Vivian Antoniw (nee Wright) was born on 24 December 1918 in Virden, Manitoba to John and Edith Wright. In 1964 she received her B.Ed (Secondary) from UBC through a Double Art Major in Drawing and Painting, Design and Ceramics and then went on to pursue her M.Ed (Fine Arts) from the Western Washington State University which she received in 1975. From 1959-1988 she taught various art programs in Kitimat, BC (1959-1980) and Prince George, BC (1984-1988). Throughout the 1980s and 1990s she participated in numerous one person art shows, group exhibits and juried art shows and was a member of the famous Milltown Painters (6) group. Her work has been collected by various private individuals as well as by Canfor Pulp Mill (Prince George), the Prince George Tourist Bureau, Grace Anglican Church (Prince George) and the Ukranian Catholic Church (Prince George) among many others. Vivian Antoniw was primarly a watercolourist who also worked in oils & acrylics. Her themes were inspired by nature and she enjoyed painting the “various moods” as she called them, of Prince George, the Queen Charlotte Islands, Prince Rupert, Smithers, Kitimat, Jasper, Vancouver and Victoria. Environmental issues such as the disappearance of the Monarch Butterfly, diminishing sea life and the loss of habitat were also a personal concern of hers which was often reflected in her art. Vivian Antoniw passed away in Prince George, BC in 2003.
The Aleza Lake Research Forest is a 9000 hectare outdoor research facility and working forest 60 kilometres east of Prince George. The research forest was first established in 1924 and has an ongoing research and forest management legacy that approaches 100 years. Today, the forest is co-operatively managed by UNBC, the BC government, and industry partners, through the non-profit Aleza Lake Research Forest Society.
Created in 1912, the Ministry of Forests and Range, then known as the Department of Lands, recommended strong research programs towards further development of the forest industry in British Columbia. In 1923, research activities were implemented, and at that time, Assistant Chief Forester, Bob St. Clair, recommended the development of forest experiment stations. In 1924, the Aleza Lake Experiment Station opened east of Prince George, BC, where different research projects began, focusing on soil types and trees. The objectives of the Experiment Station were related to forest management, particularly growth and mortality of white spruce and balsam, soils, and spatial planning. By 1930, the Research Division was the most active throughout Canada. However, due to significant cutbacks during the Depression years, the loss of key figures occurred; many of whom were central to the success of the Research Division, such as Percy M. Barr, who headed the Division. After 38 years of operation, the Aleza Lake Experiment Station was formally closed in 1963 due to budget restrictions, and all remaining buildings were removed or destroyed. However, now re-named as the Aleza Lake Forest Reserve, the Department of Lands and Forests transferred the Reserve to the Prince George Forest District for a ten-year period. After this timeframe expired, no further review was given and the Aleza Lake Forest Reserve was considered abandoned until 1981 when some permanent sample plots were found and re-measured. Through their diligence, John Revel, and Harry Coates, both employees of the BC Forest Service at the time, re-measured these plots knowing the significance of past experiments conducted at the Research Forest. Coates had also retained the original data from the permanent sample plots. Coates and Revel were both key figures in having the Research Forest re-opened because of their knowledge of previous experiments conducted before the Experiment Station was closed. In 1984, by Order-In-Council, the Aleza Lake Forest Reserve was amalgamated with the Purden Forest Reserve. In the late 1980s, there was a push for the Research Forest to be re-opened because of its potential for forest management research and demonstration. As a result, the Aleza Lake Steering Committee was formed in 1990, consisting of representatives from the Ministry of Forests, Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks, and Northwood Pulp and Timber Limited. In 1992, the Research Forest was reopened with a management and working plan in place and was officially renamed the Aleza Lake Research Forest, and in 2001, the forest became the fourth university research forest in British Columbia. The Aleza Lake Research Forest is now managed by the Aleza Lake Research Forest Society, a partnership between the University of Northern British Columbia, University of British Columbia, one delegated representative from the BC Ministry of Forests and Range, Prince George Regional office, and a delegated representative alternating between the BC Ministry of Sustainable Resource Management, Prince George office. Today, the central mandate of the Research Forest is to provide multidisciplinary programs focusing on partial cut harvest systems, biological diversity, climate change, and environmental monitoring in small forest tenures.
Marianne (Marika) Ainley (nee Gosztonyi) 1937 - 2008 was born on December 4, 1937 in Budapest, Hungary. She started out her adult life as a chemist after receiving her diploma in industrial chemistry from Petrik Lajos Polytechnical College of Chemistry in Budapest in 1956. She immigrated to Sweden in 1956 to escape the unrest accompanying the failed Hungarian Revolution, and then to Montreal, Quebec in 1957.
In Montreal, she worked as a laboratory technician during which she studied aesthetics, music appreciation and literature at Sir George Williams University (now part of Concordia University) from 1961-1964, earning a bachelor's degree in English and French literature. In 1966, she became a research assistant at Loyola College (now part of Concordia) in the Chemistry department under Dr. Thomas Nogrady. She worked under Dr. Thomas Nogrady from 1966-1969 and 1973-1974, taking a hiatus for the birth of her son during which she developed her interest in birding and pottery. Between 1967 and 1969, she studied pottery under Grace Atkinson and Rai Nakashima at the Potter's Club in Montreal. She exhibited some of her pottery at the Potter's Club in the Montreal Studio Fair. In 1974, she became a laboratory instructor in the Chemistry Department at Loyola College where she worked until 1978.
