Kit Kovacs Explained

Kit Kovacs is a marine mammal researcher, best known for her work on biology, conservation and management of whales and seals. She is based at the Norwegian Polar Institute (NPI), Tromsø[1] and is an adjunct professor of biology, marine biology, at the University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS).[2]

Kit Kovacs
Caption:Kit Kovacs at South Pole
Nationality:Canadian
Fields:Marine mammal biology
Workplaces:Norwegian Polar Institute
University Centre in Svalbard
University of Waterloo
Alma Mater:BSc York University
MSc Lakehead University
PhD University of Guelph

Early life and education

Kovacs was born in Germany and has Canadian citizenship. She received her H.B.Sc. (Biology) in 1979 from York University, Toronto, Canada. In 1982, she was awarded a Master of Science degree in Biology by the Lakehead University at Thunder Bay. Her doctorate (Ph.D) in Zoology was awarded by the University of Guelph (Guelph) in 1986.[3]

Research career

Kovacs' teaching career, spanning over 12 years, started as an assistant professor at the University of Waterloo. She is now the senior research scientist for the Biodiversity Research Programme at the Centre for Ice Climate and Ecosystems (ICE)[4] at the Norwegian Polar Institute,[1] as well as a professor of biology at University Studies on Svalbard (UNIS).[5] [6]

During her 30-year-long research career,[5] [7] Kovacs has studied marine mammal population ecology, biology conservation and management, including satellite tagging of bowhead whales since 2010,[8] the biopsy sampling of whales since 2006,[9] and extensive research on seals[10] Kovacs has published over 300 publications, receiving over 18,000 citations, resulting in an h-index and i10-index of 69 and 226 respectively.[11] [12] [13] Kovacs has also successfully facilitated cooperation between the tourism industry and researchers in the Arctic region.[14] [15]

Service

Kovacs has been the President of the Society for Marine Mammalogy. She now plays an advisory role as Past President for Life, and is currently serving her second term as the Chair of the IUCN's Pinniped Specialist Group. She served as a representative to the Standing Scientific Group – Life Science under SCAR from 2012 to 2015,[16] [17] and as a member of Norway's delegation to the Scientific Committee for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources.[18]

Kovacs has held offices of Chairman to the Academic User's Board of the Huntsman Marine Science Centre (1985– 1992), a member of the Board of Directors for the Huntsman Marine Science Centre (1990–1994), was the secretary of the Canadian National Council for the International Union of Biological Studies (NSERC) from 1989 to 1992, and editorial board Member for the Canadian Journal of Zoology from 1990 to 1994, a board member for the Arctic Light and Heat (ALV) Programme from Jan 1997– December 31, 2002, at the Norwegian National Research Council, the president of the International Society for Marine Mammalogy from 2004 to 2006 and is still a member of its scientific advisory council[19] and conservation council, a member of the Arctic Climate Biodiversity's[20] Impact Assessment Working Group,[21] as well as a contributing author to the ACIA (Arctic Climate Impact Assessment) report in Chapter 9: Marine Systems[22] and Chapter 11: Management and Conservation of Wildlife in a Changing Arctic Environment.[23]

Kovacs was a committee member in 2003–2006[24] [25] [26] [27] for the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC, United Kingdom) Special Committee on Seals (SCOS). Kovacs was an International coordinator for the Ringed Seal Circumpolar Network at the Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF) from 2000 to 2008,[28] [29] a member and leader of the Impacts on Sea Ice Reductions in the NorACIA (Norwegian Arctic Climate Impact Assessment) – Group III, as well as a member of the Barend Sea Advisory Group at NorACIA.

Kovacs is currently on the steering committee for the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) Climate Change Specialist Group,[30] a member of the Biodiversity Centre Programme Scientific Committee (Polar Environmental Centre) since 2001,[31] has been on the Scientific Advisory Board Member for the American Cetacean Society since 2004,[32] serves on the Committee for Scientific Advisers and the Conservation Committee for the Society for Marine Mammalogy,[19] is a member of the Norwegian Scientific Academy for Polar Research[33] and is on the EU Life Sciences Standing Committee, representing Norway.

