Lakehead student looking forward to elk study

Lakehead University student Tracie McIntosh is looking forward to beginning her two-year study into researching the effects of relocation on the Cameron Lake elk this spring.
“I have already been up to the job site to check things out,” McIntosh said Friday from Thunder Bay. “Everything looks really good and the elk all seem to be doing well.
“I am very excited about the work that I will be doing.”
Working toward her Master’s degree at Lakehead University, McIntosh is no stranger to research, having already completed a year of work at Banff National Park in Alberta.
“At the time of my research, Banff was having a problem with an increase in the cougar population,” she noted. “I was one of the researchers brought in to study how the increase in cougars was affecting the elk population.
“It was very interesting work.”
While working in Banff, McIntosh was offered the research position at Cameron Lake in quite an unusual way.
“I got this job in sort of an odd way,” she admitted. “One day I saw this man looking around my research site. He was trespassing on private property and I went up to him to tell him to leave.
“It turned out that he was from the [Ministry of Natural Resources] in Peterborough. We began to talk and I told him that I wanted to work toward my Master’s degree.
“He mentioned the position at Cameron Lake, and got me in touch with the Biology Department at Lakehead University.”
Originally from Ancaster, Ont., McIntosh admitted her love of elk is often misunderstood by family and friends.
“Everyone calls me the elk-aholic because they know that I love to study these animals,” she remarked. “My mother always asks me why I can’t get a normal job.”
With a new shipment of elk coming soon to Cameron Lake, McIntosh is busy getting herself ready for the work she’s about to undertake.
“Right now I am busy building up data bases and getting all my maps ready,” she explained. “I am trying to figure out what areas the elk like and then compare the areas and see why they prefer one site to another.”
With her love of the outdoors and passion for elk, McIntosh is certain her research will be both beneficial to herself and the MNR.
“One of the main focuses of my research is the effect of parasites on these animals,” she said. “The elk are being taken from Elk Island National Park in Alberta and then being transferred to Ontario.
“I want to make sure that certain parasites that are native to Ontario will not harm the elk and vice versa.”
Although the MNR still must approve MacIntosh’s proposal of study before she’s allowed to begin her research, she is optimistic there will be no delays and that she will be starting her two-year study shortly.
“Initially, I will be going up every two weeks to study the elk,” she noted. “I have classes right now but next year, I will spend the whole year up there. I am looking forward to it.”
When asked if she is tired of elk and the research she’s been doing, McIntosh emphatically answered, “No.”
“I love the outdoors, especially working with the elk,” she stressed. “Once I have completed my degree, I am hoping to get a job working with these animals.
“I have learned so much from them already, and I am excited to do more.”