Kathy Martin (scientist)

Kathy Martin is a Canadian ornithologist who is an expert on arctic and alpine grouse and ptarmigan, and on tree cavity-nesting vertebrates. She is a professor in the Faculty of Forestry at the University of British Columbia and was a senior research scientist with Environment and Climate Change Canada.

Martin, who trained in ornithology, is past President (April 2020-August 2026) of the American Ornithological Society. Martin continues to be active in Canada's Conservation Biology research and higher education community. In the 1990s she represented Canada on the International Union for Conservation of Nature IUCN Species Survival Commission for grouse (galliformes). During the 2000s, Martin served on the council of the American Ornithologists Union (2003–07), and chaired the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Ecology and Evolution Grant Committee.

At the national level, Martin participated in early discussions about the formation of the Canadian Society for Ecology and Evolution in 2006, and was a founding member of the organization, later serving on its Governing Council (2008-11). In 1996, Martin and her colleagues received The Wildlife Society's Wildlife Publication award, for their paper "Impact of food and predation on the snowshoe hare cycle." In 1992, when she was an assistant professor at the University of Toronto, Scarborough College, Martin developed and taught one of the earliest courses in Conservation Biology in Canada: C65S.

Martin founded and directed two primary, long-term research programs in the Americas. The first, on the life history variation and ecology of alpine birds, began in 1980 and has expanded to sites in Australia, while the second, examining the structure and function of cavity-nesting vertebrate communities, commenced in 1995 and expanded to other sites across North and South America. The edited volume, ''Ecology and Conservation of Mountain Birds'' will be published by Cambridge University Press in late summer 2023.

Early life and education

Kathy Martin is a native of Prince Edward Island, Canada. She received her undergraduate degree in Biology from the University of Prince Edward Island in 1970. She then completed an MSc at the University of Alberta, Edmonton in 1973, and a PhD at Queen's University, Kingston 1985, with geneticist Fred Cooke.

Following the completion of her doctorate on Willow Ptarmigan ecology, Martin received a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Alberta (1985–1988).

Career

Martin founded and edited the first 40 issues of the Prince Edward Island Natural History society's newsletter. In 1977, she wrote the guide ''Island Woodland Plants''.

In 1981, Martin wrote the monograph ''Watershed Red'', about the natural history of the Dunk River Watershed.

Martin was as an assistant professor at the Université de Sherbrooke from 1988–89, then an NSERC University Research Fellow and assistant professor in life sciences at the University of Toronto Scarborough campus from 1989–1992. In 1993, Martin assumed a joint appointment with the Faculty of Forestry at the University of British Columbia and Environment and Climate Change Canada. Martin retired from the Canadian Federal Government in December 2020, and remains an emeritus scientist.

Martin has published over 200 journal articles and book chapters.

Service to Academia and Conservation Biology

* Prince Edward Island Forestry Commission, member, 2023-25
* American Ornithological Society, president, 2018-20
* American Ornithological Society, president elect, 2016-18
* Bird Studies Canada Scientific Advisory Board, since 2010
* International Ornithologists' Union, Canadian delegate, since 2010
* IUCN/ICBP (The World Conservation Union) Specialist Group for Galliformes; Canadian representative, since 1996

* International Ornithological Union, member of Scientific Program Committee, January 2015
* North American Ornithological Conference, Vancouver, chair, 2012
* Canadian Society for Ecology and Evolution, founding board member, 2008–2011
* Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Grant Selection Committee – Evolution and Ecology chair 2003–04
* Society of Canadian Ornithologists, president, 2000–02

Awards

* 2003 5NR Science Award to Leaders in Sustainable Development, Natural Resources, Canada
* 2008 Doris Huestis Speirs Award for Outstanding Lifetime Contributions to Canadian Ornithology, Canadian Society of Ornithologists
* 2016 Canadian Section of The Wildlife Society's Ian McTaggart-Cowan Lifetime Achievement Award
* 2018 Godman-Salvin Medal from the British Ornithologists' Union
* 2020 Nancy Cutler Citation of Excellence Women in Science and Technology Award, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Ottawa, Canada
* 2021 Jamie Smith Memorial Mentoring Award, Society of Canadian Ornithologists
* 2021 Brewster Medal, American Ornithological Society
* 2021 Distinguished Alumni Award, University of Prince Edward Island
* 2023 Honorary Doctor of Letters, University of Prince Edward Island

References

Major Publications

* Boyle WA, Martin K. 2015. The conservation value of high elevation habitats to North American migrant birds. Biol Conserv. 192: 461–476.
* Cockle, KL, Martin K, Wesolowski, T. 2011. Woodpeckers, decay and the future of cavity-nesting vertebrate communities worldwide. Front Ecol Environ. 9: 377–382.
* Jackson MM, Gergel SE, Martin K. 2015. Citizen science and field survey observations provide comparable results for mapping Vancouver Island White-tailed Ptarmigan (''Lagopus leucura saxatilis'') distributions. Biol Conserv. 181: 162–172.
* Martin K. 1977. Island woodland plants. Charlottetown (PEI): Dept. Environment. 74 p. eprinted 1983 and 2008 available at: https://www.princeedwardisland.ca/sites/default/files/publications/pei_woodland_plants.pdf
* Martin K. 1981. Watershed Red: The life of the Dunk River, Prince Edward Island. Charlottetown (PEI): Ragweed Press. 155p.
* Martin K, Aitken KEH, Wiebe KL. 2004. Nest sites and nest webs for cavity-nesting communities in interior British Columbia, Canada: nest characteristics and niche partitioning. Condor. 106: 5-19.
* Martin K, Wiebe KL. 2004. Coping mechanisms of alpine and arctic breeding birds: extreme weather and limitations to reproductive resilience. Integr Comp Biol. 44: 177–185.
* Sandercock BK, Martin K, Segelbacher G, editors. 2011. Ecology, conservation and management of grouse. Studies in Avian Biology. Berkeley (CA): University of California Press. 378 p.
* Van der Hoek Y, Gaona, GV, Martin K. 2017. The diversity, distribution and conservation status of the tree-cavity nesting birds of the world. Divers Distrib. 23: 1120–1131.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Katherine
Academic staff of the University of British Columbia
Canadian women scientists
Canadian ornithologists