I’m an ecologist interested in the behaviour, population dynamics, and conservation of animals in seasonal environments, with a particular emphasis on migratory birds and butterflies. I obtained an MSc from York University in 2000, a PhD from Queen’s University in 2005 and was an NSERC-Killam Memorial Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Forest Sciences at the University of British Columbia from 2005-2006. I was appointed a faculty position in the Department of Integrative Biology at the University of Guelph in 2006, promoted to Associate Professor in 2010 and received a University Research Chair in 2012. In 2019, I began a cross-appointed position as the Weston Family Senior Scientist for the Nature Conservancy of Canada.
Research in my lab focuses on several theoretical and empirical problems related to the ecology & conservation of migratory animals and resident animals living in highly seasonal environments. In the field, I am currently conducting studies on the ecology & behaviour of Savannah sparrows on Kent Island, Bay of Fundy, NS, the ecology and population dynamics of Gray Jays in Algonquin Park, ON, and Denali National Park, Alaska and migratory ecology and behaviour of Tree swallows and Blackpoll warblers across their breeding range. See the Norris lab research page for details on these topics and more including our work on ecology and conservation of monarch butterflies and population ecology of fruit flies.
For a full list of papers and citations see: Ryan’s Google Scholar profile
Guelph Appointments
Associate Professor, Department of Integrative Biology, 2011-present
University Research Chair, 2012-2017
Assistant Professor, Department of Integrative Biology, 2006-2010
Current Appointments outside Guelph
Co-Editor-In-Chief, Avian Conservation & Ecology
Academic Editor: Ecology Letters
Associate Editor: Canadian Journal of Zoology
Scientific Advisory Committee, Bruce Peninsula Bird Observatory
Awards
Member, College of New Scholars, Artists & Scientists, Royal Society of Canada, 2014-2021
Robert G. Boutilier New Investigator Award, Can. Society Zoologists, 2011
Early Researcher Award, ON Ministry of Research & Innovation, 2008
AOU Young Investigator Award, American Ornithologists Union, 2006
Major Grants
Alliance Grant, NSERC (2021-2026)
Alliance Grant, NSERC (2020-2025)
Discovery Accelerator Supplement, NSERC (2016-2019)
Discovery Grant, NSERC (2016-2021)
Leading Edge Fund, CFI & MRI (2014)
Discovery Accelerator Supplement, NSERC (2011-2013)
Discovery Grant, NSERC (2011-2015)
Leaders Opportunity Fund, CFI & MRI (2009)
Strategic Grant, NSERC (2008)
RTI Grants, NSERC (2006, 2007, 2008, 2012, 2013)
Discovery Grant, NSERC (2006-2011)
Courses taught
BIOL*2060 Ecology (Winter term: 2018, co-taught with Andrew McAdam)
BIOL*3010 Lab & Field Work in Ecology (Fall term: 2014-16, 2021)
ZOO*4070 Animal Behaviour (Fall term: 2007-2011, 2014-17)
ZOO*4070 Ornithology (Fall term: 2009-2011)
ZOO*4410 Field Ecology in Algonquin Park (Summer term: 2007)
