The Expert Panel on Biodiversity Science

Transcription

1 The Expert Panel on Biodiversity Science Thomas E. Lovejoy, Chair Biodiversity Chair, Heinz Center for Science, Economics and the Environment (Washington, DC) Luc Brouillet Professor and Curator of the Marie-Victorin Herbarium, University of Montréal (Montréal, QC) W. Ford Doolittle, FRSC Professor, Dalhousie University (Halifax, NS) Andrew Gonzalez David M. Green Peter Hall Paul Hebert, FRSC Thora Martina Herrmann Douglas Hyde Jihyun Lee Wayne Paul Maddison Sarah P. Otto, FRSC Felix Sperling Professor and Canada Research Chair in Biodiversity Science, and Director of the Quebec Centre for Biodiversity Science, McGill University (Montréal, QC) Professor and Director, Redpath Museum, McGill University (Montréal, QC) Honorary Research Associate, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (retired) (Ottawa, ON) Director, Biodiversity Institute of Ontario, University of Guelph (Guelph, ON) Professor and Canada Research Chair in Ethnoecology and Biodiversity Conservation, University of Montréal (Montréal, QC) Executive Director, NatureServe Canada (Ottawa, ON) Environmental Affairs Officer, United Nations Environmental Programme Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (Montréal, QC) Professor and Canada Research Chair in Biodiversity and Systematics, Director of Beaty Biodiversity Museum, University of British Columbia (Vancouver, BC) Professor and Director of the Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia (Vancouver, BC) Professor and Curator for the E.H. Strickland Entomological Museum, University of Alberta (Edmonton, AB) R. Paul Thompson Professor, University of Toronto (Toronto, ON)

2 Thomas E. Lovejoy Biodiversity Chair, Heinz Center for Science, Economics and the Environment (Washington, DC) Thomas Lovejoy, a tropical biologist and conservation biologist, has worked in the Amazon of Brazil since From 1973 to 1987 he directed the World Wildlife Fund-U.S., and from 1987 to 1998 he served as Assistant Secretary for Environmental and External Affairs for the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. He was the World Bank s Chief Biodiversity Advisor and Lead Specialist for Environment for Latin America and the Caribbean and Senior Advisor to the President of the United Nations Foundation. He served as President of the Heinz Center for Science, Economics, and the Environment from 2002 and 2008, and moved to the newly created Heinz Center Biodiversity Chair in August Dr. Lovejoy conceived the idea for the Minimum Critical Size of Ecosystems project, he originated the concept of debt-for-nature swaps, and is the founder of the public television series Nature. In 2001 he was awarded the prestigious Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement and in the 2008 BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award. Dr. Lovejoy served on science and environmental councils or committees under the Reagan, Bush, and Clinton administrations. He received his B.Sc. and PhD (biology) degrees from Yale University. Luc Brouillet Professor and Curator of the Marie-Victorin Herbarium, University of Montréal, (Montréal, QC) Luc Brouillet is the Curator of the Marie-Victorin Herbarium and Professor at the Institut de recherche en biologie végétale, Department of Biological Sciences at University of Montréal. Additionally, he is the regional coordinator for Eastern Canada (Ontario-Quebec-Maritimes), Greenland and the French islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon for the Flora of North America Project, and is currently chair of the FNA Association. He was on the plants subcommittee ( ) for the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC/COSEPAC), on the Newfoundland Rare Plant Project, and he is a member of the Friends of the Montreal Botanical Garden. Dr. Brouillet s research interests are in the molecular systematics and evolution of the Asteraceae (asters, daisies, sunflowers). W. Ford Doolittle, FRSC Professor, Dalhousie University (Halifax, NS) Ford Doolittle s research interests focus on the evolution of genes and genomes. He uses standard methods of molecular genetics and sophisticated computer algorithms to reconstruct

