Our Team

Dr. Tara Martin is a Professor with the Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences and the inaugural Liber Ero Chair in Conservation at the University of British Columbia. She is a global leader in the field of Conservation Decision Science – combining predictive ecological models with decision science to inform what actions to take, where to take them and when to achieve our conservation and natural resource management goals. Tara leads a team of graduate students and research fellows in the Conservation Decisions Lab, seeking to understand, predict and ultimately inform decisions about the impacts of cumulative effects on biodiversity, natural resources and human wellbeing. Tara and her team work closely with Indigenous communities supporting their research needs and centering Indigenous values, knowledge and sovereignty in co-developed and collaborative research. Tara is among the most cited scientists in her field globally, facilitated the first private landback in British Columbia and her research is leading to on-ground change in both conservation policy and action in Canada and globally.

Tara grew up in the Gulf Islands and then spent 25 years studying and working in Australia, before returning to her love – the Salish Sea in 2012. Tara is a mother of two, Silka and Mateo and in the spring they can be found on their boat surveying wildflowers in the islands.  Conservation Decisions Lab IG Account  https://www.instagram.com/conservationdecisions/