David Bruinsma has been on the Resource Conservation team at Elk Island National Park since 2019 and has coordinated the park’s bison management program since 2022. He is passionate about continuing Elk Island’s important role in bison conservation, especially through transfers of surplus bison from the park to other conservation projects and to Indigenous communities. In addition to the bison program, Dave spends much of the spring and summer months focussed on monitoring Elk Island’s songbirds and Species at Risk (including bats and western toads). He has a background in avian ecology and Species at Risk, having worked elsewhere in western Canada on boreal and grassland songbird monitoring and recovery of burrowing owls and ferruginous hawks. Dave holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Studies and a master’s degree in Natural Resources Management. He lives in Edmonton with his wife, two sons, a dog, and two guinea pigs.