3 phylogenies from gene sequences and to understand genome evolution as a process. His most recent experimental research is in microbial metagenomics. Dr. Doolittle was formerly Canada Research Chair in Comparative Microbial Genomics at Dalhousie University from 2001 to 2008 and also the Director of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIfAR) Program in Evolutionary Biology from 1986 to He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and a member of the US National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Doolittle serves on editorial boards of a number of journals including the Proceedings of the US National Academy of Sciences, Science, and Environmental Microbiology. Andrew Gonzalez Professor and Canada Research Chair in Biodiversity Science, and Director of the Centre for Biodiversity Science, McGill University (Montréal, QC) Andrew Gonzalez is Professor and Canada Research Chair in Biodiversity Science, and Director of the Centre for Biodiversity Science at McGill University. Trained as a community ecologist he now works on three major themes: 1) the evolutionary ecology of biodiversity loss in changing environments, 2) the link between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in fragmented landscapes, 3) the socioeconomic drivers of biodiversity loss, in particular the impacts of economic inequality. He has also combined experimental and theoretical methods to address the problem of antibiotic resistance in pathogenic microbes. Prior to arriving at McGill University he spent four years as an Assistant Professor at the University of Paris VI, France. He obtained his PhD from Imperial College, London. David M. Green Professor and Director, Redpath Museum, McGill University (Montréal, QC) David Green is a Professor of Biology at McGill University and Director of the Redpath Museum. His research employs evidence from biochemical and molecular genetic variation in frogs and toads to decipher the relationships of species, the structure of populations, and mechanisms of evolutionary change. His ecological study of Fowler's toads (Bufo fowleri) at Long Point, Ontario has now run continuously for over two decades. Dr. Green is past Chair of the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC), which determines the conservation status of Canadian wildlife; and former co-chair of COSEWIC s Amphibians and Reptiles Specialist Subcommittee. He is a past member of the Science Advisory Council of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans; Canadian representative on the IUCN Amphibian Specialist Group, an international network of professionals and volunteers organized to survey, map and monitor amphibian populations across the globe; Past

4 President of the Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles (SSAR); and Chair of the Recovery Team for Fowler's Toad, a federally recognized threatened species in Canada. Peter Hall Honorary Research Associate, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (retired), (Ottawa, ON) Peter Hall recently retired as Senior Advisor Biodiversity with the Research Branch at Agriculture and Agri-food Canada in Ottawa. In a 30-year career in Canada, Mr. Hall worked in a variety of executive positions with the Canadian government and national NGOs in the fields of management, communications and research. He is also a specialist in Lepidoptera and their conservation, as well as co-author of the Butterflies of Canada and author of articles and reports on butterflies. From , Mr. Hall was on assignment as Director for Biodiversity Information Services at the United Nations Environment Programme-World Conservation Monitoring Centre in Cambridge, UK. In this position, he represented the WCMC on many international biodiversity fora and initiatives. Prior to this, he was Executive Director of the Federal Biodiversity Information Program working on behalf of eight departments in the Canadian federal government to build Canada s capacity around biodiversity science and information sharing. In particular, Mr. Hall managed a Canadian Biodiversity Network Conference in Ottawa in 2001 to explore opportunities to increase Canada s efforts in biodiversity research and information management. In , Mr. Hall was Executive Director of the Canadian Environmental Network, the umbrella organization for environmental groups in Canada. Upon his retirement, Mr. Hall was made an Honorary Research Associate with the Canadian National Collection of Insects in Ottawa and has taken on the role of Chair, Publications Committee for the international Biodiversity: Journal of Life on Earth. He is also founder of the not-for-profit Fletcher Wildlife Garden in Ottawa and was a co-winner of the Anne Hanes Natural History Award from the Ottawa Field Naturalists. Mr. Hall received his B.A. from the University of Toronto and his M.A. from the University of Calgary in the history of the natural sciences. Paul Hebert, FRSC Director, Biodiversity Institute of Ontario, University of Guelph (Guelph, ON) Paul D.N. Hebert is a Canadian biologist at the University of Guelph where he is a tenured full professor. He is also a Canada Research Chair in Molecular Biodiversity (Tier I) and a Fellow of the RSC: The Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada.

