Kathleen Elizabeth Conlan (born July 30, 1950) is an Antarctic marine biologist who studies sea floor marine life.[1] She was named one of Canada's greatest explorers by Canadian Geographic.[2]
Kathleen Conlan | |
---|---|
Born | |
Alma mater | BSc Queen's University MSc University of Victoria PhD Carleton University |
Awards | Antarctica Service Medal |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Marine biology |
Institutions | Canadian Museum of Nature |
Website | Conlan at the Canadian Museum of Nature |
Early life and education
editConlan was born on June 3, 1950, in Ottawa, Ontario.[1] She completed her undergraduate degree, a Bachelor of Science, at Queen's University in 1972, before undertaking a M.Sc. from the University of Victoria in 1977. Conlan completed her Ph.D. at Carleton University in 1988.[1] The title of her Ph.D. thesis was "Systematics and sexual dimorphism: reclassification of the crustacean amphipod genus Jassa (Corophioidea: Ischyroceridae)."[3]
The inspiration for her to study both the Arctic and the Antarctic came from a pioneer Antarctic marine biologist, Dr. John Oliver, who was one of the early divers in the Antarctic.[4] Conlan met Oliver through a colleague, and was invited to be part of his Antarctic research team in 1991.[5][6] In return, Conlan invited his research team to begin studies in the Canadian Arctic.[7] As a result, she is still studying ecological processes in both the Arctic and Antarctic, 25 years after they first began polar research.
Career and impact
editConlan is currently a Research Scientist at the Canadian Museum of Nature.[3] Her research focuses on communities of marine life on the sea floor of the Antarctic and Arctic[3] and the impacts of natural or anthropogenic changes. Conlan's research has had significant impact.[8][9] Her study of long-term benthic changes near McMurdo Station helped change the U.S. Antarctic Program's procedures for sewage discharge in the Antarctic.[10] She also discovered that the B-15 iceberg (the world's largest recorded iceberg) in Antarctica could impact benthic life over 100 km as it blocked access to their main food supply, the annual plankton bloom.[11] This is a far-reaching effect that had not been previously documented.
Conlan is actively involved within the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR). She is a Canadian representative on SCAR's Standing Scientific Group on Life Sciences (SSG-LS),[12] and has served as Chief Officer of the SSG-LS from 2008 to 2012[13] and Secretary from 2004 to 2008. Conlan is currently on the selection committee of the prestigious Tinker-Muse Prize for Science and Policy in Antarctica.[13][14]
Conlan is a long-standing member of the Canadian Committee on Antarctic Research (1998–Present), providing advice and guidance on matters pertaining to Antarctic research and serving as a link between SCAR and the Canadian polar research community.[11] She was Section Head of the Life Sciences-Zoology Program at the Canadian Museum of Nature (2006-2016) and adjunct professor at Carleton University (2004-2013).[3]
Conlan's impact has extended beyond research. She has mentored over 50 students and has given nearly 50 interviews to the media about Antarctica and over 100 popular talks.[15][16][17] She has been profiled in four polar exhibits for museums in Canada and the U.S.[18][19][20][21] She has written over 20 scientific papers on the Antarctic[3] and her underwater photographs assist newcomers with identifying Antarctic marine life.[22] She was an educator on the inaugural voyages (2000-2001) of the international Students on Ice program to educate youth about the importance of the Polar Regions.[23] In 2002, Conlan wrote a children's book, titled Under the Ice: A Marine Biologist at Work, published by Kids Can Press.[1][24]
Awards and honours
editConlan was named as one of Canada's Greatest Explorers in 2015 by Canadian Geographic for her polar research which involved 20 expeditions, 11 of them to Antarctica.[25][26][2] She is also the recipient of the Science in Society Children's Book Award from Canadian Science Writers’ Association for "Under the Ice"[27][28][7] a book for youth featuring her research experiences in the Arctic and Antarctic.[29]
Conlan received an Antarctica Service Medal (1992) from the US Department of the Navy and the National Science Foundation.[30] She is also a 3-time winner of the R. W. Brock Award for best Canadian Museum of Nature research paper (1998, 2003 and 2006).[7][31]
She was also nominated twice for the YMCA-YWCA Women of Distinction Award in the Technology Category (1999 and 2001).[32]
Selected works
edit- Barnes, David K. A.; Conlan, Kathleen E. (2007-01-29). "Disturbance, colonization and development of Antarctic benthic communities". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences. 362 (1477): 11–38. doi:10.1098/rstb.2006.1951. ISSN 0962-8436. PMC 3227166. PMID 17405206.
- Kim, Stacy L.; Thurber, Andrew; Hammerstrom, Kamille; Conlan, Kathleen (2007-08-03). "Seastar response to organic enrichment in an oligotrophic polar habitat". Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology. 346 (1–2): 66–75. doi:10.1016/j.jembe.2007.03.004.
- Conlan, Kathleen E. (1991-10-01). "Precopulatory mating behavior and sexual dimorphism in the amphipod Crustacea". Hydrobiologia. 223 (1): 255–282. doi:10.1007/BF00047644. ISSN 0018-8158. S2CID 24832061.
