Determined to study seabirds, however, he moved to Newfoundland to take on graduate research studies. During his time in eastern Canada, Iain investigated the habitat use and breeding success of Leach's Storm-Petrels in Newfoundland, and the reproductive and behavioral ecology of Sabine's Gulls in the eastern Arctic. As part of a post-doctoral fellowship with the Canadian Wildlife Service, he co-authored a status report on the Ivory Gull, which resulted in the species being uplisted to Endangered in Canada.

Iain maintains a strong Canadian connection, and served several terms as a member of the Birds Specialist Subcommittee of COSEWIC, the committee that advises the Canadian government on the conservation status of wildlife species in Canada.

From 2004-2008, Iain served as the director of Bird Conservation for Audubon Alaska. In that role, he completed the first statewide assessment of Important Bird Areas (IBAs). Iain came to BRI from the National Audubon Society’s Science Office, where he was the senior scientist for the national IBA Program.

Although much of his recent work at BRI has focused on offshore wind and wildlife, Iain is particularly interested in tracking the long-distance migration of seabirds. In 2007-2008, he was involved in a study tracking Arctic Terns from Northeast Greenland to Antarctica and back again—recording the longest animal migration ever measured at that time—an average annual return journey of more than 70,000 km!

Iain is also an Adjunct Professor at the University of Southern Maine and the University of Maine-Orono. He has authored many peer-reviewed papers on the ecology of marine birds, including three species accounts in the acclaimed Birds of North America series.