Apr 22, 2025
Apr 22, 2025
Join the Canadian Wildlife Federation on Tuesday, April 22 at 7:00 p.m. ET to discover the fascinating world of flies and their critical role on our planet. From pollination to pest control and decomposition services, flies are one of the most diverse and important groups on the planet. Our special guest presenter will be Jeff Skevington, Ph.D., a Research Scientist and Expedition Guide and co-author of a field guide on flower flies. Jeff will speak about fly biology, how they live and their many important ecosystem roles. He will also highlight some of the more easy-to-spot Canadian flies that may be in your yard. We hope you can join us!
Jeff did his MSc at the University of Guelph and his Ph.D. at the University of Queensland. He then worked for a year for the California Department of Food and Agriculture as an entomologist before moving to Ottawa where he worked for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada for 20 years as a Research Scientist. While there, he also worked as an Adjunct Professor for Carleton University, Trent University and University of Guelph. The 15 graduate students that he supervised were enrolled at Guelph and Carleton. His research focused on the taxonomy and phylogenetics of flower flies and big-headed flies. The former are pollinators that are as important to us as native bees but are relatively poorly studied. Jeff retired from this position in late 2023 and started working part time as an Ornithologist Expedition Guide in Antarctica for Intrepid and Viking. He is still working on scientific papers in his free time and has written over 130 peer reviewed papers and more than 100 additional unrefereed papers. He has a couple of books, including a popular field guide: 'Field Guide to the Flower Flies of Northeastern North America'. Jeff is also heavily involved in the natural history community as a volunteer and is currently President of the Ontario Field Ornithologists and sits on committees for a variety of organizations.
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