- Conlan, Kathleen E.; Currie, David R.; Dittmann, Sabine; Sorokin, Shirley J.; Hendrycks, Ed (2015-11-30). "Macrofaunal Patterns in and around du Couedic and Bonney Submarine Canyons, South Australia". PLOS ONE. 10 (11): e0143921. Bibcode:2015PLoSO..1043921C. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0143921. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 4664417. PMID 26618354.
References
edit- ^ a b c d McLeod, Susanna (10 August 2022). "Canadian Ingenuity: Marine biologist photographs wonders of deep sea life". The Kingston Whig-Standard.
- ^ a b "5 things diver Kathleen Conlan can't leave home without | Toronto Star". thestar.com. 18 December 2015. Retrieved 2016-06-18.
- ^ a b c d e "Kathleen E. Conlan—Professional Profile". nature.ca. Canadian Museum of Nature. Archived from the original on 2019-01-15. Retrieved 2016-06-18.
- ^ "The Benthic Lab in Antarctica | MLML 50th Anniversary". anniversary.mlml.calstate.edu. Retrieved 2016-06-18.
- ^ Hildebrand, John (2005-01-01). A Northern Front: New and Selected Essays. Minnesota Historical Society. ISBN 9780873515283.
- ^ Conlan, Kathleen E.; Kim, Stacy L.; Lenihan, Hunter S.; Oliver, John S. (2004-07-01). "Benthic changes during 10 years of organic enrichment by McMurdo Station, Antarctica". Marine Pollution Bulletin. 49 (1–2): 43–60. Bibcode:2004MarPB..49...43C. doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2004.01.007. PMID 15234873.
- ^ a b c "science.ca : Kathy Conlan". www.science.ca. Retrieved 2016-06-18.
- ^ "Nunatsiaq News". www.nunatsiaqonline.ca. Archived from the original on 2016-10-12. Retrieved 2016-06-18.
- ^ Sopinka, Natalie (2014-11-14). "Upwelling". Phish Doc. Archived from the original on 2016-06-23. Retrieved 2016-06-18.
- ^ Paquette, Nicole. "Educational Videos from the Canadian Museum of Nature". nature.ca. Archived from the original on 2016-09-15. Retrieved 2016-06-18.
- ^ a b "Canadian Committee on Antarctic Research (CCAR) | Canadian Polar Commission". www.polarcom.gc.ca. Archived from the original on 2016-08-08. Retrieved 2016-06-18.
- ^ "Membership". www.scar.org. Retrieved 2016-06-18.
- ^ a b "Tinker-Muse Prize for Science and Policy in Antarctica". www.museprize.org. Archived from the original on 2016-08-05. Retrieved 2016-06-18.
- ^ Conlan, Kathleen (2015-07-29). "An Exceptional Antarctic Scientist". Canadian Museum of Nature - Blog. Retrieved 2016-06-18.
- ^ Woolston, Chris (2015-12-10). "Marine biology: Charting sea life". Nature. 528 (7581): 295–297. doi:10.1038/nj7581-295a. PMID 26677466.
- ^ Canadian Museum of Nature (2010-07-02), Antarctic Pollution, retrieved 2016-06-18
- ^ "Google Search". Retrieved 2016-06-18.
- ^ "Client Validation". www.vanaqua.org. Retrieved 2016-06-18.
- ^ "Arctic Voices | International Sales | Science North". sciencenorth.ca. Archived from the original on 2016-06-28. Retrieved 2016-06-18.
- ^ "Extraordinary Arctic | Canadian Museum of Nature". nature.ca. Retrieved 2016-06-18.
- ^ "Travelling Exhibition: Canada's Waterscapes | Canadian Museum of Nature". nature.ca. Retrieved 2016-06-18.
- ^ "Underwater Field Guide to Ross Island & McMurdo Sound, Antarctica". www.peterbrueggeman.com. Retrieved 2016-06-18.
- ^ "About Us - Students on Ice". Students on Ice. Archived from the original on 2016-05-19. Retrieved 2016-06-18.
- ^ Conlan, Kathy (2002). Under the Ice: A Marine Biologist at Work. Kids Can Press. ISBN 978-1553370017.
- ^ "Kathleen Conlan - Canada's Greatest Explorers - Canadian Geographic". Canadian Geographic. Retrieved 2016-06-18.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Canada's greatest modern women explorers". Canadian Geographic. Archived from the original on 2016-03-19. Retrieved 2016-06-18.
- ^ Conlan, Kathy; Nature, Canadian Museum of (2004-08-01). Under the Ice: A Marine Biologist at Work. Toronto: Kids Can Press. ISBN 9781553370604.
- ^ "2002 Science in Society Book Award Recipient: Kathy Conlan - Canadian Children's Book Centre". Canadian Children's Book Centre. Retrieved 2016-06-18.
- ^ "Under the Ice". Goodreads. Retrieved 2016-06-18.
- ^ "About Kathy Conlan". KATHLEEN e. CONLAN. Retrieved 2016-06-18.
- ^ "Canadian Scientist". Gurneet Saini's E-portfolio. Retrieved 2016-06-18.
- ^ "science.ca : Kathy Conlan". www.science.ca. Retrieved 2019-03-07.