Kathy Martin
General Director
Dr. Kathy Martin is a Professor of Wildlife Ecology in the Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences at the University of British Columbia (Vancouver) and Senior Research Scientist (Emerita) with Environment and Climate Change Canada. Kathy has always held a fascination for how species persist and cope in extreme and challenging environments. She conducts research on population ecology and life history variation of alpine and arctic songbirds and grouse across elevation gradients, and in relation to climate variation. Dr. Martin and her students study how mountain songbirds and grouse will cope and persist in these increasingly unreliable habitats. She has authored about 250 scientific papers and book chapters on ecology, behaviour and population monitoring of birds. Her book on The Ecology and Conservation of Mountain Birds was published by Cambridge University Press August 2023.
Kathy has organized conferences and conference symposia, and has been invited to give plenary or keynote lectures in Brazil, Tanzania, France, China, Great Britain, and North and South America. She and her students have delivered over 300 conference talks at scientific meetings. Dr. Martin served as President of the American Ornithological Society (2018-2020) and President of the Society of Canadian Ornithologists – Société des Ornithologistes du Canada (2000-2002).
Dr. Kathy Martin has been the recipient of the Doris Huestis Speirs Award for lifetime research contributions to Ornithology in 2008 by Society of Canadian Ornithologists – Société des Ornithologistes du Canada, the Ian McTaggart-Cowan Lifetime Achievement Award for outstanding contributions to the understanding, conservation, and management of wildlife in Canada by The Wildlife Society, Canadian Section (2016), the Godman Salvin Prize for Lifetime Contributions to Ornithology from the British Ornithologists’ Union (2018), the Nancy Cutler Citation of Excellence Women in Science and Technology Award in recognition of her invaluable role in furthering conservation science in Canada from Environment and Climate Change Canada, Ottawa, Canada (2020), The William Brewster Memorial Award for a meritorious body of work on birds of the Western Hemisphere from the American Ornithologists Society (2021), and the Jamie Smith Mentoring Award from Society of Canadian Ornithologists – Société des Ornithologistes du Canada (2021). In November 2021, Dr. Martin received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Prince Edward Island for dedication and leadership in the ornithology community. In May 2023, Kathy received a Doctor of Laws (LLD), University of Prince Edward Island, for internationally recognized contributions in research and scientific leadership in ornithological science and wildlife conservation.
In March 2023, Dr. Kathy Martin, co-organized a very successful public workshop on ‘Building Resilient Forests Post-Fiona’ that was held at the Tracadie Cross Community Centre.