5 Dr. Hebert earned his B.Sc. at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario (1969) and his PhD at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom (1972). After his PhD studies, Dr. Hebert took a Rutherford Fellowship at the University of Sydney in Australia. He returned to Canada in 1976 as a member of the biology faculty at the University of Windsor in Windsor, Ontario where he was also Director of the Great Lakes Institute. In 1990, he relocated to the University of Guelph as Chair of the Department of Zoology, a position he held for 10 years. He is currently Director of the Biodiversity Institute of Ontario, a position he has held since Dr. Hebert has been a visiting professor at the Australian National University, the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, and the University of Adelaide. Although he is a recognized expert in the evolution and phylogeography of aquatic invertebrates (especially microcrustaceans), he is now best known as the founder of DNA barcoding. Thora Martina Herrmann Professor and Canada Research Chair in Ethnoecology and Biodiversity Conservation, University of Montréal (Montréal, QC) Thora Martina Herrmann is a Professor and the Chair holder of the Canada Research Chair in Ethnoecology and Biodiversity Conservation at the University of Montréal. Prior to joining the University, Dr. Herrmann worked at the United Nations headquarters in New York, in the Division for Sustainable Development, where she co-organised the UN International Decade for Action Water for Life ; and worked within the UN Interagency Task Force on Gender and Water. She was Assistant Editor of the UN scientific Journal Natural Resources Forum, which addresses sustainable development and management of natural resources, particularly in developing countries and countries in transition. Previously, Dr. Herrmann worked at the German Development Agency (Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit ) where she coordinated interdisciplinary research projects in Asia, Africa and Latin America, designed to elaborate and disseminate ecological knowledge and concepts for protecting tropical ecosystems and ensuring their sustainable use. Thora worked at the European Union headquarters in Brussels on issues related to biodiversity conservation policy and international cooperation. Dr. Herrmann received her Doctorate in geography from the University of Oxford, U.K. She holds a Diplôme d Etudes Approfondies in biodiversity conservation and sustainable development from the Université de Paris-Sorbonne, in France.

6 Douglas Hyde Executive Director, NatureServe Canada (Ottawa, ON) Doug Hyde is the Executive Director of NatureServe Canada. Prior to joining Nature Serve Canada, he worked for Environment Canada where he served as co-chair of Canada s National Recovery Working Group under the RENEW (Recovery of Nationally Endangered Wildlife in Canada) program, and as chair of the federal government s Interdepartmental Policy Committee on implementation of the Species at Risk Act (SARA). Additionally, Mr. Hyde oversaw the Recovery Information Management System, a web-based system to track the development of more than 350 recovery strategies for species at risk, during his time as Environment Canada s Chief of Recovery. As the former National Coordinator of Canada's Habitat Stewardship Program for Species at Risk, he was responsible for managing $10 million annually to support more than 150 conservation projects across Canada, for which he developed a web-based project management system. Mr. Hyde has also been involved in a number of other projects over the years, including creating the first edition of the Canadian Biodiversity Information Network (CBIN), facilitating discussions regarding the North American Biodiversity Information Network, and creating a web-based registry under the Canadian Endangered Species Protection Act, a precursor to SARA s public registry. For the Commission for Environmental Cooperation, he helped to establish the North American Bird Conservation Initiative and has supported the North American Marine Protected Areas Network. Jihyun Lee Environmental Affairs Officer, United Nations Environmental Programme Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (Montréal, QC) Jihyun Lee is the Environmental Affairs Officer for marine and coastal biodiversity and the ecosystem approach within the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity. As such, she covers various issues related to the implementation of Jakarta Mandate, such as integrated marine and coastal management, marine protected areas, conservation of deep sea biodiversity, marine invasive alien species, etc. She serves as a coordinator for UN-Oceans Task Force on Marine Protected Areas and Other Area-Based Management Tools as well as the Working Group on Marine Biodiversity and Networks of Marine Protected Areas of the Global Forum on Oceans, Coasts and Islands. Before Ms. Lee joined the CBD Secretariat in March 2007, she has worked for GEF/UNDP/IMO Regional Programme on Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA) during as a Senior Programme Officer in charge of integrated coastal management. Prior to joining the UN, she has also worked for the Government of the Republic of Korea at Korea Maritime Institute and Korea Ocean Research and Development Institute providing policy and technical support in the enactment of national legislation on integrated

