This project is led by Ph.D student Sherry Young and Dr. David Hik whom are based at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada.
Project Leader
Sherry's education started in France as an undergrad in Biology-Ecology. She did a Master Degree in Terrestrial Ecology in Sweden with a specialty in boreal and arctic ecosystems (Interview). After several student research projects emphasising on northern plant-mammal interactions and land-use changes due to climate change, she started using camera traps to study changes in plant and mammal phenology (Publication). In 2018, Sherry joined the Snow Leopard Trust (SLT) in Kyrgyzstan for a year to help with camera trapping (Field Blog) as well as participating in raising awareness through public talks in Bishkek, Europe and Central America. Sherry took advantage of this time to build a research project on mountain ecosystem resilience and snow leopard conservation. She is now enrolled at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada, where she is based and patiently waiting for the pandemic to be under control to get back to the field in Kyrgyzstan.
Sherry is part of the Soapbox Science and the 1MWIS platforms which equally promote women scientists and the research they do. She is also involved in the anti-harassment, the health and safety (THSC) and the communication (MMC) committees of the Teaching Support Staff Union (TSSU) at SFU. Most recently, she became Head of Communications for the Snow Leopard Network.
She can be reached at sherry_young@sfu.ca
Project Supervisor
David is a Professor of Ecology and Associate Dean (Academic) in the Faculty of Science at Simon Fraser University. His research is focused on studies of the structure and dynamics of plant and animal populations and their interactions. He works mostly in mountain, northern and arid environments, where landscape heterogeneity, climate change, and seasonal variability have a strong influence on ecological processes. Through a variety of long-term and/or large-scale observations and experimental studies, his work has contributed to new understanding about the ecological consequences of a warming planet; the development of strategies for conserving biodiversity; and opportunities for maintaining and restoring disturbed ecosystems. Much of his long-term work has been focused in the southwest Yukon; and other research projects are conducted in the Rocky Mountains (Alberta and BC), and internationally in Iceland and Costa Rica. A second general area of inquiry is focused on the science-policy interface, knowledge translation, Open Science, and the resilience of social-environmental systems.
Previously, he held the Canada Research Chair in Northern Ecology at the University of Alberta, was Executive Director of the Canadian International Polar Year Secretariat, and served as President of the International Arctic Science Committee. David is a Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society and a recipient of the RCGS's Martin Bergmann Medal for Excellence in Arctic Leadership and Science. In 2017 he co-created a new, massive open online course, “Mountains 101”, which is currently the #1 ranked environmental science MOOC in the world.
He can be reached at dhik@sfu.ca
