Brendon Larson (He/Him)

Brendon is interested in how people’s relationship to nature and their conservation actions are being influenced by interwoven ecological, social, and technological changes. He identifies as a social scientist, but his work is highly interdisciplinary because it draws on his connection to other beings, as a life-long naturalist, as well as his initial training in biodiversity science (evolutionary ecology and taxonomy). His upcoming book that collates decades of experience across these domains is entitled The Naturalists’ Paradox: How Our Love for Nature May Harm It. It will be published by McGill-Queen’s University Press in Winter 2027.

He has published three earlier books, 90 refereed papers and book chapters, and 50 consulting reports and newspaper articles. He is an engaging speaker who has been invited to give more than 80 lectures to over 6,000 people – including more than two dozen keynotes and invited plenary lectures – in nearly 20 countries on six continents.

His recent research has involved collaborations with students and colleagues around the world on how peoples' connection to nature is affected by factors such as cultural and religious variation, eco-anxiety among children, and species identification apps (such as iNaturalist). He has also worked extensively exploring critical debates for conservation – such as invasive species and assisted colonization – in this era of dramatic socio-ecological change. His award-winning first book, Metaphors for Environmental Sustainability (Yale, 2011), concerned how scientific language about the environment influences its contribution to sustainability.

Brendon has had several leadership roles over the course of his career, including as President of the board of Ontario Nature (2010-2012), Chair of the board of the Invasive Species Centre (2014-2016), Associate Dean – Undergraduate Studies in Waterloo’s Faculty of Environment (2016-2022), and Associate Editor of "Climate, Ecology and Conservation" for the high-impact journal Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews (WIREs) Climate Change. He has served on numerous other not-for-profit and editorial boards, including the Bruce Trail Conservancy at present.

Brendon has taught at the University of Toronto, the University of California (at both Santa Barbara and Davis) and at the University of Waterloo. He loves teaching undergraduate students and advising senior thesis projects and graduate student research. Each spring term, he teaches i) a one-week residential field course (ERS283) on the Bruce Peninsula, where students learn the natural history of birds, insects, and plants (among other organisms) – and conduct group projects in pollination ecology; and ii) the Faculty of Environment’s introductory ecology course (ENVS200), which he redesigned for the faculty in Spring 2025. Each winter term, he teaches a first-year core course in the School of Environment, Resources and Sustainability on "big history," entitled At Home in the Universe (ERS102). It's a 12-week romp through 13.8 billion years, across worldviews and physical, biological, and human domains.

If you are interested in collaborating with Brendon or in joining his group as a senior thesis student or for your MES, PhD or a post-doctoral fellowship, he encourages you to contact him to discuss your ideas.

• Ecology/biodiversity conservation and society

• Connection to nature

• Perception of nature

• 2015 Not-for-Profit Governance Essentials Program, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, Ontario

• 2004 Ph.D. Interdisciplinary Ph.D. Program, Science and Society, University of California at Santa Barbara, U.S.A.

• 1997 M.Sc. Department of Botany, University of Toronto, Ontario

• 1994 B.Sc. Honors Biological Sciences, with Distinction, University of Guelph, Ontario

• Visiting professorships:

• 2022 Visiting professor, Department of Geography, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany (hosted by A. Brenning)

• 2014 Visiting fellow, Centre of Excellence for Invasion Biology (CIB), Stellenbosch University, South Africa (hosted by D. M. Richardson)

• 2009 Invited visiting scholar, EU Erasmus Mundus Master's Programme in Applied Ethics, Centre for Applied Ethics, Linköping University, Sweden and Ethics Institute, Utrecht University, The Netherlands (hosted by A. Nordgren)

• 2016,19,21 Outstanding Performance Award, Faculty of Environment, U. Waterloo

• 2011 Early Researcher Award, Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation

• 2011 Oravec Research Award in Environmental Communication (National Communication Association, U.S.) for Metaphors for Environmental Sustainability

• 1999-2004 Chancellor’s Fellowship, UC-Santa Barbara

• 1994 W. N. Vaughan Medal, U. Guelph

• 1990-94 President’s Entrance Scholarship & Canada Scholarship, U. Guelph

• 1990 Governor General of Canada’s Academic Medal (Bronze)

• 1990 Essex County Board of Education Award for Merit, Leadership, and Citizenship

• 1988 Olympic Celebration ’88 Certificate of Merit; “in grateful recognition of your contribution to your community”

• 1998. Bronze Medal in Life Sciences, Canada-Wide Science Fair, Winnipeg

• 2016-22 Associate Dean – Undergraduate Studies, Faculty of Environment (ENV), University of Waterloo

• 2014-16 Chair (elected), Board of Directors, Invasive Species Centre

• 2010-12 President (elected), Board of Directors, Ontario Nature

• ENVS 200 - Field Ecology
  • Taught in 2021, 2022, 2024, 2025, 2026
• ERS 102 - Sustainability and the Really Long View
  • Taught in 2024, 2025, 2026
• ERS 283 - Ontario Natural History: Species and Patterns
  • Taught in 2021

* Only courses taught in the past 5 years are displayed.

• Please see my Google Scholar page for a list of publications with citations. My books are listed here:

• Larson, B. 2027. The Naturalist’s Paradox: How Our Love for Nature May Harm It. McGill-Queen’s University Press (Montreal & Kingston).

• Larson, B. 2011. Metaphors for Environmental Sustainability: Redefining Our Relationship with Nature. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. 320 pp.

• Nerlich, B., R. Elliot and B. M. H. Larson (eds.). 2009. Communicating Biological Sciences: Ethical and Metaphorical Dimensions. Burlington, VT: Ashgate. 250 pp.

• Larson, B. M., J. L. Riley, E. A. Snell and H. G. Godschalk. 1999. The Woodland Heritage of Southern Ontario: A Study of Ecological Change, Distribution and Significance. Don Mills, ON: Federation of Ontario Naturalists. 262 pp.