’s in Botswana and South Africa. Some of her other favorite destinations included the Galapagos Islands, Turneffe Island (Belize), Amsterdam, and Ireland. Terrie was an avid reader and had a passion for cooking. You would often find her reading cook books, taking notes and adapting recipes. She also had a passion for riding horses and loved to watch horse jumping which lead to yearly visits to Spruce Meadows. She enjoyed curling (participating and watching) along with following her favorite baseball and football teams; the Blue Jays and Seattle Seahawks. Terrie was a candid person, she spoke her mind, and was true to her friends and family. She will be missed by many but will live on in our hearts and memories. As her friend and Co-Worker, Miranda wrote: “Terrie was a force. And though she may have been small, the shoes that she left behind to fill are enormous.”  

Miranda brings a diverse background in both the marine and freshwater environments as a Marine Biologist, Lead GIS Specialist, and Assistant Manager for M.C. Wright and Associates. She has been working in the field of environmental consulting since 2003, and has in-depth expertise in the assessment, planning, restoration, and monitoring of aquatic (marine and fresh water) impacts and restoration. As assistant manager for projects in the Marine and Freshwater departments of M.C. Wright and Associates, Miranda is responsible for ensuring projects are completed efficiently and cost-effectively. Through her experience managing and participating in large field operations, and her ability to effectively communicate and prioritize tasks, she has become proficient in coordinating crews and troubleshooting logistics to ensure project deliverables are received on time and under budget. Miranda has acted as the lead biologist for a diverse set of projects, including telemetry studies and escapement assessments, bridge construction impact assessments, habitat compensation design, construction, and monitoring, watershed assessments, and comprehensive intertidal and subtidal marine impact assessments (including both ROV and SCUBA assessments). Miranda’s organizational and communications skills were recognized when she was given the opportunity to act as lead Biologist for the East West Bay log dump upgrade. This allowed her to work closely with both field operations and office management, acting as a liaison between BCTS and Government Agencies. Working as part of a multi-disciplinary team she assisted with designing habitat compensation in accordance to DFO’s “no net loss” guiding principle, developed a positive working relationship with habitat managers within DFO in order to acquire the necessary approvals to proceed with works, coordinated crews and machinery during habitat construction, and designed and implemented a suitable monitoring program. Since then, she has continued to work closely clients, contractors, and regulatory bodies to complete projects in a timely and cost-effective manner.

Collin received his Bachelor of Science degree with a Major in Computing Science from Vancouver Island University. He began working for M.C. Wright in 2008, using his software development skills to successfully transform project visions into software realities. Collin is now the lead programmer of the M.C. Wright software department, responsible for the maintenance and development of our mobile applications for smart phones and tablets. Though his role is primarily in software development, Collin is also a trained Environmental Construction Monitor. This gives him the unique role as a programmer with field work! He loves being outside, a very active person playing soccer or tearing up the tracks on the local mountain biking trails.

Ryan Abbott is MCW’s lead freshwater Fisheries Biologist and a Registered Professional Biologist (R.P. Bio) in good standing with the College of Applied Biology. Ryan has had extensive experience in a broad range of projects including environmental impact assessments, fish and fish habitat assessments, salmonid escapement assessments, habitat restoration, construction, and monitoring,hydrology studies, estuarine sediment contamination sampling, and subtidal and intertidal surveys. He is also very experienced in a variety of survey techniques including GPS, rod and level, and total station surveying. He has extensive experience in data analysis including statistical and spatial modelling, and has authored numerous reports. He has a strong background in aquatic and terrestrial ecology and is proficient in the identification of numerous mammal, bird, and plant species. Since 2013, he has been the lead biologist on an impact assessment for a proposed Independent Power Project on Lucky Creek, near Toquaht Bay. This project required a detailed inventory of fish populations, fish habitat modelling, invertebrate species richness and abundance, riparian condition, hydrology, and wildlife utilization throughout the watershed. Ryan has completed stream class and fish stream assessments in a variety of locations on Vancouver Island and the BC South Coast including Banon Creek, Artlish River, Tahsish River, and in the Mt. Elphinstone area. Through the course of these projects, Ryan has become proficient at fish barrier identification, fish presence detection techniques (including electrofishing, trapping, and visual observation), and taking a variety of stream measurements including stream gradient, bankfull width, and substrate composition. Additionally, Ryan has worked on all phases of fish passage remediation projects. He has participated in culvert assessment work in both the Tranquil Creek and Cypre River watersheds. Ryan has been involved in the design and construction supervision of fish passage remediation works including (but not limited to) the deactivation of a collapsed wood box culvert in the Cypre River watershed, removal of a CMP and installation of a pipe arch in the Chilliwack River watershed, and the development of habitat prescriptions to address fish passage issues in Lens Creek and the Artlish River.

Kay received her B.Sc. degree in Geography from the University of Victoria in 2017, specializing in GIS and geomatics. Her career since then has focused on ecological and resource applications of GIS, including helping to design systems for fisheries spatial data management at DFO, as well as mapping projected climate impacts on agriculture for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. She joined M.C. Wright in 2019, and has since contributed GIS mapping and modelling, field spatial data collection, and other associated work to a wide variety of projects. Her work has had a particular focus on sensitive shoreline habitats at a variety of scales, from mapping the vegetation composition of individual estuaries for the Nature Trust of BC to classifying large regions of shoreline for the shishalh First Nation. Outside of work, Kay is a passionate hiker and skier, a very occasional musician, and a lover of cats.

Andrew started his ecological career in 2015, working as an academic research technician in steep mountain streams to understand how run-of-river hydroelectric projects may affect coastal-tailed frogs. He has had the pleasure of working for the Federal and Provincial Governments contributing to research on agricultural pests as well as native plant community response to climate change in remote areas. As a member of M.C. Wright, Andrew works in the freshwater department collecting hydrological and aquatic organism data, while also creating an array of GIS and remotely sensed products. Andrew's Masters thesis studied the ecology of fire within old growth management areas of southern coastal BC. This has allowed him to dive into learning R to better tackle the statistical quandaries that come from studying nature. When not at work, Andrew is to be found hiking, mountain biking and running around the woods looking for interesting creatures to poke. His native habitat is the local coffee shop.

Garrett, originally from a small town in the Albertan prairies called Millarville, has since migrated to the coast to pursue his passion for underwater exploration. After receiving a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of British Columbia, Garrett travelled to Australia working on the Great Barrier Reef where he discovered a new appreciation for ocean ecology. Upon returning home Garrett completed a master’s degree in applied ocean technology through the Fisheries and Marine Institute of Memorial University of Newfoundland. He then began his professional career in 2021 working with multibeam echosounders performing bathymetric surveys for the purpose of environmental monitoring. Experienced in data collection and processing, Garrett likes to find new and creative ways to improve the study and understanding of our oceans. An avid diver Garrett likes to spend his free time trying to capture life below the surface by filming and producing underwater video content.