• Outreach & Education
• Scientific Research
• About BRI

• The People of BRI
  • Staff
  • Board of Directors
  • Trustees & Advisors
  • Employment Opportunities
  • Internships
• Scientific Advancement and Development
• Support BRI
  • Make a Gift
  • Adopt a Loon
• Supporters
• Collaborators
• News & Events
  • 2011 Annual Report
  • BRI in the Press
  • Press Releases
• Contact us

Executive Director / Chief Scientist

From the moment he captured his first loon on Michigan’s Seney National Wildlife Refuge, Dave Evers has been a champion of wildlife, incorporating innovative approaches to traditional research methods. As the founder, executive director, and chief scientist of BRI, Dr. Evers has made great strides in bringing critical ecological issues to the forefront of our nation’s and the world’s consciousness. He is a brilliant collaborator, working at the highest international levels with world-class scientists, federal and state agencies, renowned universities and research institutes, as well as other nonprofit organizations. As a conservation biologist, he believes it his responsibility to provide decision makers with scientific findings from an unbiased viewpoint. He often testifies or presents scientific results to Congressional committees, state legislative committees, and other regulatory branches of government.

Dr. Evers specializes in research on ecotoxicology with an emphasis on the patterns of oil pollution and methylmercury availability and effects in wildlife, especially birds. Current research projects include assessments of mercury impacts on fish and wildlife across much of North America and in parts of 40 other countries within Africa, Asia, Europe and South America. Through BRI’s Center for Mercury Studies, Dr. Evers oversees several ongoing national and international mercury monitoring networks and database summary efforts, including new projects and partnerships with the International POPs (Persistent Organic Pollutants) Elimination Network and the United Nations Environment Programme.

During his graduate studies, he worked as a field ornithologist for the Michigan Breeding Bird Atlas and as a wildlife ecologist for the Kalamazoo Nature Center. In 1991, he became Executive Director of the Whitefish Point Bird Observatory. In 1998, he founded BRI to further progressive wildlife research and conservation.

Dr. Evers also holds positions as adjunct professor at both the University of Southern Maine, where he teaches ornithology, and the University of Maine at Orono. He is also the adjunct senior scientist at the University of Southern Maine's Center for Integrated and Applied Environmental technology. He has published four books on the Common Loon, the Northwoods, and endangered and threatened species and has published over 80 peer-reviewed publications. He was elected as a National Fellow of the Explorers Club in 2012.

Contact Information

Phone: 207-839-7600 x 221
david.evers@briloon.org

Education

• Ph.D., Conservation Biology, University of Minnesota, 2001
• M.S., Ecology, Western Michigan University, 1992
• B.S., Wildlife Management, Michigan State University, 1984

Research Interests

• Conservation of endangered species
• Exposure and effects of methylmercury on wildlife in temperate, tropical, arctic and marine environs
• Ecology, natural history and conservation of the common loon and other loon species

Books and Other Publications:

• Evers, D.C., A.K. Jackson, T.H. Tear and C.E. Osborne. 2012. Hidden Risk: Mercury in Terrestrial Ecosystems of the Northeast. Biodiversity Research Institute. Gorham, ME. 33pp.
• Evers, D.C., J. Wiener, C. Driscoll, D. Gay, N. Basu, B. Monson, K. Lambert, H. Morrison, J. Morgan, K. Williams, A. Soehl. 2011. Great Lakes Mercury Connections: The Extent and Effects of Mercury Pollution in the Great Lakes Region. Biodiversity Research Institute, Gorham, ME. 41pp.
• Evers, D.C. and K. M. Taylor. 2008. Call of the Northwoods. Willow Creek Press, Minocqua, WI. 96pp.
• Evers, D. C. and K. M. Taylor. 2006. Call of the Loon. Willow Creek Press, Minocqua, WI. 112 pp.
• Evers, D.C. 2005. Mercury Connections: The Extents and Effects of Mercury Pollution in Northeastern North America, Biodiversity Research Institute, Gorham, ME. 24pp.
• Evers, D. C. 1998. A guide to the birds of the Hiawatha National Forest. Wildl. Unl., Escanaba, MI. 36pp.
• Evers, D. C. (editor). 1994. Endangered and Threatened Wildlife of Michigan. Univ. Mich. Press, Ann Arbor, MI. 412pp.
• Evers, D. C. 1992. A Guide to Michigan’s Endangered Wildlife. Univ. of Mich. Press, Ann Arbor, MI. 103pp.
• Evers, D. C. 1991. Species accounts for 16 species in Brewer, R., G. McPeek, and R. Adams, Jr. The Atlas of Breeding Birds of Michigan. Mich. State Univ. Press, E. Lansing, MI. 594pp.
• Evers, D. C., G. A. McPeek, and R. J. Adams. 1989. Michigan’s changing bird populations in J. Eastman (ed.). Enjoying Birds of Michigan. Center for Environmental Studies Publications, Grand Rapids, MI. 148pp.

Peer-Reviewed Publications (2008 to current):
Total publications: published (81); in press (4); submitted to journals (4); and in prep (2).

Click here for a full publication list.