Prof. Vernon Thomas

Prof. Vernon G. Thomas completed his BA degree in Physiology, Psychology, and Philosophy at the University of Oxford in 1966. He gained a PhD degree in Ecology in 1975 at the University of Guelph, and was then hired as a professor to be part of the Wildlife Management Program. Vernon’s teaching and research specialities at the graduate and undergraduate levels included Wildlife Management, Natural Resources Policy, Ornithology, Mammalogy, Ecology, and Developmental Biology. Vernon retired in 2010, but remains at the University as a Professor Emeritus. His main research focus in later years has been the transfer of science to environmental policy and law, especially in protected areas creation, invasive species control, reducing environmental contamination from lead, and promoting use of managed pollinators in agriculture and biodiversity conservation. Vernon has worked, and continues to work, internationally in all these areas. One of his specialities is the presentation of briefs to parliamentary committees in Canada, Europe, and the USA. His research has influenced, directly, the amendment of Canadian federal law, as in the case of The Parks Act being revised to require lead-free fishing weights in all National Parks, and the introduction of mandatory ballast water exchange regulations for shipping under the National Transportation Act. Vernon’s recent research was influential in California’s passing legislation in 2013 that will end the use of all lead-based ammunition for hunting in that state in 2019, or sooner.