Dr. Kirsty E. B. Gurney

Image Kirsty E. B. Gurney
Research Scientist - Ecology and Environmental Science; Wetlands; Wildlife Health

Current research and/or projects

Contributing to Environment Canada's mandate to ensure that ecosystems and wildlife are conserved and protected

  • Identifying links between natural and anthropogenic environmental stressors (e.g. climate, resource abundance, industrial development, disease) and wildlife health at individual and population levels
  • Identifying the effects of environmental change (e.g., contaminants, climate, industrial development) on arctic and northern-breeding birds, in the context of reproductive success, annual life cycles, and demographic outcomes
  • Developing and implementing DNA-based approaches to assessing issues related to conservation

Professional activities / interests

  • Advise students at University of Saskatchewan, University of Alaska Fairbanks (Associate Faculty)
  • Journal paper reviews (e.g., Oecologia, Arctic, Environmental Science and Technology, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment)

Education and awards

B.Sc. (Hons) Biology and Environmental Toxicology, Simon Fraser University, 1997

M.Sc. Ecotoxicology, Simon Fraser University, 2000

Ph.D. Biology, University of Saskatchewan, 2012

Key publications

Gurney, K.E.B., R.G. Clark, S.M. Slattery and L. Ross. 2016. Connecting the trophic dots: responses of an aquatic bird species to variable abundance of macroinvertebrates in northern boreal wetlands. Hydrobiologia: 1–17 doi:10.1007/s10750-016-2817-4.

Lavretsky, P., J. Peters, K. Winker, V. Bahn, I. Kulikova, Y. Zhuravlev, R. Wilson, C. Barger, K.E.B. Gurney and K. McCracken. 2016. Becoming pure: identifying generational classes of admixed individuals within lesser and greater scaup populations. Molecular Ecology 25: 661–674.

Gurney, K.E.B., R.G. Clark and P.S.Curry. 2014. Factors influencing mortality of lesser scaup (Aythya affinis) ducklings during a West Nile virus outbreak. Canadian Journal of Zoology 92: 365–370.

Gurney, K.E.B., C.J. Wood, R.T. Alisauskas, M. Wayland, J.M. DeVink and S.M. Slattery. 2014. Identifying carry-over effects of wintering area on reproductive parameters in White-winged scoters: An isotopic approach. The Condor: Ornithological Applications 116: 251–264.

Liebezeit, J.R., K.E.B. Gurney, M. Budde, S. Zack and D.H. Ward. 2014. Phenological advancement in arctic species: relative importance of snow melt and ecological factors. Polar Biology 37: 1309–1320.