Jeremy Kerr

Jeremy Kerr is a biology professor at the University of Ottawa (uOttawa) where he holds the University Research Chair in Macroecology and Conservation. Kerr is a member of the NSERC Council, including its executive committee, and the past president of the [http://www.csee-scee.ca/?lang=fr Canadian Society for Ecology and Evolution] (CSEE). He is the Chair of NSERC's Committee on Discovery Research and a founding member of its EDI subcommittee. In 2021, Kerr was elected to be a member of Sigma Xi Society and is an elected lifetime Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and of the Royal Society of Biology.

While CSEE president (2016–18), Kerr led development of the society's Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) policies, including its first Diversity and Inclusion Statement. Kerr has also helped develop EDI policy frameworks at NSERC that contributes to inclusion in research environments nationally in Canada. He served as an expert witness to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Science and Research, giving testimony on the need for progress on inclusion in research, and on the need to expand federal support for students. He has written extensively on this subject. Kerr was strongly engaged in the creation of Canada's current Chief Science Advisor position and was invited to Parliament with Dr. Kirsty Duncan for the announcement of the role. Kerr has also been involved with federal budget discussions around support for science through public science, media engagement, and writing, and in the protection and restoration of scientific integrity in federal decision-making.

As an ecologist and conservation biologist, Kerr is active in public science and citizen science and co-founded eButterfly in his laboratory. His research has focused extensively on understanding how environmental change, including especially climate change, affects life on Earth. Kerr is a well-known public science figure, featuring in scientific presentations at the National Arts Centre, Parliament of Canada, and in printed and broadcast media (e.g. New York Times, BBC, CNN, Time Magazine, CBC's Quirks and Quarks). He contributed as an expert witness on climate change, biodiversity, and protected areas networks in testimony to the House of Commons Standing Committee on the Environment and Sustainable Development. He is also heavily engaged at the science-policy interface, including the expansion of Canada's protected areas network. Provided by Wikipedia