7 coastal management (ICM) and the development of a national ICM plan as well as various other policy matters of marine environment and resources management and ocean governance. Wayne Paul Maddison Professor and Canada Research Chair in Biodiversity and Systematics, Director of Beaty Biodiversity Museum, University of British Columbia (Vancouver, BC) Wayne Maddison is an internationally renowned expert in phylogeny and biodiversity, with a particular emphasis on spiders. In addition to establishing widely accepted standard techniques for quantitative analysis of phylogeny, he has developed innovative software tools to implement these techniques. These tools for analysis and visualization have been used by thousands of biologists, influencing research worldwide. His work also extends to the general public via the Tree of Life Web project (tolweb.org), which he co-developed in partnership with its creator, Dr. David Maddison. This virtual natural history museum of diversity and its evolutionary descent has already proven invaluable to a wide range of people, from primary school students to researchers. The key objectives of Dr. Maddison's research are to establish a world class laboratory in which to develop additional computational methods for the evolutionary analysis of data on biological diversity, and to discover and interpret invertebrate biodiversity. His four key research concentrations include expanding phylogenetic theory; developing more effective analytical tools for evolutionary bioinformatics; creating a comprehensive phylogenetic tree for a family of spiders known as salticids; and finally, applying the phylogeny derived for salticids to understand the processes of their diversification, with special focus on their behavioural and chromosomal evolution. Sarah P. Otto, FRSC Professor and Director of the Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia (Vancouver, BC) Dr. Otto's research focuses on how organismal diversity arises by exploring the influence of environmental circumstances on the outcome of evolution, using mathematical models, phylogenetic analyses, and yeast experimental evolution. Current research investigates the evolutionary forces acting on genome structure and mating systems to account for the remarkable diversity that exists in these fundamental features of an organism. Dr. Otto is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and has received both the Steacie Prize and a Steacie Fellowship. She is the author of over 100 articles, and her recent book with Dr. Troy Day has received wide acclaim ("A Biologist's Guide to Mathematical Modeling in Ecology and Evolution").

8 Felix Sperling Professor and Curator for the E.H. Strickland Entomological Museum, University of Alberta (Edmonton, AB) Felix Sperling is a Professor at the Department of Biological Science at the University of Alberta and a Curator for the E.H. Strickland Entomological Museum. Research in Dr. Sperling s lab encompasses processes of evolution ranging from the diversification of major insect lineages to the formation of species boundaries. His work on patterns of arthropod biodiversity also provides basic training for taxonomists at a time when their numbers are declining but their expertise is more important than ever before. In addition to extensive use of DNA sequences, he uses morphological data and phylogenetic analysis, complemented by internet-accessible keys and databases. He is building a foundation for understanding phenomena like plant-insect coevolution, the historical biogeography of endangered communities, and the interaction of genomic architecture with speciation. He also contributes to faunal inventories that are designed to support conservation, agriculture and forestry by facilitating more responsible use of natural resources. R. Paul Thompson Professor, University of Toronto (Toronto, ON) R. Paul Thompson is a Professor at the University of Toronto and hold appointments as Professor in The Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology, and in the Departments of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Philosophy, and the Joint Centre for Bioethics. He has been a Vice- President of the University of Toronto ( ) and Principal and Dean of the University of Toronto at Scarborough ( ). He received his PhD in 1979 for his thesis, Genetic Explanation Schemes in Biology. He has held visiting professorial appointments at the University of California at Davis and the University of Guelph. Dr. Thompson is the author of The Moral Question, The Structure of Biological Theories, is editor of Issues in Evolutionary Ethics and has published numerous journal articles on population genetics, mathematical modelling in biology, evolutionary theory, theory structure in biology, and ethics. From 1997 to 2005 he was a member of the Bayer Advisory Council on Bioethics and from was a member of the Monsanto Biotechnology Advisory Council. He is President of the Green Door Alliance Inc. (a registered charity, dedicated to preserving agricultural land in Ontario) and the recently established African Poverty Alleviation Fund. He is a Director of the Canadian Foundation for the Preservation of Chinese Cultural Heritage and Treasures.