Kovacs was also the leader of Marine Mammals Exploring the Oceans Pole to Pole (MEOP) project during the International Polar Year,[34] and worked on the Barents Sea walrus Ecology project, which focused on studying stock structure, movement patterns and general ecology of Barents Sea walruses in collaboration with Russia (2014–15) and on Pechora walrus abundance, which focused on the abundance determination of Pechora Sea walruses in collaboration with Russia (2011–12).[35]

Awards and honors

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Kit M. Kovacs. Norwegian Polar Institute. June 5, 2016.
  2. Web site: Kit M. Kovacs. unis.no. November 24, 2014 . University Centre in Svalbard. en-US. June 5, 2016.
  3. Web site: CV. Kovacs. Kit. polar-academy.com.
  4. Web site: ICE Ecosystems and research – ICE Ecosystems. Norwegian Polar Institute. June 5, 2016.
  5. Web site: Kit M. Kovacs Overview. store.elsevier.com. Elsevier. June 5, 2016.
  6. Web site: Kit M. Kovacs – UNIS. UNIS. November 24, 2014 . en-US. June 5, 2016.
  7. Web site: Kit Kovacs — Climate Change Specialist Group (CCSG). iucn-ccsg.org. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20160701001511/https://iucn-ccsg.org/people/kit-kovacs. July 1, 2016. June 5, 2016.
  8. Web site: Satellite tagging of bowhead whales. Norwegian Polar Institute. June 5, 2016.
  9. Web site: Biopsy sampling whales. Norwegian Polar Institute. June 5, 2016.
  10. Web site: Seal Ripper Sable Island Greenland Shark Zoe Lucas Lisa Natanson – Animal World Wonders. August 9, 2015. Animal World Wonders. en-US. June 5, 2016.
  11. Web site: Kit M. Kovacs – Google Scholar Citations. scholar.google.com. February 10, 2020.
  12. Web site: Kit Kovacs – Advice for Students. Vimeo. July 5, 2012 . June 5, 2016.
  13. Web site: Global Outlook for Ice and Snow. www.unep.org. June 5, 2016.
  14. Web site: Successful cooperation between the tourism industry and researchers. 2015. CNNS. June 5, 2016.
  15. Web site: Exciting observations – extraordinary images. The Arctic Journal. June 5, 2016.
  16. Web site: Mandate for representatives to Standing Scientific Groups and Standing Committees under the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR). June 21, 2016. Forskningsradet.no.
  17. Web site: International Committees – POLARPROG. Written by. Forskningsradet.no. June 21, 2016.
  18. Web site: Antarctic Ocean Alliance. antarcticocean.org. June 5, 2016.
  19. Web site: Society for Marine Mammalogy. Society for Marine Mammalogy. en-US. June 5, 2016.
  20. Web site: Arctic Biodiversity Assessment (ABA) – Home . Arcticbiodiversity.is . June 21, 2016.
  21. Web site: Arctic Biodiversity Assessment (ABA) – Authors . Arcticbiodiversity.is . June 21, 2016.
  22. Web site: Ch9 Final . June 21, 2016.
  23. Web site: Chapter 11: Management and Conservation of Wildlife in a Changing Arctic Environment . David R. Klein . Acia.uaf.edu . June 21, 2016.
  24. Web site: Scientific Advice on Matters Related to the Management of Seal Populations. 2003. June 21, 2016.
  25. Web site: Scientific Advice on Matters Related to the Management of Seal Populations. 2004. June 21, 2016.
  26. Web site: Scientific Advice on Matters Related to the Management of Seal Populations. 2005. June 21, 2016.
  27. Web site: Scientific Advice on Matters Related to the Management of Seal Populations. 2006. June 21, 2016.
  28. Web site: Circumpolar Ringed Seal (Pusa hispida) Monitoring. Kit M. Kovacs. June 21, 2016.
  29. Web site: CAFF – CBMP Coordination Meeting: Akureyri, Iceland: April 11–12, 2002 . Caff.is . June 21, 2016.
  30. Web site: Participants. iucn-ccsg.org. Climate Change Specialist Group. June 5, 2016.
  31. Web site: AGU Fall Meeting. 2015 AGU Fall Meeting. en-US. June 5, 2016.
  32. Dutton. Ian. Climate Change: Challenges to Cetacean Conservation. Journal of the American Cetacean Society. 2010. 39. 2.
  33. Web site: Members – The Norwegian Scientific Academy for Polar Research. www.polar-academy.com. June 5, 2016.
  34. Web site: International Polar Year's unique research assistants. www.forskningsradet.no. The Research Council of Norway. June 5, 2016.
  35. Web site: Norway 2015 . Iasc.info . June 21, 2016.
  36. Web site: Thunder Bay Field Naturalists. tbfn.net. June 21, 2016.
  37. Kovacs. Kit M.. Lavigne. D. M.. Cystophora cristata. American Society of Mammalogists. June 16, 1986. 258. 1–9.