207-839-7600 x249
jim.paruk@briloon.org
City born and raised, Jim Paruk found his calling when encouraged to go bird watching with a fellow college student, who happened to be the future founder of Biodiversity Research Institute, David Evers. Since that fateful adventure, Jim has been a passionate naturalist. An expert on Common Loon behavior and ecology, he is senior scientist in BRI’s Center for Waterbird Studies.
Jim has been studying and working with loons for the past 20 years, conducting his research across North America. He has served as vice-president of the North American Loon Fund and research chair of Loonwatch in Wisconsin. For his doctorate work, he examined Common Loon social and breeding behaviors. Jim has travelled extensively throughout North and Central America and has led college courses in those regions.
Prior to joining BRI, he was a tenured, full-time college professor for 13 years at two academic institutions (Feather River College and Northland College) teaching courses in ornithology, zoology, ecology, and animal behavior. He is now an adjunct professor of biology at the University of Southern Maine, where he currently supervises two graduate students, each doing loon research.
BRI Scientific Communications
Research Reports
Additional funding has been awarded from the following sources: