Elsie Cassels

Elsie Cassels
Born
Elsie McAlister

February 1864
St. Mary's Loch, Scotland
Died12 November 1938 (aged 74)
Red Deer, Alberta, Canada
NationalityScottish
Occupations
  • Naturalist
  • ornithologist
  • scientist
  • conservationist
OrganizationFirst woman to be Vice-President of a Canadian naturalist society

Elsie Cassels (February 1864 — 12 November 1938) was a Scottish-born naturalist and the first woman to become Vice-President of a Canadian naturalist society.[1] Cassels lived in Red Deer, Alberta and became a recognised authority across Canada on migratory birds who exchanged information (from detailed observations from 1920 to 1935), with the leading (male) ornithologists of her day,[2] 'her keen enthusiasm stimulated a wide interest in ornithology'.[3] Cassels objected to game hunting for pleasure as a conservationist before this was a common approach to wildlife, and helped found a bird sanctuary and in 1924 one of the first Canadian wildlife refuges at Gaetz Lakes, Alberta.[2]

  1. ^ McNicholl, Martin K.; Cranmer-Byng, Jack; Ornithologists, Ontario Field (1994). Ornithology in Ontario. Cornell University: Hawk Owl Publishing. p. 188. ISBN 978-0-9697952-0-9.
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ The Canadian field-naturalist. Vol. 53. Ottawa: The Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club. 1939.