Ph. D. Biology (Queen’s University)
M. Sc. Biology (Queen’s University)
B. Sc. Biology and Environmental Studies (Trent University)
Selected Publications
Smith, A. L., D. R. Bazely and N. Yan. 2013. Are legislative frameworks in Canada and Ontario up to the task of addressing invasive alien species? Biological Invasions DOI: 10.1007/s10530-013-0585-x.
Smith, A. L., N. Klenk, S. Wood, N. Hewitt, I. Henriques, N. Yan and D. R. Bazely. 2013. Second generation biofuels and bioinvasions: an evaluation of invasive risks and policy responses in the United States and Canada. Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews 27: 30-42.
Smith, A. L., N. Hewitt, N. Klenk, D. R. Bazely, N. Yan, S. Wood, I. Henriques, J. I. MacLellan and C. Lipsig-Mummé. 2012. Effects of climate change on the distribution of invasive alien species in Canada: a knowledge synthesis of range change projections in a warming world. Environmental Reviews 20: 1-16. doi:10.1139/A11-020.
Smith, A. L., D. R. Bazely and N. Yan. 2011. Missing the boat on invasive species: a review of post-secondary curricula in Canada. Canadian Journal of Higher Education 41(1): 34-47.
Hewitt, N., N. Klenk, A. L. Smith, D. R. Bazely, N. Yan, S. Wood, J. I. MacLellan, C. Lipsig-Mumme and I. Henriques. 2011. Taking stock of the assisted migration debate. Biological Conservation 144: 2560-2572.
Biography
Andrea Smith is a research associate working with Dr. Norman Yan in the Department of Biology. She is interested in how scientific knowledge can be successfully translated into environmental policy. Since joining York in 2008, Andrea has been investigating Canada’s preparedness to deal with the inter-disciplinary threats of invasive species. Her work to date has focused on how effectively education, legislation and the media address the challenges of invasive species in Canada, as well as the implications of climate change on invasive species impacts in North America. She is currently conducting a media review to evaluate whether coverage of invasive species in Canadian newspapers over the past 20 years reflects the magnitude of the problem to the general public.
Andrea received her M. Sc. in Conservation Biology and her Ph. D. in Evolutionary Genetics at Queen’s University. Her Masters research examined the impacts of agricultural land use in the Yucatan Peninsula on migrant and resident bird populations. For her doctoral dissertation, Andrea studied seabird population differentiation and phylogeography. Her work led to the identification of a new species of storm-petrel (Monteiro’s storm-petrel), and provided the first evidence of sympatric speciation in a seabird.
Andrea has worked as a policy analyst for the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, a regional coordinator, policy analyst and writer for Ontario Nature, a researcher for the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada, and as a field biologist for the Canadian Wildlife Service, the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U. S. National Biological Survey. Andrea has conducted field research in temperate, arctic and tropical regions, including projects in Haida Gwaii, Hudson Bay, the Mojave Desert, the Yucatan Peninsula, the Azores, and the Galapagos Islands.
