For the past 7 years I lived and worked in the Canadian Arctic. It's an outdoor paradise with true wilderness and some of the most remarkable wildlife on the planet. I fell in love with the place, but also the people. I appreciate and respect their connection to the land and hope that it will be conserved as 'change' marches north. As a biologist, I am interested in the ecology and conservation of Arctic wildlife, particularly caribou and muskoxen. Understanding their response to variation in the land and seascape is a major focus of my research along with the effects of climate change on both species and their habitat.
I'm a big fan of parks and protected areas. Some of my favorites, the Galapagos Islands, the Serengeti Plains, Bylot Island, the Ngorongora Crater, and Parque Nacional Corcovado hold a rich assemblage of flora and fauna and demonstrate their significance to conservation. While conserving biodiversity and naturally functioning ecosystems, they continue to generate wonder in nature and serve as a natural laboratory for scientific research. These special places and the pioneering efforts of women such as Jane Goodall and Dianne Fossey, inspired my early interest in field-based biological research.