Dr. Jackie Dawson

Dr. Jackie Dawson (PhD) is an Associate Professor at the University of Ottawa in the Department of Geography, Environment, and Geomatics and holds the Canada Research Chair in Environment, Society, and Policy. She is also a Scientific Director of the Network of Centres of Excellence, ArcticNet. Dr. Dawson is an Applied Scientist working on the human and policy dimensions of environmental change in ocean and coastal regions and is considered an expert in Arctic shipping, Arctic tourism, and Arctic oceans governance. She is an elected fellow of the prestigious College of the Royal Society of Canada, the Global Young Academy and the Royal Canadian Geographic Society. She has won several research awards including Ontario Early Career Researcher award, the Faculty of Arts Young Researcher of the Year award, and the University of Ottawa Young Research of the Year Award. She has served as an invited expert on two Canadian Council of Academies (CCA) Expert Panels and now serves on the CCA Scientific Advisory Committee. Dr. Dawson is also currently serving on the United Nations Decade of Oceans Science (2021-2030) Arctic Task Force. From 2015-18, she served as the co-chair of the World Meteorological Organization’s Social and Economics Research Applications working group and continues to participate as a committee member. In 2018 she was selected by the Minister of Science and the Royal Society of Canada to lead the drafting of the G7 science statement on Arctic oceans and resilient communities, which was signed by the academic academies of all G7 nations. Dr. Dawson has published over 75 peer reviewed journal articles, 50 technical reports, and 20 book chapters. Her H-index is 30 and i10 index is 60 and her research is regularly cited in scholarly literature, public policy documents, and popular media. She served as an invited Contributing Author on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on Oceans and the Cryosphere and as an invited Lead Author on the IPCC 6th Assessment report. She also acted as an invited lead author on Arctic Council’s report ‘Adaptation Actions for a Changing Arctic’, and continues to contribute to several Arctic Council working groups. Dr. Dawson has secured over $47 million in research funding and has given over 200 public presentations including more than 60 invited national and international speeches including a sold-out Breakfast on the Hill lecture organized by the Federation of Humanities and Social Science, a Standing Senate Committee hearing as a witness for Bill C-48, and at several private ‘idea and expert forum’ dinners that included policy leaders such as the past Federal Minister of Diversification and Trade, the Leader of the Green Party of Canada, the past Clerk of Privy Council, and the past Commissioner of the Canadian Coast Guard. Dr. Dawson has trained over 100 highly qualified personnel including 39 postdoctoral fellows, graduate and undergraduate students, and 62 Inuit and northern research assistants.