Hilary Cooke

Co-Director, Northern Boreal Mountains Program

Hilary Cooke joined WCS Canada in 2010 as Associate Conservation Scientist for the Northern Boreal Mountains landscape of Yukon and northern British Columbia. Here she works with a range of partners, including First Nation, territorial, and federal governments, to enhance conservation of wildlife and wild places through regional planning, environmental assessments, and land, resource, and wildlife management.

Hilary specializes in boreal ecology, forest management, avian conservation, and conservation planning. Since 2010, she has led several field and applied studies aimed at improving conservation and management of Yukon’s valley bottoms for key ecosystems, migratory birds, and species of conservation concern. Through relevant government initiatives Hilary continues to promote science-based solutions to improve conservation for wildlife and wild places across Yukon’s boreal mountains.

Hilary began her career with WCS as a member of the North America Program in 1998, where she conducted field studies to inform riparian conservation on public and private lands in semi-arid regions of the western United States. After earning a MSc in Wildlife Management at Humboldt State University in 2002, Hilary returned to her native Canada in 2003 to complete a PhD in Ecology at the University of Alberta. Her PhD research aimed to improve forest management for woodpeckers and other cavity users of old boreal forest. Hilary’s passion for birds and conservation can be found in her blogs published on Muddy Boots, Huffington Post, and Medium.

Stories and op-eds

2023-11-01

After burn: The new face of fire puts wildlife on the hot seat

How Canada’s wildlife is struggling to cope with the human-induced forcings of climate change
Justina Ray, Hilary Cooke

2023-08-01

Burning trees: not a good way to solve the climate crisis

Letter to Yukon News: re Biomass for Institutional Heating
Donald Reid, Hilary Cooke

2023-05-01

Big Boots to Fill

The remarkable WCS Canada career of Dr. Don Reid
Hilary Cooke, Chrystal Mantyka-Pringle, Justina Ray

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Press releases

2025-01-30

Backpacking birds shed light on conservation risks facing vulnerable Blackpoll Warblers

Blackpoll Warblers are one of the fastest declining North American songbirds, with the species having experienced an annual decline of 2.3% since 1970.

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