Jay Fitzsimmons

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About

Jay being attacked by Sandy the pterasaur

I am a biologist living in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada with my family. I work as a Terrestrial Ecosystems Science Specialist with Ontario’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry.

Education

Ph.D. (Biology) – University of Ottawa. 2013.

  • Impacts of climate change on butterfly species’ distributions in Canada.
  • Consistency of species information across field guides and atlases.
  • Mobility estimates for >200 Canadian butterfly species, based on naturalists’ knowledge.

M.Sc. (Biology) – Memorial University of Newfoundland. 2005.

B.Sc.H. (Biology) – Queen’s University. 2000.

  • Honours thesis with the wonderful Dr. Virginia Walker, on spruce budworm antifreeze protein gene expression.

Key jobs

Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry

  • Terrestrial ecosystems science specialist. 2017-present.
    Not policy, not research, but implementation of wildlife management. Wildlife in captivity licensing, monitoring programs, disease, etc.
  • Species at risk policy. 2013-2017.
    Mostly recovery strategies.

Canadian Wildlife Service (Environment and Climate Change Canada)

  • Science advisor. 2012-2013.
    International trade of polar bear products. Policy, science, and diplomacy.

Canadian Field-Naturalist

  • Journal Manager (volunteer position). 2010-2014.
    I created the journal’s website and helped it grow with a great team of fellow volunteers. This journal is a feisty David in a world of Goliaths; a non-profit, volunteer-run peer-reviewed journal published by The Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club.

Carleton University

  • Lab coordinator. 2012.
    I created innovative YouTube tutorials about Excel-based stats, to complement classroom tutorials. These were highly-rated by students in course evaluations, produced greater learning achievements than previous approach, and have been viewed more than 300,000 times by students and others.

Lots of other jobs, volunteer work, and education ranging from door-to-door sales to teaching English in Japan, to getting a diploma from the Toronto Civilian Police College.