……objective science for conservation…….

The Pacific WildLife Foundation is a non-profit coastal and marine research and education society  that inspires an appreciation for objective scientific research and conservation of the ocean. We conduct original research, develop novel education programs, and inspire an appreciation for conservation of the ocean. 

 
 
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Pacific WildLife Foundation President Dr.Robert Butler

curriculum vita

Robert W. Butler

BORN:

·        Vancouver, Canada (1950)

CITIZENSHIP:

·        Canada

PRESENT TITLES:

·        Senior Research Scientist, Science and Technology, Environment Canada

·        President, Pacific WildLife Foundation, Canada

·        Professor (adjunct), Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Canada.

EDUCATION:

·        Graduated Delbrook Senior Secondary High School, North Vancouver, BC (1969)

·        B.Sc. (Biol.), Simon Fraser University, Canada (1976)

·        M.Sc. (Biol.), Simon Fraser University, Canada (1980)

·        Ph.D. (Zool.), University of British Columbia, Canada (1991)

EMPLOYMENT:

 

·        Senior Research Scientist IV, Environment Canada (since 2003)

·        Research Scientist III, Environment Canada (1998 – 2002)

·        Research Scientist II, Environment Canada (1991-1998)

·        Research Scientist Level II, Environment Canada (1991-1998)

·        Wildlife Biologist, Canadian Wildlife Service, Delta (1984-1991)

·        Head of Interpretation, Canadian Wildlife Service, Delta (1979-1984)

·        Park Interpreter, BC Parks (1970-1973, 1975-76)

·        Field Research Assistant, University of British Columbia (1967)

EXECUTIVE POSITIONS:

·        President, Pacific WildLife Foundation (since 2003)

·        Director, Young Naturalists Club (since 2000)

·        Co-Chair, Pacific Seabird Group Conference, Taiwan (2007)

·        Council, Society of Canadian Ornithologists (2005-06)

·        Co-Chair, Waterbird Society conference, Taiwan (2005)

·        Co-Chair, Canada-Taiwan Bird Fair, Vancouver (2003-2005)

·        President, Waterbird Society (2000-2002)

·        Vice-President, Waterbird Society (1998-1999)

·        Conservation Chair, Waterbird Society (1998-1999)

·        Resolutions Chair, Waterbird Society (1994-1998)

·        Director, Vancouver Natural History Society (c.1998-1999)

·        Council Member, Wader Study Group (c.1992-1994)

·        Membership committee, American Ornithologists’ Union  (c. 1990-1994)

 

AWARDS, HONOURS AND RECOGNITION:

·        Fellow, American Ornithological Society (2006)

·        Associate Editor, Waterbirds (since 2006)

·        BC Book Prize Finalist (2003)

·        Presidents’ Club, Simon Fraser University (since c.2000)

·        Outstanding Alumnus, Simon Fraser University (1998)

·        National Merit Award, Environment Canada (1998)

·        Elected Member, American Ornithologists’ Union (1996)

 

 

FOUNDING MEMBER:

·        Heron Working Group

·        Shorebird Research Group of the Americas

·        Seagrass Conservation Group

·        Young Naturalists Club of British Columbia

·        Pacific WildLife Foundation

RESEARCH INTERESTS:

·        Avian migration, ecology and conservation, with specialty on shorebirds and herons.

FIELD RESEARCH:

·        Canada, United States, Mexico, Panama

CONSERVATION COMMITTEES

·        Parks Canada National Marine Science Advisory Committee

·        Gulf Islands National Park Reserve Ecosystem Advisory Panel

·        Environment Canada, CWS Shorebird Technical Committee

·        Environment Canada, CWS National Publication Committee

·        Environment Canada, Science and Technology Science Advisory Board

·        Heron Working Group

·        Shorebird Research Group of the Americas

  • Seagrass Conservation Group

  • Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network

  • IUCN Heron Specialist Group

ADVISORY

·        Science advice to Parks Canada National Marine Science Advisory Committee (2007)

·        Ecological advice to Gulf Islands National Park Reserve Ecosystem Advisory Panel (2007)

·        Advice to Environment Canada’s Vancouver Olympic Committee (2007)

·        Reviewed environmental assessments for developments in USA, Korea and Canada (on going)

·        Advice to Taiwan government to sponsor World Rivers Day celebration held in Taiwan (2006)

·        Advice to Taiwan government to sponsor two scientific conferences in Taiwan (2005 & 2007)

·        Advised international media of avian influenza during Waterbirds 2005 conference: Avian Diseases and Bird Migration, Tainan, Taiwan (2005)

·        Advised on Shorebird Reserve Designation in Panama, Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network (2004)

·        Led Hemisphere Reserve Designation for the Fraser River Delta, Canada by Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network (2004)

