Dr. Steven C. Amstrup

To kick-off Polar Bear Nation, world-renowned polar bear researcher, Dr. Steven C. Amstrup will be coming to the Ohio Northern campus on October 15 to talk about polar bears. Learn how climate change is affecting the polar bear and why it is now on the endangered list.

Dr. Amstrup is a Research Wildlife Biologist with the United States Geological Survey at the Alaska Science Center, Anchorage, AK. He is also an adjunct professor at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, and an associate professor at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks.

He earned his bachelor's in science in forestry from the University of Washington (1972), a master's in science in wildlife management from the University of Idaho (1975), and a Ph.D. in Wildlife Management from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks (1995). He has been conducting research on all aspects of polar bear ecology in the Beaufort Sea since 1980. He is a past chairman of the IUCN Polar Bear Specialist Group and has been an active member of the group for 28 years. He has authored or coauthored over 60 peer-reviewed articles on movements, distribution and population dynamics of large mammals, and is the senior editor of a recent text on population estimation methods.

Dr. Amstrup led the team of researchers who prepared nine reports that became the basis for the first decision to list polar bears as a "threatened" species. With 24 years of research experience on polar bears and their habitats, his presentation will appeal to all audiences, from animal lovers to environmentalists.