Judith H. Myers

Judith H. Myers
Born	(1941-07-03)July 3, 1941
Residence	Vancouver, Canada
Citizenship	Canadian, American
Fields	Ecology and Entomology the population cycle, biological pest control, introduced species
Institutions	Professor Emerita, Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia
Education	B.Sc. Biology (1959-1963), Chatham University (Chatham College), M.Sc. Biology (1965-1968) Tufts University, Ph.D. Ecology (1967-1970) Indiana University
Spouse	J.N.M. (Jamie) Smith (b. 1944 d. 2005)
Children	Isla Myers Smith, Iain Myers Smith
Website Krebs' & Myers' Ecological Rants.[1]

Judith (Judy) H. Myers (born July 3, 1941) is a Canadian-American ecologist. In 2014 she became president of the Canadian Society for Ecology and Evolution.^[2] In addition to her decades-long research into plant-animal-microbe interactions, including insect pest outbreaks, viral pathogens of insects and biological control of insects and plants,^[3][4] she is an advocate for both the public understanding of science and increasing the number of women in the STEM subjects: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.

Myers is a trustee of the Entomological Society of Canada. In 2004, she was awarded its Gold Medal for her contributions to the theory and practice of biological control.^[5] She also received the McCarthy Award from the Professional Pest Management Association of British Columbia. As a published author, she is widely held in libraries worldwide.^[6]

Biography

Myers is currently Professor Emerita in the Department of Zoology at the University of British Columbia, where she joined the faculty in 1972. She was cross-appointed to the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences (now Faculty of Land and Food Systems).^[7] Her research takes an interdisciplinary, collaborative, inclusive approach to the management of environmental pest problems.

Myers worked with fellow ecologists Charles Krebs, Tony (Anthony) R.E. Sinclair and her late husband, Jamie (James N.M.) Smith,^[8] initially in the Institute of Animal Resource Ecology and later in the Biodiversity Centre at UBC.

She is the mother of Iain and Isla Myers-Smith, who were born in Vancouver, British Columbia and Canberra, Australia respectively. Isla Myers-Smith is currently a lecturer at the University of Edinburgh^[9]

Myers has served on various NSERC: Natural Sciences and Research Council of Canada committees, particularly those related to women in science including the Women’s Faculty Award Committee and the Women in Science and Engineering Chair Program. She was a member of the NSERC Biological Control Network and was Theme leader – Greenhouses (2001-2006) and co-theme leader – New, improved microbial agents for management of insect pests (2001-2006).

Myers was at the forefront of Canadian post-secondary education's efforts to recruit more women in STEM fields during the late 1980s and early 1990s, when she was Associate Dean of Science at the University of British Columbia. Simply discussing data related to the leaky pipeline,^[10] could be contentious. Myers is quoted on p. 298 in Martin Loney’s 1998 book critiquing what he described as identity politics in Canadian post-secondary education, The Pursuit of Division: Race, Gender, and Preferential Hiring in Canada.^[11] Loney challenged Myers to produce data in support of her assertion that hiring policies preventing women being hired, were operating during the 1960s. Scholarship and research into the complex nature of barriers to women in STEM being hired in the post-secondary education sector, has, since, expanded significantly. Judy Myers continues to be a strong advocate for women in STEM.

In addition to her 2014-2016 presidency of the Canadian Society for Ecology and Evolution (CSEE), Myers is past President of the Canadian Coalition for Women in Science, Engineering, Trades and Technology (CCWESTT) and of the Society for Canadian Women in Science and Technology.

Honours

• Lifetime Achievement McCarthy Award, PPMABC and Elected Honorary Member of the Professional Pest Management Association of B.C (2009)^[12]
• Gold Medal, Entomological Society Canada (2004)
• Elected Honorary Member of the Entomological Society of Canada (2015)

Major publications

• Judy Myers and coauthor Dawn R. Bazely's 2003 monograph, “Ecology and Control of Introduced Plants” (Cambridge University Press) was selected as an American Library Association CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title in 2005.
• Myers, J.H. and Cory, J.S.2013. Population cycles in forest Lepidoptera revisited. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution and Systematics 44: 565-592
• Cory, J.S. and J.H. Myers. 2003. The ecology and evolution of insect Baculoviruses. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution and Systematics 34: 239-272.

Myers J.H. 1988 Can a general hypothesis explain population-cycles of forest Lepidoptera. Advances in Ecological Research 18: 179-242

• Krebs, C.J. and J.H. Myers. 1974. Population cycles in small mammals. Advances in Ecological Research. Academic Press. pp. 267–399.

References