Fikret Berkes (born 1945) is a Turkish-Canadian ecologist. He is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a public research university in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Founded in 1877, it is the first university of Western Canada. Both by total student enrolment and campus area, the University of ...

's Natural Resources Institute. Berkes studies community-based natural resources management in societies around the world.

Early life and education

Berkes was born in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

, Turkey, in 1945. His parents are Niyazi Berkes and Mediha Esenel. He received his Bachelor of Science degree from

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

, Montreal, Canada, in 1968. He obtained a Ph.D. in

marine sciences Oceanography (), also known as oceanology, sea science, ocean science, and marine science, is the scientific study of the ocean, including its Physical oceanography, physics, Chemical oceanography, chemistry, Biological oceanography, biology, a ...

from the same university in 1973.

Career

In 1974, rather than continuing on with a postdoctoral position in

marine ecology Marine ecosystems are the largest of Earth's aquatic ecosystems and exist in waters that have a high salt content. These systems contrast with freshwater ecosystems, which have a lower salt content. Marine waters cover more than 70% of the sur ...

, Berkes worked with an anthropologist, Harvey Feit, studying

Cree The Cree, or nehinaw (, ), are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people, numbering more than 350,000 in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada, First Nations. They live prim ...

people's fishing. Berkes taught at

Brock University Brock University is a public university, public research university in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. It is the only university in Canada in a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, at the centre of Canada's Niagara Peninsula on the Niagara Escarpment. The ...

, then became the Director of the NRI at the University of Manitoba in 1991.

Awards

In 2014, Berkes won the Sustainability Science Award of the

Ecological Society of America The Ecological Society of America (ESA) is a professional organization of ecological scientists. Based in the United States and founded in 1915, ESA publications include peer-reviewed journals, newsletters, fact sheets, and teaching resources. I ...

for his third (2012) edition of ''Sacred Ecology''. He has also been awarded the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the stat ...

CEESP Inaugural Award for Meritorious Research (2016) and the IASC Elinor Ostrom Award for Senior Scholar (2015).

Selected publications

*Berkes, F. (2017). Sacred Ecology (4th ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315114644 *Berkes, F., Colding, J., & Folke, C. (Eds.). (2008). Navigating social-ecological systems: building resilience for complexity and change. Cambridge University Press. *Berkes, F., Colding, J., & Folke, C. (2000). Rediscovery of traditional ecological knowledge as adaptive management. Ecological applications, 10(5), 1251-1262. *Berkes, F., Folke, C., & Colding, J. (Eds.). (2000). Linking social and ecological systems: management practices and social mechanisms for building resilience. Cambridge University Press.

References

External links

''Managing Small-scale Fisheries'' full-text

''Toward a new social contract'' full-text
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berkes, Fikret Living people Academic staff of the University of Manitoba McGill University alumni 1945 births Scientists from Istanbul Turkish emigrants to Canada Canadian ecologists