Dr. Nicholas J. Lunn

Research Scientist - Polar Bear Ecology and Arctic Marine Ecosystems

Create new scientific knowledge in wildlife ecology, conservation and management, particularly polar bears and seals, by formulating new concepts, theories, approaches and hypotheses, and by designing, planning and conducting innovative, original scientific research in support of Environment and Climate Change Canada policies and programs.

Provide scientific and technical information, expert advice, and leadership on arctic issues, with particular reference to polar bears, seals, and marine ecosystems, to Environment and Climate Change Canada senior management, other provincial, territorial, federal, and foreign government departments, national and international agencies, institutes and universities, the private and public sector, and the national and international scientific community.

Conservation and protection of wildlife species for all Canadians.

Environment and Climate Change Canada

Biological Sciences Building, University of Alberta (Edmonton, AB)

Current research and/or projects

Contributing to Environment and Climate Change Canada’s mandate to ensure wildlife is conserved and protected

Population dynamics and general ecology of polar bears, a keystone species that provides insight into the overall health of biodiversity within the Arctic marine ecosystem
Effects of climatic change on the ecology of polar bears in western Hudson Bay and on factors that influence their long-term reproductive performance
Original and management-oriented research on polar bears, pinnipeds (e.g., seals, walruses) and ecological inter-relationships in the Arctic marine ecosystem

Professional activities / interests

Environment and Climate Change Canada representative on the Canadian Polar Bear Technical Committee, which meets annually to review and exchange technical information, coordinate research activities and provides technical advice to the Polar Bear Administrative Committee in support of Canada’s conservation responsibilities under the Agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears (1973)

Environment and Climate Change Canada representative on the Scientific Working Group to the Canada-Greenland Joint Commission on Polar Bear, which provides the Joint Commission with scientific advice and recommendations with respect to the conservation and management of shared polar bear subpopulations

Review research grant applications, research proposals, and manuscripts submitted to scientific journals

Member of supervisory committees for graduate students (8 MSc. and 4 PhD. students at the University of Alberta and York University; External Examiner for 1 Ph.D. student at the University of Saskatchewan, to date)

Education and awards

Environment and Climate Change Canada, Science and Technology Branch Citation of Excellence (Scientific Leadership) (2020)

Environment Canada Citation of Excellence (Teamwork, Partnering and Collaboration) in recognition of contribution to the 2007 4th Assessment Report of the IPCC (2008)

Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Postdoctoral Fellowship, University of Alberta, 1995-1996

Ph.D., British Antarctic Survey and Open University, 1993

M.Sc., University of Alberta, 1985

B.Sc., University of Alberta, 1981

Key publications

Bohart, A.M., Lunn, N.J., Derocher, A.E. and McGeachy, D. 2021. Migration dynamics of polar bears (Ursus maritimus) in western Hudson Bay. Behavioral Ecology 32:440-451.

Hostetter, N.J., Lunn, N.J., Richardson, E.S., Regehr, E.V. and Converse, S.J. 2021. Age-structured Jolly-Seber model expands inference and improves parameter estimates from capture-recapture data. PLoS ONE 16:e0252748.

Regehr, E.V., Dyck, M., Iverson, S., Lee, D.S., Lunn, N.J., Northrup, J.M., Richer, M.-C., Szor, G. and Runge, M. 2021. Incorporating climate change in a harvest risk assessment for polar bears Ursus maritimus in Southern Hudson Bay. Biological Conservation 258:109128.

Johnson, A.C., Reimer, J.R., Lunn, N.J., Stirling, I., McGeachy, D. and Derocher, A.E. 2020. Influence of sea ice dynamics on population energetics of Western Hudson Bay polar bears. Conservation Physiology 8(1):coaa132.

Klappstein, N.J., Togunov, R.R., Lunn, N.J., Reimer, J. and Derocher, A.E. 2020. Patterns of sea ice drift and polar bear (Ursus maritimus) movement in Hudson Bay. Marine Ecology Progress Series 641:227-240.

Laidre, K.L., Atkinson, S., Regehr, E.V., Stern, H.L., Born, E.W., Wiig, Ø., Lunn, N.J., and Dyck, M. 2020. Interrelated ecological impacts of climate change on an apex predator. Ecological Applications 30(4):e02071.

