Dawn R Bazely

Dawn Bazely is University Professor of biology in the Faculty of Science at York University in Toronto, where she has taught since 1990. She was director of IRIS, the university-wide Institute for Research and Innovation in Sustainability (2006-11 and 2012-14). At IRIS, Dawn’s mission was to develop, lead and support interdisciplinary research on diverse fronts. The Globe and Mail's 2014 Canadian University Report singled her out as York University's HotShot Professor.

Dawn trained as an ecologist in the field of plant-herbivore interactions, and has carried out extensive field research in grasslands and forests, from temperate to arctic regions. She holds a BSc in Biogeography and Environmental Studies and an MSc in Botany from the University of Toronto. Her DPhil in Zoology, from Oxford University’s Edward Grey Institute in Field Ornithology, looked at sheep grazing behaviour from a marginal value theorem perspective.

While leading IRIS, Dawn led and collaborated on research into the science-policy-politics nexus with colleagues from political science, business, law, health, history and ethics. She advocates for citizen science, and for scientists to be better public science communicators. In 2015, Dawn founded York University's Annual International Ada Lovelace Day celebration, together with Science and Engineering Librarian, John Dupuis.