Community Profile

Pete Ewins thinks globally, walks locally

Known currently as our in-house expert on polar bears and climate change, Dr. Pete Ewins is WWF-Canada's Senior Officer, Species.

Pete Ewins holds a D.Phil. in zoology from Oxford University. He spent the bulk of his student years in the Shetland Islands, researching the impact of oil spills on sea birds. "Sea birds nest in dangerous places," says Pete of the sharp, high Shetland cliffs, where he once broke a leg and several ribs while tagging birds. "But they're beautiful places also."

Pete's love of nature and passion for conservation have inspired him to reduce his ecological footprint by making simple choices that end up reducing greenhouse gas emissions a great deal.

For six months each year, the clothes dryer in Pete's home stands idle; he hangs his family laundry outside to dry. "My kids are getting pretty good at hanging the laundry too," says Pete. And that's not the only energy saving effort the Ewins family makes. The Ewins have installed a Scandinavian high-efficiency wood-burning stove in their home, and a high-efficiency natural gas boiler as well.

All of Pete's family members own bicycles, and Pete himself cycles or takes public transit to work rather than drive a car. When he travels to Ottawa on WWF-Canada business, Pete takes the train instead of a plane.

Pete's involvement with WWF began at age five, when his parents signed him up to the children's 'panda club' supporting WWF-UK. He began his professional work in conservation after a fateful run-in with WWF co-founder Sir Peter Scott in Delhi.

"I was delivering a package from a friend in Kathmandu to a hotel in Delhi." As a recent graduate on a backpacking trek, no doubt young Pete was not wearing a suit and tie or a uniform on this particular errand. "I saw Peter Scott in the hotel lobby, so I approached him." Peter Scott spent an hour speaking to young Pete Ewins about nature and conservation. "I was amazed that this famous conservationist, son of the famous explorer Captain Robert Falcon Scott, made the time to speak in depth with a young traveller like me. Meeting Peter Scott was a big inspiration."

Because Pete's wife is a Canadian scientist, crossing the pond to continue his career in conservation made sense. He started working with the Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS) in 1990, where he discovered nesting peregrine falcons in downtown Toronto. "It was amazing to see the peregrines rise from the brink of extinction to Bay Street." With the CWS, Pete arranged a webcam to monitor the urban peregrine pair's nest. A giant TV screen was set up near the corner of King and Yonge Street, so pedestrians could stop and watch the feathered family.

When the eggs hatched, a Ministerial press conference was held, and WWF-Canada's Monte Hummel was in attendance. Impressed with Pete's work and enthusiasm, Monte recruited Pete to join the panda club once again- this time as an adult- to lead WWF's Canadian species and Arctic conservation work. "I was interested in the opportunity to make a difference in a globally significant landscape."