Laidre, K.L., Atkinson, S.N., Regehr, E.V., Stern, H.L., Born, E.W., Wiig, Ø., Lunn, N.J., Dyck, M., Heagerty, P. and Cohen, B.R. 2020. Transient benefits of climate change for a high-Arctic polar bear (Ursus maritimus) subpopulation. Global Change Biology 26:6251-6265.

Johnson, A.C., Hobson, K.A., Lunn, N.J., McGeachy, D., Richardson, E. and Derocher, A.E. 2019. Temporal and intra-population patterns in polar bear foraging ecology in western Hudson Bay. Marine Ecology Progress Series 619:187-199.

Laidre, K.L., Born, E.W., Atkinson, S.N., Wiig, Ø., Anderson, L.W., Lunn, N.J., Dyck, M., Regehr, E.V., McGovern, R. and Heagerty, P. 2018. Range contraction and increasing isolation of a polar bear subpopulation in an era of sea ice loss. Ecology and Evolution 8:2062-2075.

Castro de la Guardia, L., P.G. Myers, A.E. Derocher, N.J. Lunn and A.D. Terwisscha van Scheltinga. 2017. Sea ice cycle in western Hudson Bay, Canada, from a polar bear perspective. Marine Ecology Progress Series 564:225-233.

Sciullo, L., G.W. Thiemann, N.J. Lunn and S.H. Ferguson. 2017. Intraspecific and temporal variability in the diet composition of female polar bears in a seasonal sea ice regime. Arctic Science doi:10.1139/as-2017-0004.

Cherry, S.G., A.E. Derocher, A.E. and N.J. Lunn. 2016. Habitat-mediated timing of migration in polar bears: an individual perspective. Ecology and Evolution 6:5032-5042.

Lunn, N.J., S. Servanty, E.V. Regehr, S.J. Converse, E. Richardson and I. Stirling. 2016. Demography of an apex predator at the edge of its range – impacts of changing sea ice on polar bears in Hudson Bay. Ecological Applications 26:1302-1320.

Regehr, E.V., K.L. Laidre, H.R. Akçakaya, S.C. Amstrup, T.C. Atwood, N.J. Lunn, M. Obbard, H. Stern, G.W. Thiemann and Ø. Wiig. 2016. Conservation status of polar bears (Ursus maritimus) in relation to projected sea-ice declines. Biology Letters 12:20160556, doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2016.0556.

Castro de la Guardia, L., A.E. Derocher P.G. Myers, A.D. Terwisscha van Scheltinga and N.J. Lunn. 2013. Future sea ice conditions in western Hudson Bay and consequences for polar bears in the 21st century. Global Change Biology 19:2675-2687.

Derocher, A.E., J. Aars, S.C. Amstrup, A. Cutting, N.J. Lunn, P.K. Molnár, M.E. Obbard, I. Stirling, G.W. Thiemann, D. Vongraven, Ø. Wiig and G. York. 2013. Rapid ecosystem change and polar bear conservation. Conservation Letters 6:368-375.

Peacock, E., A.E. Derocher, N.J. Lunn and M.E. Obbard. 2010. Polar bear ecology and management in Hudson Bay in the face of climate change. Pages 93-115 in A Little Less Arctic: Top Predators in the World’s Largest Northern Inland Sea. Edited by S.H. Ferguson, L.L. Loseto and M.L. Mallory. Springer, New York.

Lunn, N.J. 2007. Polar bears – a species in peril? Box 4.3, Page 231 in A. Fischlin, G.F. Midgley, J.T. Price, R. Leemans, B. Gopal, C. Turley, M.D.A. Rounsevell, O.P. Dube, J. Tarazona and A.A. Velichko. 2007: Ecosystems, their properties, goods, and services. Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Edited by M.L. Parry, O.F. Canziani, J.P. Palutikof, P.J. van der Linden and C.E. Hanson. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Regehr, E.V., N.J. Lunn, S.C. Amstrup and I. Stirling. 2007. Effects of earlier sea ice breakup on survival and population size of polar bears in western Hudson Bay. Journal of Wildlife Management 71:2673-2683.

Derocher, A.E., N.J. Lunn and I. Stirling. 2004. Polar bears in a warming climate. Integrative and Comparative Biology 44:163-176.

Stirling, I., N.J. Lunn and J. Iacozza. 1999. Long-term trends in the population ecology of polar bears in western Hudson Bay. Arctic 52:294-306.