APECS Canada - Nomination
Gabriela Ibarguchi - I have been an APECS member since 2009, joining during my first SCAR Meeting (Scientific
Committee on Antarctic Research) in Japan, and was pleased to join the APECS Canada Board in 2012. I am
currently a Postdoctoral Associate at the Arctic Institute of North America, University of Calgary, and the
Associate Director of the ISAC Program (International Study of Arctic Change). I am also a member of the Birds
Team of the Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program (CBMP), Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna
(CAFF, Arctic Council). My background is in ecology, evolution and biogeography, and I first travelled to the
Arctic to study the breeding ecology, helping behavior and population genetics of thick-billed murres during my
M.Sc. studies at Queen’s University with Environment Canada. I travelled south for my Ph. D. research at
Queen’s, and worked on cold-adapted Andean birds, the cryptic seedsnipes, tracing their ancestral origin to
Antarctic mountains. I returned to work on Arctic marine and terrestrial ecosystems with the CBMP team and
Environment Canada. Over the years I have contributed to promoting APECS International and APECS Canada
and our initiatives, participated in event-planning, mentoring, outreach and engagement. Most recently I coorganised a very successful and engaging session with our APECS members in collaboration with the Canadian
Museum of Nature during the Arctic Biodiversity Congress 2014 (Trondheim, Norway). I am currently involved
in the Arctic Observing Summit Executive Organizing Committee and working with IASC (International Arctic
Science Committee) to engage APECS members in our thematic working groups for AOS 2016. I look forward to
serving APECS as a member and mentor, and as part of the Canada Board for the upcoming term.