Ashleigh grew up in the middle of Canada surrounded by wide‑open prairies, vast lakes, and the rugged Canadian Shield. From a young age she loved being outdoors - hiking, camping, canoeing, and exploring Lake of the Woods from her family’s cabin. Even chance encounters with wildlife left a lasting impression, whether spotting a distant moose across a quiet lake or watching a Canada jay land nearby while cross-country skiing.

Ashleigh studied ecology at the University of Manitoba, followed by fieldwork at a research camp on an island in Hudson Bay, where she spent a summer studying and photographing thick-billed murres, polar bears and walruses. She later moved west to pursue a graduate degree, conducting wetland fieldwork in the mountains of British Columbia, then returned to Manitoba and the Arctic landscapes that captured her heart.

Her work in the Canadian Arctic has included research on belugas, walruses and polar bears across the Beaufort Sea and Hudson Bay; at the Assiniboine Park Zoo in Winnipeg, she worked with the conservation and research team studying belugas and polar bears. Today, Ashleigh researches walrus and beluga in the central Arctic and has the great pleasure of guiding polar bear adventures in Churchill w. Outside of work, she can be found exploring new trails with her partner and two dogs, planning her next hiking trip, or enjoying time outdoors with friends and family.