Ian Grote Stirling | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | May 14, 2024
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada | (aged 82)
Citizenship | Canadian |
Alma mater | |
Known for | Polar bears |
Spouse | Stella |
Children | 3 |
Scientific career | |
Fields | |
Institutions | |
Thesis | Population ecology of the Weddell seal ( Leptonychotes weddelli) in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica (1968) |
Doctoral advisor | Bernard Stonehouse |
Other academic advisors | James F. Bendell |
Notes | |
See obituary in
The Vancouver Sun |
Ian Grote Stirling OC FRSC (September 26, 1941 – May 14, 2024) [2] [3] was a research scientist with Environment and Climate Change Canada and an adjunct professor in the University of Alberta Department of Biological Sciences. [4] [5] His research has focused mostly on Arctic and Antarctic zoology and ecology, and he was one of the world's top authorities on polar bears. [6]
Stirling authored five non-technical books and more than 250 articles published in peer-reviewed science journals. [4] Over the course of his career, and well into his retirement from Environment Canada in 2007, when he became a scientist emeritus, he wrote and spoke extensively about the danger posed to polar bears by global warming. [7]
Ian Stirling was born to Andrew and Margaret Stirling on September 26, 1941 in Zambia, where his father worked as a mining engineer. They returned to Canada after the Second World War, settling in the mining town of Kimberley, British Columbia. [2] He completed his B.Sc. at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in 1963, and his M.Sc. in zoology at UBC in 1965, where he met his spouse, Stella. [2]
For his M.Sc. thesis, Stirling studied captive blue grouse under James F. Bendell. [8] In 1968, Stirling received his doctorate from the University of Canterbury, New Zealand having done his field work on the Weddell seal from Scott Base in Antarctica, followed by post-doctoral research on South Australian fur seals at the University of Adelaide in Australia. [9] His three children were born in New Zealand, Australia and Canada, respectively. [2]
From 1970 to 2007, Stirling was employed as a research scientist for the Canadian Wildlife Service. [4] His research focussed on polar bear biology and ecology, with his most notable work being a long-term study of polar bears in western Hudson Bay near Churchill, Manitoba. He was among the first to draw attention to the potential impacts of climate change on polar bears. [10] He was also an adjunct professor at the University of Alberta for more than 30 years, after settling in Edmonton in 1972. [2] Stirling retired in 2007.
Stirling has served as a member of the Committee of Scientific Advisors of the Marine Mammal Commission, and he was the first Canadian to be elected president of the Society for Marine Mammalogy. [11] He was a long-standing member of the IUCN Polar Bear Specialist Group and was also a scientific advisor to Polar Bears International. [12]
Stirling was diagonized with lymphoma in 2019. The illness advanced to leukemia in 2023 and he died of effects of cancer in 2024, at age 82. [13]
{{
cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (
link)
{{
cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (
link)
{{
cite thesis}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link)
{{
cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (
link)
Ian Grote Stirling | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | May 14, 2024
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada | (aged 82)
Citizenship | Canadian |
Alma mater | |
Known for | Polar bears |
Spouse | Stella |
Children | 3 |
Scientific career | |
Fields | |
Institutions | |
Thesis | Population ecology of the Weddell seal ( Leptonychotes weddelli) in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica (1968) |
Doctoral advisor | Bernard Stonehouse |
Other academic advisors | James F. Bendell |
Notes | |
See obituary in
The Vancouver Sun |
Ian Grote Stirling OC FRSC (September 26, 1941 – May 14, 2024) [2] [3] was a research scientist with Environment and Climate Change Canada and an adjunct professor in the University of Alberta Department of Biological Sciences. [4] [5] His research has focused mostly on Arctic and Antarctic zoology and ecology, and he was one of the world's top authorities on polar bears. [6]
Stirling authored five non-technical books and more than 250 articles published in peer-reviewed science journals. [4] Over the course of his career, and well into his retirement from Environment Canada in 2007, when he became a scientist emeritus, he wrote and spoke extensively about the danger posed to polar bears by global warming. [7]
Ian Stirling was born to Andrew and Margaret Stirling on September 26, 1941 in Zambia, where his father worked as a mining engineer. They returned to Canada after the Second World War, settling in the mining town of Kimberley, British Columbia. [2] He completed his B.Sc. at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in 1963, and his M.Sc. in zoology at UBC in 1965, where he met his spouse, Stella. [2]
For his M.Sc. thesis, Stirling studied captive blue grouse under James F. Bendell. [8] In 1968, Stirling received his doctorate from the University of Canterbury, New Zealand having done his field work on the Weddell seal from Scott Base in Antarctica, followed by post-doctoral research on South Australian fur seals at the University of Adelaide in Australia. [9] His three children were born in New Zealand, Australia and Canada, respectively. [2]
From 1970 to 2007, Stirling was employed as a research scientist for the Canadian Wildlife Service. [4] His research focussed on polar bear biology and ecology, with his most notable work being a long-term study of polar bears in western Hudson Bay near Churchill, Manitoba. He was among the first to draw attention to the potential impacts of climate change on polar bears. [10] He was also an adjunct professor at the University of Alberta for more than 30 years, after settling in Edmonton in 1972. [2] Stirling retired in 2007.
Stirling has served as a member of the Committee of Scientific Advisors of the Marine Mammal Commission, and he was the first Canadian to be elected president of the Society for Marine Mammalogy. [11] He was a long-standing member of the IUCN Polar Bear Specialist Group and was also a scientific advisor to Polar Bears International. [12]
Stirling was diagonized with lymphoma in 2019. The illness advanced to leukemia in 2023 and he died of effects of cancer in 2024, at age 82. [13]
{{
cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (
link)
{{
cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (
link)
{{
cite thesis}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link)
{{
cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (
link)