ROBERT W. BUTLER
CITIZENSHIP:
• Canada
PRESENT TITLES:
• Atlas Coordinator & Scientist, Bird Studies Canada
• President, Pacific Wildlife Foundation, Canada
• Professor (adjunct), Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Canada.
EDUCATION:
• Ph.D. (Zool.), University of British Columbia, Canada (1991)
• M.Sc. (Biol.), Simon Fraser University, Canada (1980)
• B.Sc. (Biol.), Simon Fraser University, Canada (1976)

EMPLOYMENT:

• Atlas Coordinator, Bird Studies Canada (2008 to present)
• Senior Research Scientist IV, Environment Canada (2003-2008)
• 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)
• Wildlife Artist (1971-1976)
• 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:
• Davidson Award for Conservation, Vancouver Nature (2009)
• Fellow International, Explorers Club (2008)
• Steering Committee, Centre for Dialogue, Simon Fraser University
• 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)
• Award of excellence Environment Canada for The great blue heron (UBC Press) (1998)
• Elected Member, American Ornithologists’ Union (1996)
• Taking Wing, US Forest Service Innovative Research Award (with 3 colleagues)(1993)

FOUNDING MEMBER:
• Heron Working Group
• Shorebird Research Group of the Americas
• Seagrass Conservation Group
• Young Naturalists Club of British Columbia
• Pacific WildLife Foundation

CONSERVATION COMMITTEES
• International Union for the Conservation of Nature, Heron Specialist Group
• 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

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
• Imagine BC summit keynote address
• Dialogue Centre, Undergraduate seminar, Vancouver
• Imagine BC think tank, Bowen Island
• Taiwan-Canada Bird Fair, Vancouver
• Korean Ornithological Society, Gunsan, South Korea

ARTICLES, MOSTLY TECHNICAL: about 120
Selection of 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
• Ydenberg, R.C., R. W. Butler and D. B. Lank. 2007. Effects of predator landscapes on the evolutionary ecology of routing, timing and molt by long-distance migrants. Journal of Avian Biology 38: 523–529.
• 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 38: 541-551.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

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

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.


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:
Recent video and film production
• Woodpecker video, narration. Mike McKinlay Productions, 3 mins (2008)
• Eelgrass video. Producer and content. Mike McKinlay Productions, 4 mins (2008)
• Bringing the green back. Producer, content and on camera. Mike McKinlay productions, 3 mins
• Tide catcher. Content, narration & on-camera. Pacific WildLife Foundation & Tamarin productions; 5 mins. (2007)
Selection of recent newspaper stories
• Mother nature really doe have the answers, Op Ed piece, Vancouver Sun (2009)
• Protecting nature, one step at a time. Vancouver Sun (2009)
• BC birds at risk. Vancouver Sun (2008)
• 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)

Selection of recent television and radio appearances
• Bird Life International with David Suzuki, The Current, CBC Radio One (2008)
• 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).