·        Chair of Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal Selection Committee for Nature Canada (2002)

·        Technical Advisor, Canada’s Important Bird Areas Program, Birdlife International, Bird Studies Canada, Nature Canada (1998-2000)

RECENT LECTURES AND INVITATIONS

·        Dialogue Centre, Undergraduate seminar, Vancouver

·        Imagine BC think tank, Bowen Island

·        Taiwan-Canada Bird Fair, Vancouver

·        Korean Ornithological Society, Gunsan, South Korea

·        Fraser Basin Council, Vancouver

·        Edmonton Natural History Club, Edmonton

·        Vancouver Natural History Society, Vancouver

·        Federation of BC Naturalists, Vancouver

·        Surrey Art Gallery, Surrey

·        Georgia Strait Alliance AGM, Victoria

·        Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society AGM, Victoria

 

 

ARTICLES, MOSTLY TECHNICAL: about 120

Books, monographs and chapters

·        Butler , R.W. 2003. The Jade Coast : ecology of the North Pacific Ocean . Key Porter Books, Toronto (176 pp.).

 

·        Butler , R.W., J.A. Kushlan and I.J. Davidson. 2000. Herons in North America , Central America and the West Indies . Pages 151-176 IN: J.A. Kushlan and H. Hafner (eds.). Heron conservation. Academic Press, N.Y.

 

·        Butler , R.W. 1997. The Great Blue Heron. University of British Columbia Press, Vancouver , 167 pp.

 

·        Morrison, R.I.G., R.W. Butler, F.S. Delgado and R.K. Ross. 1996. Atlas of Nearctic shorebirds and other waterbirds on the coast of Panama . Canadian Wildlife Service Special Publication, Ottawa .

 

·        Butler , R.W. 1995. The patient predator: foraging and population ecology of the Great Blue Heron in British Columbia. Canadian Wildlife Service Occasional Paper Number 86, Ottawa . 44 pp.

 

·        Butler , R.W. and K. Vermeer (eds.). 1994. The abundance and distribution of waterbirds in estuaries in the Strait of Georgia, British Columbia. Canadian Wildlife Service Occasional Paper Number 83, Ottawa. 78 pp.

 

·        Butler , R.W. 1992. The Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias). IN: A. Poole, P. Stettenhiem and F. Gill, (eds.). The birds of North America. The Academy of Natural Sciences, Washington , D.C. and American Ornithologists' Union . 20pp.

 

Selection of scientific journal articles

·        Kenyon, J. K., B. D. Smith and R. W. Butler. 2007. Can redistribution of breeding colonies on a landscape mitigate changing predation danger? Journal of Avian Biology (OnlineEarly Articles). Abstract.

·        Pomeroy, A.C., R. W. Butler and R.C. Ydenberg. 2006. Experimental evidence that migrants adjust usage at a stopover site to trade off food and danger. Behavioral Ecology 17:1041-1045. Abstract

·        Vennesland, R. G. and R. W. Butler. 2005. Factors influencing Great Blue Heron nesting productivity on the Pacific Coast of Canada from 1998 to 1999. Waterbirds 27: 289-296. Abstract
 

·        Ydenberg, R., R. W. Butler , D. B. Lank & J. Ireland. 2003. Western sandpipers alter migration tactics to mitigate danger from recovering peregrine falcon populations. Proc. Roy. Soc. B, Lond. 271:1263-1269. Abstract

 

·        Butler , R.W., R.C. Ydenberg and D. B. Lank. 2003. Waders on a changing predator landscape. Wader Study Group Bulletin 100: 130-133. Full paper

 

·        Lank, D.B., R. W. Butler, J. Ireland and R.C. Ydenberg. 2003. Effects of predation danger on migratory strategies of sandpipers. Oikos 103: 303-319. Abstract

 

·        Butler , R.W., P. C. F. Shepherd and M.J. F. Lemon. 2003. Site fidelity and local movements of migrating Western Sandpipers on the Fraser River estuary. Wilson Bulletin 114: 693-701. Abstract

 

·        Ydenberg, R.C., R.W. Butler, D. B. Lank, C. Guglielmo, M. J. F. Lemon and N. Wolf. 2002. Trade-offs, condition dependence and stop over site selection by migrant sandpipers. Journal of Avian Biology 33:47-55. Abstract

 

·        Harris, M. L., J. E. Elliott, R. W. Butler and L. K. Wilson. 2001. Reproductive success and chlorinated hydrocarbon contamination of resident Great Blue Herons (Ardea herodias) from coastal British Columbia , Canada , 1977 to 2000. Environmental Pollution 121:207-227.

