Craig Campbell

Born and educated in Waterloo Region, Craig Campbell is a self-trained naturalist and field ecologist. Following his volunteer activities in the 1970s with the Kitchener-Waterloo Field Naturalists (now Waterloo Region Nature), Campbell began a career as an independent environmental consultant and researcher.
He became well-known locally, provincially, and nationally as an expert on Ontario’s mammals, reptiles and amphibians, butterflies, and plants. Campbell’s particular focus has been the plight of threatened and endangered species and the urgent need to protect their habitats.

Campbell’s contributions to the conservation of Ontario’s natural heritage have been recognized by several honours, most recently by the Ontario Nature W.W.H. Gunn Conservation Award (2013) and the Lieutenant Governor’s Ontario Heritage Trust Lifetime Achievement Award (2016).

His willingness to share his extensive and detailed knowledge of Waterloo Region’s biodiversity was instrumental in the early establishment of strong natural heritage protection policies in the Region of Waterloo’s Official Plan. Due in large part to Campbell’s expertise, the Region of Waterloo became Canada’s first municipality to designate Environmentally Sensitive Policy Areas (ESPAs) in 1976.

Campbell is the author or co-author of several books on the flora and fauna of this region. He has been a mentor to many individuals who themselves are now outstanding experts in their field.

Photograph courtesy of courtesy of Brett Woodman.