Dan Farr

Biography

Dan Farr is Director of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Sciences in the Environmental Monitoring and Science Division at Alberta Environment and Parks. Dan’s childhood interest in animals led him to study bats at the University of Manitoba, garter snakes at the University of Victoria, and songbirds at the University of Alberta. Armed with all this education, Dan landed a Biologist job in Hinton with the Foothills Research Institute, where he realized how little he knew. This led to 20 years of applied research in forest ecology, wildlife habitat, and natural disturbance regimes. Along the way, he also discovered the value of diverse collaboration and has surrounded himself with gifted colleagues from disciplines ranging from ecosystem services and natural capital to biodiversity monitoring and land use planning. Before starting his current position in 2016, Dan was Director of the Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute’s Application Centre where he led several projects that use monitoring data to develop climate change adaptation strategies, improve environmental performance of Canada’s oil sands industry, and assess the condition of biodiversity and the value of ecosystem services in rangeland and other agricultural landscapes.

Boards and Committees

Member, Research Management Committee, Canadian Mountain Network (2018)

Member, Steering Committee, North Saskatchewan River Water Quality Initiative (2016 – present)

Member, Board of Directors, NSERC Canadian Lake Pulse Network (2016 – present)

Selected Publications/ Publications sélectionnées

Farr. D., Mortimer, C., Wyatt, F., Braid, A., Loewen, C., Emmerton, C., and Slater, S. 2018. Land use, climate change and ecological responses in the Upper North Saskatchewan and Red Deer River Basins: A scientific assessment. Government of Alberta, Ministry of Environment and Parks. ISBN 978-1-4601-4069-7. Available at: open.alberta.ca/publications/9781460140697.

Habib T.J., Heckbert S., Wilson J.J., Vandenbroeck A.J.K., Cranston J. and D.R. Farr. 2016. Impacts of land-use management on ecosystem services and biodiversity: an agent-based modelling approach. PeerJ 4:e2814

Farr, D.R., S. Kennett, M.M. Ross, B. Stelfox and M. Weber. 2004. Conserving Canada’s natural capital: The boreal forest. Al-Pac case study report. Prepared for the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy.