PETER SOROYE
Living the dream
BIO
A little about me...
I like to call myself a conservation biologist, and I like to think that someday we humans will get our act together so I can call myself something else.
Currently, I'm the Assessment and Outreach Coordinator for the Key Biodiversity Areas Program at Wildlife Conservation Society Canada. It's a really fun job with an awesome team at an awesome organization, and you can find out more about the work we're doing at www.kbacanada.org.
I've recently finished a PhD at the University of Ottawa, where I worked with Prof. Jeremy Kerr and studied the effects of climate change and habitat loss on pollinators across continents.
I love doing research but I love trying to make a difference more, so I try to stay engaged in my various communities and use my power for good. I think science communication is an important part of being a researcher, and I enjoy doing that myself and helping to build platforms for others to do it as well. When I have spare time I try to fill it with things I enjoy: photography, basketball, music, and camping (not necessarily in that order). (he/him/his)
MY RESEARCH INTERESTS
For more info on the (fantastic) lab I did my PhD in, visit macroecology.ca
CLIMATE CHANGE AND LAND USE IMPACTS
Most of my research tries to understand how climate change and land use change (including habitat loss and pesticide use) interact to affect organisms. I do all my research with the thought that with greater understanding comes better solutions, and ultimately I'd like all my research to be helpful for wildlife conservation and policy. Most of this research I do while focusing on pollinators like bees and butterflies, which I love and which are cute enough for other people to want to find.
At the moment, much of the work I'm doing on this is in collaboration with Jeremy Kerr and Tim Newbold (UCL).
COMMUNITY SCIENCE FOR RESEARCH
As a researcher who looks at research questions from a macroecological perspective, community (citizen) science programs like e-Butterfly, iNaturalist, or BumblebeeWatch are absolute game-changers. I'm fascinated by these programs and the potential that they hold for discovery in global change and conservation research. I look at these programs, especially e-Butterfly, from a scientific perspective to see where and how they best compliment our traditional sources of data.
My work in this realm is mostly in collaboration with Jeremy Kerr.
Like any good scientist, I get excited about almost everything and I'm terrible at saying no to cool new projects (or even just new projects). Have an idea for a collaboration? Shoot me an email or DM.
PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS
Soroye, P., T. Newbold, J. T. Kerr. 2020. Climate change contributes to widespread declines among bumblebee species across continents. Science 367: 686-688.
Science also dedicated a Perspectives piece on this research:
Bridle, J., and A. van Rensburg. 2020. Discovering the limits of ecological resilience. Science 367: 626-627.
Soroye, Peter; Newbold, Tim; T. Kerr, Jeremy (2020): Climate change contributes to widespread declines among bumble bees across continents - DATA REPOSITORY. figshare. Dataset. https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.9956471.v1
Jeanson, A. L., P. Soroye, A. N. Kadykalo, T. D. Ward, E. Paquette, A. E. I. Abrams, et al. 2019. Twenty Actions for a ‘Good Anthropocene’ - Perspectives from Early Career Conservation Professionals. Environ. Rev., 1–50. DOI: 10.1139/er-2019-0021
Soroye, P., Ahmed, N. & J.T. Kerr. 2018. Opportunistic citizen science data transform understanding of species distributions, phenology, and diversity gradients for global change research. Glob. Chang. Biol., 1–11. DOI: 10.1111/gcb.14358
Rode, N. O., P. Soroye, R. Kassen, and H. D. Rundle. 2017. Air-borne genotype by genotype indirect genetic effects are substantial in the filamentous fungus Aspergillus nidulans. Heredity:1–26. DOI: 10.1038/hdy.2017.9
Coristine, L. E., P. Soroye, R. N. Soares, C. Robillard, and J. T. Kerr. 2016. Dispersal Limitation, Climate Change, and Practical Tools for Butterfly Conservation in Intensively Used Landscapes. Natural Areas Journal 36:440–452. DOI: 10.3375/043.036.0410
NON-PEER REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS
Sirois-Delisle, C.*, J. E. Allison*, T. Bretzlaff*, S. Chisholm*, S. Gordon*, O. Koppel*, M. Leduc*, S. Leo*, A. Paradis*, P. Soroye*, and J. T. Kerr*. “The case for diversity in Canadian science”. iPolitics. Dec 7, 2018. https://ipolitics.ca/2018/12/07/the-case-for-diversity-in-canadian-science/
Bent, E.*, T. Bretzlaff*, P. Crowell*, M. Leduc*, A. Paradis*, C. Paton*, C. Sirois-Delisle*, P. Soroye*. “Budget 2018 propels young researchers closer to the scientific podium”. iPolitics. Mar 9, 2018. https://ipolitics.ca/article/budget-2018-propels-young-researchers-closer-scientific-podium/
Paradis A.*, C. Sirois-Delisle*, C. Paton*, E. Bent*, M. Leduc*, P. Crowell*, P. Soroye*, T. Bretzlaff*. “Lighting the torch for young Canadian researchers”. iPolitics. Feb 23, 2018. https://ipolitics.ca/article/lighting-torch-young-canadian-researchers/
NEWS
Every now and then I happen to do something that someone thinks is worth writing about. I try to collect some of those news pieces here. Follow me on twitter (@PeterSoroye) for more frequent news updates.
.jpg)
