For Kyla MacIlroy, who was born and raised in Prince Rupert, the outdoors has always been a huge part of life. “I was always the kid who was constantly looking for critters or reading field guidebooks,” Kyla says. She spent many summers living with her grandparents on their boat, exploring the B.C. coast. She recalls hiking and paddling local creeks with her grandfather, a professional creekwalker with Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), and helping him assess salmon populations. These experiences helped build a passion for the outdoors and science.
When Kyla finished high school, she wasn’t certain what she wanted to pursue as a career, but she knew she enjoyed the sciences, in particular environmental science, and wanted to stay local for a few years. That’s how she discovered the Applied Coastal Ecology (ACE) program at Coast Mountain College (CMTN).
The program was an amazing fit, and Kyla says she really enjoyed her two years at the CMTN Prince Rupert Campus. She especially appreciated the practical, hands-on learning in the local coastal region where she’d grown up. “All the field stuff, that's my niche,” she says, recalling an overnight camping field trip to the Lucy Islands where the students spent time exploring the biodiversity of algae and intertidal species, as well as observing the rhinoceros auklets (Cerorhinca monocerata), a sea bird species that nest in the area.
After graduating with her ACE diploma, Kyla enrolled at Royal Roads University in Victoria and earned a BSc in Environmental Science. While in Victoria, she also completed SCUBA Diving, first aid, and marine certifications. Since early 2024, she’s been back home and working as an environmental technician with the Prince Rupert Port Authority. “I absolutely love it. I think it's the best job ever,” says Kyla. She spends about half her time in the office and half in the field doing things like monitoring intertidal species and collecting data on air quality or underwater noise along the shoreline.
Kyla’s advice for anyone considering a potential career in the environmental field is to make sure you take as many opportunities for hands-on experiences as you can. Environmental science is a huge field with many career paths, but these experiences can help you focus on what interests you most, and, for Kyla, the ACE program really supported that exploration. She says, “I’m extremely grateful for Coast Mountain College and the instructors and staff who helped me through this path with the knowledge I've gained.” As she continues building her career, Kyla hopes to be able to give back by supporting experiential learning for future students in the ACE program at CMTN.
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Media contact:
Heather Bastin
Executive Director, External Relations
hbastin@coastmountaincollege.ca