Charles Jonkel

...was already world-renowned for his studies of black bears in Montana, and his Hudson's Bay polar bear research, when he was named director of the Border Grizzly Project in 1974. The project's aim was to estimate the population of grizzlies in the vicinity of Glacier National Park and Waterton Provincial Park, and develop recommendations for management that would sustain that population.

He is the scientific advisor for the Great Bear Foundation, director of the International Wildlife Film Festival, president of the Institute of the Rockies, and an organizer of the Federal/Provincial Polar Bear Technical Committee of Canada.

The challenge of making scientific research in the field of wildlife biology comprehensible to, and useable by, the general public, has been one of Dr. Jonkel's lifelong commitments. He has also taught coureses on arctic ecology, bears and ecosystems, and numerous related subjects at the University of Montana, as well as elsewhere.

Dr. Jonkel holds two degrees in science from the University of Montana, and a Ph.D. in zoology from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver.