Our Services
Everything you need
Taxonomy
Identification of aquatic Invertebrates and terrestrial arthropods.
Scientific Consulting
Design of biodiversity surveys, data analysis and report writing.
Outreach & Education
Education (pre-school to adult), hosting workshop and bioblitzs and media interviews.
Taxonomy
John and Diane have a combined 40+ years of experience in invertebrate taxonomy at a professional level. We identify adult and larval macroinvertebrates from both freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems (forests, grasslands, riparian, wetlands and agricultural systems). We are a CABIN registered taxonomy lab. John is SFS certified in aquatic families, EPT (genus) and other invertebrates (genus). We are proficient in the taxonomy of Arachnida, Odonatan, Coleoptera (carabidae, scolytis, coccinellid, cerambycids), Hymenoptera (bees, symphyta) and Diptera. We have a collection of over 2000 taxonomy keys and publications covering most insect orders.
As ABI Environmental Services we have provided taxonomic services to non-profit organizations (Alberta Watershed Alliances and Councils), Government (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Alberta Environment & Parks), Museums (Galt Museum – Lethbridge, AB and Northern Rockies Museum of Culture & Heritage – Hinton, AB) and provincial, national and international based consulting companies. With our academic training, practical training and resources we are confident that we can help you identify any invertebrate.
Scientific Consulting
We have advanced degrees in science with many years of experience in field collection, sampling design, scientific publication and reports for stake holders. Our experience spans tropical to temperate biomes in terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems. Within the terrestrial ecosystems we have worked or advised in boreal, deciduous and tropical forests, prairie regions, riparian zones and agricultural systems. We are experienced using a variety of terrestrial trapping methods such as Malaise, pitfall, pan, blue vanes and flight intercept. We also have experience with black lighting and sweep sampling. In aquatic ecosystems we are certified with the CABIN field and laboratory protocols (to Project Manager level) and experienced with D-netting, CABIN D-netting, Hess samplers and Surber samplers. We can analyze aquatic assemblages using the most useful and informative ecosystem metrics and provide interpretation of these results.
We can help you design a project to sample a terrestrial and/or aquatic ecosystem for the overall fauna and for rare/listed species. We would emphasize practicality and efficiency of your collecting efforts.
Outreach & Education
We have accumulated an extensive background in teaching and outreach. We have led entomological hands-on classroom activities for students of all ages (K to University level). We have prepared high quality learning materials such as entomological keys and flash cards of invertebrates using macro-photography and focus stacking. At the community level we have participated and organized in Bioblitz events and display drawers for museums. John has been sought by TV, radio and the print media for interviews on general insect questions, phone in shows and specific information on mosquitos and ticks.
