Dr. Donald Baird

Biography

Donald Baird obtained his PhD in ecology from the University of Glasgow, Scotland. He is currently employed as a Senior Research Scientist with Environment and Climate Change Canada's Water Science Technology Directorate, and serves as a Visiting Research Professor in the Biology Department at the University of New Brunswick. With over 30 years of experience in aquatic ecology across Canada, Latin America, Europe, Southeast Asia, and Australia, he has published 150 papers and four books. His main research interests include ecological risk assessment and the development of new methods for ecosystem observation. In the past decade, Baird has pioneered the use of ecogenomics in biodiversity observation for river and wetland ecosystem assessment. He currently leads a national initiative to apply these techniques in routine monitoring of threatened ecosystems in Canada, particularly focusing on river floodplains and boreal wetlands. Additionally, he is actively developing new approaches to understand the effects of complex stressor regimes on ecosystems characteristic of the new Anthropocene era. Baird has served on the editorial boards of international journals and as a science advisor and external reviewer for organizations such as WHO-Water, Ramsar, UNDP, and WWF-Canada.

Research Interests

Experience