In 1979, upon the recommendation of a colleague to look into the History of Science Program (Histoire et de sociopolitique des sciences) at the Universite de Montreal, Ainley applied and was accepted. While attending the Universite de Montréal, Ainley was employed as a research assistant in the History of Science Program at Concordia and completed Cornell University's certificate in ornithology. She graduated with a Master of Science in 1980 from the Institut d'histoire et de sociopolitique des sciences of the Universite de Montreal upon the completion of her thesis on the history of American ornithologists, "La professionnalisation de l'ornithologie Americaine, 1870-1979." Ainley continued her research in ornithology while completing her PhD at McGill University, graduating in 1985 upon the completion of her dissertation, "From Natural History to Avian Biology: Canadian Ornithology, 1860-1950."
Shortly after completing her PhD, Ainley received a grant to write a biography of zoologist William Rowan. In the same year, she applied for and received post-doctoral funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), which she spent at McGill studying the history of Canadian women in science. She also co-curated "the Bicentennial of J.J. Audubon" exhibition at McGill University. In 1986, she secured multi-year funding (from 1986-1988) as an independent scholar through the Women and Work Strategic Grants program for "Women and Scientific Work in Canada, I."
In 1988, she became a lecturer at the Simone de Beauvoir Institute at Concordia University and, in the following year, received her second Women and Work strategic grant for "Women and Scientific Work in Canada, II," which funded her research until 1992. In her first semester at the Simone de Beauvoir Institute, while developing a course on historical and contemporary perspectives of women, science and technology, she recognized a dearth of material on the subject and solicited a series of essays, which became "Despite the Odds: Essays on Canadian Women and Science." Ainley edited the book, published in 1990, and contributed a chapter and bibliography. In the same year, she became a visiting scholar in the women’s studies at Carleton University as well as a researcher for and curator of the "Canadian Achievements in Science" historical photograph exhibition at Concordia University. Upon returning to the Simone de Beauvoir Institute in 1991, she became the principal and a half-time associate professor of women’s studies. She began work as a co-investigator on another SSHRC funded project, "Critical Turning Points: Women Engineers Within and Outside the Profession," on women in the field of engineering in 1993. In the same year, she received a grant to publish her biography of William Rowan, entitled, "Restless Energy—A Biography of William Rowan, 1891-1957."
In 1995, Ainley accepted a position as a professor and the chair of the Women’s Studies Program at the University of Northern British Columbia, serving as chair until 1998 and as a professor until 2003. In 1999, Ainley became the president of the Canadian Women's Studies Association, of which she was a member since 1988. In 2000 and 2003, Ainley was a visiting professor at the Centre for Social Science Research at the Central Queensland University. In 2001, Ainley was a visiting scholar at Auckland University's Institute for the Study of Gender; she received associate professor emeritus status from the University of Concordia; and received the "Teaching as if the World Mattered" award from the Biology as if the World Mattered Research Group in Canada. In the same year, she received a SSHRC grant for her research project, "Re-explorations: new perspectives on gender, environment and the transfer of knowledge in 19th and 20th century Canada and Australia."
During her time at the University of Northern British Columbia, Ainley began her magnum opus, originally titled, "Overlooked Dimensions: Women and Scientific Work at Canadian Universities, 1884-1980." The book drew on her previous research, including research from her Women and Work SSHRC grants and "Critical Turning Points: Women Engineers Within and Outside the Profession," as well as oral history projects completed by other researchers and institutions. The book provides an overview of the history of women and scientific work at Canadian universities. It was posthumously published as Creating Complicated Lives: Women and Science at English-Canadian Universities, 1880-1980 by the McGill-Queen's University Press in 2012.
She continued her artistic pursuits and birding at the University of Northern British Columbia. She studied watercolour under Jennifer Ferris, Barry Rafuse and June Swanky Parker, drawing under Mary Richer and acrylics under Marlene Roberts between 1997 and 2001. She exhibited works at a variety of venues in Prince George from 1997-2000, including an exhibition at the Prince George Art Gallery in 1999, and exhibitions at the British Columbia Festival of Arts from 1998-2000. She was part of the Artists' Workshop in Prince George from 1997-2004. She served on the University of Northern British Columbia Arts Council between 1998-2004, curating two exhibitions on Canadian achievements in science in 1996 and 1997. She was voted elective member of the American Ornithologists' Union 1996, having joined in 1972 and having been a centennial committee member from 1982-1983.
In 2004, Ainley moved to Victoria where she became an adjunct professor of Women's Studies at the University of Victoria. In 2005, she received professor emeritus status from the University of Northern British Columbia and joined Studio Madrona, an artist group, with whom she exhibited work in Goward House in Victoria in 2005.
On September 26, 2008, Ainley passed away after a battle with cancer.