Jim is a forester and ecologist who lived and worked in British Columbia for over 30 years before moving to Whitehorse, Yukon Territory in January, 2004 where he currently works as Executive Director, Yukon Region for the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS). After earning a B.Sc. and M.Sc. from the University of Minnesota, he came to British Columbia in 1970, for a Ph.D. in Botany from UBC in 1974. From 1975-78, he was Assistant Coordinator, British Columbia Ecological Reserves Programme, in Victoria. In 1978 he and Rosamund moved to the Bulkley Valley, where he was Forest Ecologist & Research Officer for the B.C. Forest Service.
His accomplishments include contributions towards developing and applying ecosystem classification in B.C.; towards conservation of B.C.'s biota; in managing for biological diversity; and in education. Lately Jim has concentrated his ecological work in four main areas: forest ecology, applied conservation biology, resource management, and teaching. He also has been doing a lot of outreach to the forestry community, educators, and general public, as well as teaching university and field school courses in ecology and plant taxonomy. And he continues to pursue plant taxonomy as a serious hobby, helping to produce a Flora of British Columbia and writing several popular field guides to plants.
Dr. Pojar is a professional biologist (Association of Professional Biologists of B.C.), registered professional forester (Association of B.C. Professional Foresters), and certified senior ecologist (Ecological Society of America). In 1996, he received an award for career achievement, ÒExcellence in BiologyÓ, from his peers in the Association of Professional Biologists of B.C. He is a founding (2001) director and President, Public Service Employees for Environmental Ethics.