Jeremy Kerr

Dr. Jeremy Kerr (B.Sc. Biology, University of Ottawa; Ph.D. Biology, York University; PDF Zoology, University of Oxford) has worked for the University of Ottawa since 2002. He is currently a Full Professor in the Department of Biology.

Dr. Kerr's primary research seeks to discover specific causes for biodiversity decline and how biodiversity responds to rapid environmental change. His approach integrates remote sensing tools, field ecology, and computer-based models and has led to major discoveries around endangered species conservation, climate change impacts on biodiversity, and fundamental determinants of biodiversity for virtually all species. These discoveries, published in journals like Science, have been used to improve conservation activities around protected areas and to inform legislative and regulatory activities in government and industry.

Dr. Kerr is strongly engaged in public science and at the science-policy interface. He has worked intensively on science advice in the federal government to ensure the best evidence is available to decision-makers and extensively around issues of science integrity.

Dr. Kerr holds the University Research Chair in Macroecology and Conservation and is President of the Canadian Society for Ecology and Evolution. He served on NSERC’s Evolution and Ecology Evaluation Group (2011-14). He is also an alumnus of the Global Young Academy and has received a number of prizes and awards recognizing research and societal contributions, including the Young Researcher of the Year award, the Early Researcher Award from Ontario, the Excellence in Media Relations Award for Research, and the Partners in Research National Science Ambassador Prize (2018). He is very active in the Partnership Group for Science and Engineering, a project of the Royal Society of Canada.

Dr. Kerr is the Chair of NSERC's Committee on Discovery Research.