Dale L. Travis Lecture Series
Connecting Community to Science and Research at ESF

Haíɫzaqv Wolf and Biodiversity Project – learning from, and about the Place of Wolves

More than a viral moment: The wolves, region, and project changing how we understand wolves and our relationships to them.

A remarkable video of a wolf pulling a crab trap out of the water recently captured the world’s attention, but that is just one small part of the story. Join ESF Assistant Professor Dr. Kyle Artelle as he shares the research, relationships, and Indigenous partnerships behind the first documented evidence of wolves using tools in the wild. Learn about how collaboration with the Haíɫzaqv Nation is leading to this and other unexpected insights — and what they reveal about wolves, conservation, and our shared future.

Kyle Artelle is an assistant professor in the Department of Environmental Biology and faculty co-director of the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF). Since joining ESF, he has advanced the college’s leadership in conservation science by integrating ecological research with Indigenous stewardship, community partnerships, and place-based learning. Through his teaching and mentorship, Artelle encourages students to approach complex environmental challenges through both scientific inquiry and Indigenous perspectives.

His research focuses on conservation that supports both biodiversity and the communities connected to it. Working in long-standing partnership with Indigenous Nations on the Central Coast of British Columbia, his research explores wildlife ecology, human-wildlife coexistence, and Indigenous-led stewardship, with a particular focus on culturally significant species including wolves, black bears, and grizzly bears.

At ESF, Artelle leads innovative, minimally invasive wildlife research that uses tools such as remote cameras, acoustic monitoring, and non-invasive genetic sampling. His current work on wolf populations in British Columbia’s Great Bear Rainforest — conducted in partnership with the Haíɫzaqv (Heiltsuk) Nation — is providing new insights into pack behavior, stability, and coexistence while demonstrating how Indigenous leadership and scientific research can work together to advance conservation.

Artelle earned his Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from Simon Fraser University and completed a Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of British Columbia Okanagan before joining ESF.

The Dale L. Travis Lecture Series is made possible thanks to a gift from Dale L. Travis ’59.