Deborah Martin-Downs is a Canadian aquatic biologist who specializes in fish and their environments. She has worked in ecology and conservation for over 30 years in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

both as a consultant and as director of the

Toronto and Region Conservation Authority The Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) is a Conservation authority (Ontario, Canada), conservation authority in southern Ontario, Canada. It owns about of land in the Toronto region, and it employs more than 400 full-time employee ...

(TRCA). She is currently retired.

Education

Martin-Downs grew up in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and became interested in environmental issues while in high school. She completed a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree in biology and environmental studies at the

University of Waterloo The University of Waterloo (UWaterloo, UW, or Waterloo) is a Public university, public research university located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is on of land adjacent to uptown Waterloo and Waterloo Park. The university also op ...

in 1979.She returned to school and in 1984 earned a master's degree in

zoology Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...

at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

. Martin-Downs received an honorary PhD from

Lakehead University Lakehead University is a public research university with campuses in Thunder Bay and Orillia, Ontario, Canada. Lakehead University, shortened to 'Lakehead U', is non-denominational and provincially supported. It has undergraduate programs, gradua ...

in 2018.

Career

She worked as an environmental consultant, first as an assistant aquatic biologist with Ecoplans and then as a part of the Toronto Area Watershed Management Strategy (TAWMS) until 1982, when she received a scholarship from the

Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC; , CRSNG) is the major federal agency responsible for funding natural sciences and engineering research in Canada. NSERC directly funds university professors and students as ...

. Her thesis evaluated the biological species in the

Credit River The Credit River is a river in southern Ontario, which flows from headwaters above the Niagara Escarpment near Orangeville and Caledon East to empty into Lake Ontario at Port Credit, Mississauga. It drains an area of approximately . The total l ...

and made recommendations for a water management strategy. After completing her degree, Martin-Downs gained approval from the

Ministry of Environment An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment, ...

to do a study similar to the one covered in her thesis for the

Don River The Don () is the fifth-longest river in Europe. Flowing from Central Russia to the Sea of Azov in Southern Russia, it is one of Russia's largest rivers and played an important role for traders from the Byzantine Empire. Its basin is betwee ...

. Between 1985 and 1989 she organized and managed a project in conjunction with the

(TRCA) and the Ministry of Natural Resources, which developed recreational resources at urban water sites. The program created educational and leisure activities for fishing resources with the aim of gaining community support for environmental rehabilitation of urban ponds and waterways. Facing budget cuts, she became an environmental consultant with Gartner Lee Associates in 1989, working on projects throughout

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, and in some locations in

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

, and the

Yukon Yukon () is a Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada, bordering British Columbia to the south, the Northwest Territories to the east, the Beaufort Sea to the north, and the U.S. state of Alaska to the west. It is Canada’s we ...

. She became a principal at Garnter Lee in 1994 and headed their Environmental Planning Team for a decade before becoming the Director of the Ecology Division at the TRCA in 2005. During her tenure at the TRCA, Martin-Downs continued conservation efforts of the

, and worked with other governmental agencies to improve performance in "water and air quality, carbon emissions, waste diversion, land use and biodiversity". In August 2013, Martin-Downs became the Chief Administrative Officer of the Credit Valley Conservation Authority, where she is working on a conservation development project for the border between

Etobicoke Etobicoke (, ) is an administrative district and former city within Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Comprising the city's west end, Etobicoke is bordered on the south by Lake Ontario, on the east by the Humber River (Ontario), Humber River, on the ...

and

Mississauga Mississauga is a Canadian city in the province of Ontario. Situated on the north-western shore of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, it borders Toronto (Etobicoke) to the east, Brampton to the north, Milton to the northwest, ...

as part of th
Lakeview Waterfront Connection Project
She retired from Credit Valley Conservation at December 31, 2021 as Chief Administrative Officer. Martin-Downs became a director at Muskoka Lakes Association in 2015, serving as president from 2020 to 2022. Her current position at Muskoka Lakes Association is Chair of the Environment Committee and a member in Government & land use committee. Martin-Downs is also a member of Ontario's Greenbelt Council since April 2018. In January 2018, Martin-Downs became the Director of the Walkerton Clean Water Centre.

Selected publications

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References

External links

WorldCat Publications
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin-Downs, Deborah Living people Canadian ecologists Canadian women ecologists 20th-century Canadian biologists 21st-century Canadian biologists University of Waterloo alumni University of Toronto alumni 21st-century Canadian women scientists 20th-century Canadian women scientists Year of birth missing (living people)