I began Birdsmith Ecological Consulting in 1995 and for about 20 years, collaborated with scientists, communities, fishers and other marine stakeholders, communities, policy analysts, conservation groups, First Nations, provincial and federal governments to bring the best science to regulations, and policy in Canada, USA and Chile.
I was the Science Coordinator and Director for MSP in BC from 2011-2014 for the Marine Planning Partnership for the North Pacific Coast.
My work has taken me to remote offshore islands in British Columbia, Chile, the Galápagos, tropical Pacific, Caribbean, and Western Indian Ocean. My studies have filled gaps in our knowledge on foraging ecology, breeding biology, island restoration, and oceanic variability. After years of living in tents and logging thousands of ocean miles, my expertise includes seabird foraging dynamics, marine mammal distributions, pelagic ecosystems, intertidal systems, introduced species, and oceanographic processes.
I entered the world of national marine policy in the late 1990s with a project studying seabird bycatch in Canada’s west coast commercial fisheries. Four years of research and outreach with federal government and fisheries partners, we wrote new Fisheries and Oceans Canada regulations to reduce seabird bycatch in the west coast longline fishery. Additionally, I drafted Canada’s National Plan of Action – Seabirds to reduce seabird bycatch and comply with Canada’s signature on the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries. Today, my participation in marine policy extends to include marine protected areas (MPAs), marine spatial planning (MSP), and ecosystem-based management.
My professional life has also included more than a dozen research projects in terrestrial ecosystems – rare and endemic plants, ethnobotany with First Nations, insect life history, and plant regeneration on the Mount St Helen’s!
I have held several leadership positions since 1987 at The Nature Conservancy, University of Washington, University of Victoria, Laskeek Bay Conservation Society, and Canadian Yachting Association. I have a PhD from the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences at the University of Washington, MSc in Biology from the University of Victoria, and BSc in Biology and Environmental Studies from the University of Victoria. I am a member of the Science Advisory Board for the SeaDoc Society and Laskeek Bay Conservation Society. I am a Registered Professional Biologist with the College of Applied Biology (No. 942) and Association of Professional Biology in British Columbia.
Please contact for any proposals or opportunities to support your project.