 

·        Hazlitt, S. and R. W. Butler. 2001. Site fidelity and reproductive success of Black Oystercatchers in British Columbia . Waterbirds 24:203-207. Abstract

 

·        Butler , R.W. and R. G. Vennesland. 2000. Integrating climate change and predation risk with wading bird conservation research in North America. Waterbirds 23: 535-540. Abstract

 

·        Clark, C. W. and R.W. Butler. 1999. Fitness components of avian migration: a dynamic model of western sandpiper migration. Evolutionary Ecology Research 1: 443-457. Abstract

                    

 

 

 

 

Selection of scientific reports 

                                   

·        Morrison, R.I.G., F.S. Delgado, R.K. Ross and R.W. Butler. 1998. The distribution and abundance of Nearctic shorebirds on the coast of Panama. Pp. 12-14 In: Morrison, R.I.G., R.W. Butler, F.S. Delgado and R.K. Ross. Atlas of Nearctic shorebirds and other waterbirds on the coast of Panama. Canadian Wildlife Service Special Publication Ottawa.

 

·        Butler, R.W. 1996. Status report of the Great Blue Heron, Ardea herodias fannini on the coast of British Columbia. Committee on the Status of Wildlife in Canada, Ottawa.

 

·        Butler, R.W. 1995. The international significance of the Strait of Georgia to birds. State of the Environment Report, Environment Canada, Ottawa.

 

·        Morrison, R.I.G., A. Bourget, R.W. Butler, H.L. Dickson, C. Gratto-Trevor, P. Hicklin, C. Hyslop and R.K. Ross. 1994. Preliminary assessment of the status of shorebirds in Canada. Canadian Wildlife Service Progr. Notes No. 208, Ottawa.

 

·        Vermeer, K. and R.W. Butler. 1994. The international significance and the need for environmental knowledge of estuaries. Pp. 75-76 IN: Butler, R.W. and K. Vermeer (eds.). The abundance and distribution of waterbirds in estuaries in the Strait of Georgia, British Columbia. Canadian Wildlife Service Occasional Paper Number 83, Ottawa.

 

MEDIA:

Selection of recent newspaper stories

·        Warming threatens crucial Fraser habitat, study shows. Vancouver Sun (2007)

·        Urban crows. Vancouver Sun (2007)

·        Waterbird conference, various Taiwan newspaper (2005)

·        Rare bird still alive. Taipei Times (2005)

·        Rarely seen Chinese crested tern spotted on Matsu Islands. Liberty Times (2005)

·        ‘Shorebird decline a mystery’. Vancouver Sun.(2001)

·        ‘Herons in peril’. Vancouver Sun, Victoria Times Colonist, & National Post (2001).

·        ‘Eagles threaten heron nesting grounds.’ Vancouver Sun (2001).

·        ‘Burgeoning bald eagles pushing out BC herons”. National Post (2001).

·        ‘Sites sensitive.’ Vancouver Sun (2000).

 

Magazine profiles, reviews and features

 

·        Hume, S. Book review of the Jade Coast. Canadian Geographic (2003).

·        ‘Herons’. National Wildlife magazine (2000).

·        Baron, N. Riders on the storm. Canadian Geographic.(1999)

·        Horton, T. Great blues are going great guns. Smithsonian. (1999)

·        Obee, B. Fragile havens for millions of shorebirds. Beautiful BC. (1996)

 

Selection of recent television and radio appearances

·        Rising sealevels. The Weather Network, Canada (2007)

·        Pesky crows. CBC Radio One, Canada (2007)

·        Imagine BC Dialogue, CBC radio, Canada (2006)

·        Conservation in Taiwan, Live interview, Studio4 Cable Network, Canada (2006).

·        Avian Influenza, Several news networks, Taiwan (2005)

·        Where have all the pipers gone? Knowledge Network, Canada (2005)

·        Quirks and Quarks, CBC Radio, Canada (2004).

·        Urban crows Shaw Cable, Canada (2004).

·        Conservation in Taiwan, various stations, Taiwan (2003)

·        Fate of the Strait. Environmental, New VI Television, Canada (2003).

·        The Jade Coast. Live interview. Studio4 Cable Network, Canada (2003).

·        The Jade Coast. Taped interview. CHUM radio, Canada (2003).

·        The Jade Coast. Live interview. Victoria, Canada radio (2003).

·        Fate of the Strait documentary. New VI Television, Canada (2003).

·        Bird conservation worldwide. Live interview. Cable Network, Canada (2003).

·        Fraser River. Canada’s Great Rivers, Discovery Channel, Canada (2001).

·        Heron conservation. CBC Television, Canada Now (2001).

·        Heron conservation. CBC Television, The National, Canada (2001).

·        Our changing climate. Knowledge Network, Canada (2001).

·        Planet Education