About Ecophylla Consulting Inc
Background and Ecological Expertise
Rob Willson is the owner of Ecophylla Consulting Inc., a firm that specializes in ecological and geospatial assessment of the natural environment. Rob has more than 25 years of applied experience working with Species at Risk in Ontario and has extensive experience conducting ecological studies and habitat assessments, particularly on endangered reptiles, amphibians, and birds. As part of his work on these species, Rob has obtained multiple authorizations and overall benefit permits under Ontario’s Endangered Species Act, as well as completing numerous Environmental Impact Assessments, Natural Heritage Studies, COSEWIC Reports, and Recovery Strategies.
Geospatial Expertise
In addition to ecology, Rob has a wide range of expertise in geospatial applications, as he has been using GIS and GNSS (aka GPS) to map locations and habitat of Species at Risk for more than 20 years. Since 2022, Rob has been using DJI’s M300 enterprise drone with LIDAR (R2A), Infrared (H20T), and RGB (P1) sensors to generate accurate, high-resolution 3D point clouds, digital elevation models, and orthophotos.
Geospatial deliverables are provided to clients in a multitude of formats, including point clouds (laz), tifs, shps, dwgs, etc, as well as being provided via secure, live links to imagery and data hosted online with Potree, GeoServer, and PostgreSQL-PostGIS databases.
Degrees and Certifications
- MSc in Ecology/Animal Behaviour (UofG)
- BSc in Pure and Applied Ecology (UofG)
- Drone Pilot-Advanced Operations (sRPAS)
- Managed Forest Plan Approver (MFPA/MFTIP)
- Wetland Evaluation (OWES)
- Ecological Land Classification (ELC)
- Butternut Health Assessment
- Rope Access (IRATA Level 1) & Working at Heights