Where are they now?

After graduating from NSAC, Kimberly was immediately accepted into the "Nova Scotia Environmental Youth Exchange" which was a partnership between the Nova Scotia Department of the Environment and the Government of St. Lucia, West Indies. The program paired two counterparts, one from Nova Scotia and one from St. Lucia, and the pair worked on environmental projects in each other's country over a course of 5 months. Kimberly was paired with Zaneia Tappin. For their first assignment, the two were fortunate enough to become part of the Whale Stewardship Project, led by Kathy Kinsman. The project was part of a protection and education program designed to protect the well-being of a solitary but sociable beluga whale in Chadabucto Bay, Guysborough County, Nova Scotia. In St. Lucia, Kimberly worked on various projects, including the development of a composting program and the preservation of a historic area.

After completing the Youth Exchange program, Kimberly spent a year working at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography on a project examining the impacts of trawling and dredging on benthic (seafloor) habitat. This involved identifying and cataloging various species living on the seafloor down to species level as well as 2 weeks on board the CSS Hudson Research Vessel studying coral reefs off of Sable Island and taking grabs of areas that had recently been fished, to assess impact.

While at the Bedford Institute, Kimberly decided to pursue her interest in animal behavior further by doing a Masters in Applied Ethology. She was accepted into a Master's program at the University of Guelph. Kimberly worked under the direction of Dr. Ian Duncan, a world renowned poultry welfare specialist. Her project examined the effects of energy efficient lighting sources on floor egg incidence in broiler breeder hens as well as the effects of feeding time on floor egg incidence (due to the possibility of severe feed restriction resulting in hunger and conflicting with the motivation to nest).

After completing her Master's, Kimberly worked for almost a year at the Cambridge Humane Society as Community Relations Coordinator, before being hired as a research assistant in Dr. Suzanne Millman's Ethology Lab at the Ontario Veterinary College. During her three-year term in the Ethology Lab, she took on the role of Communication's Coordinator for the Col. Campbell Centre for the Study of Animal Welfare. She remains in this role currently, which involves education and outreach based on the results of research and various activities of the Centre. Kimberly also works as a Research Coordinator for the Poultry Industry Council for Research and Education. The PIC is a non-profit organization that both raises and allocates money for priority poultry research across Canada, and ensures that the results of the research reach industry in a manner in which they can be applied.