I grew up in Montreal, went to high school in Greece, and studied biology at Queen’s University in Kingston Ontario (B.Sc.). I obtained my M.Sc. at Trent University in Peterborough Ontario, where, as Project Biologist of the Ontario Lakes Loon Survey initiated by Long Point Bird Observatory, I studied the effects of lake acidification on Common Loons. This turned out to be a 25-year study, which was published in 2009.

I established Canada’s first Conservation Data Centre as Zoologist and Data Manager of Le Centre de données sur le patrimoine naturel du Québec. I wrote and translated numerous species accounts for the massive provincial Atlas: The Breeding Birds of Québec. I computerized the Canadian Breeding Bird Census Database and wrote eight national (COSEWIC) status reports for the Canadian Wildlife Service. I managed Parks Canada’s species database, worked on Canada’s Species at Risk Act, and negotiated land protection deals for Québec’s arm of the Nature Conservancy. As a cooperator of NatureServe, I developed Canadian National Conservation Status Ranks for Canada’s birds, amphibians, reptiles and mammals.

In terms of the advancement of conservation, my most important accomplishment was to help initiate an international project to develop a Canadian National Vegetation Classification.

I’ve traveled extensively across North America and have been living in Canada’s National Capital Region since 1992.