Murray M. Humphries Research People Research Equipment Pictures Collaborators & Funding


Murray M. Humphries

Assistant Professor of Wildlife Biology
NSERC Northern Research Chair
Member of the Centre for Indigenous Peoples' Nutrition and Environment (CINE)

Natural Resource Sciences
McGill University, Macdonald Campus
21,111 Lakeshore Blvd
Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, QC
H9X 3V9
Canada
Office: MS3-067 Macdonald Stewart Bldg
E-mail: murray.humphries(at)mcgill.ca
Phone: (514) 398-7885
Fax: (514) 398-7990


I'm from Brandon, Manitoba, and since 2003, I'm a teacher and researcher at McGill University, in the department of Natural Resource Sciences (located on the Macdonald Campus in Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue). I've been a CINE member since 2005 and a NSERC Northern Research Chair since 2006. I'm currently teaching Natural History of the Vertebrates (Fall, WILD-307) and Mammalogy (Winter, WILD-350) and I'm a co-instructor of Wildlife and Fisheries Management (Fall, WILD-401). I currently supervise a diversified lab including undergraduate, MSc and PhD students (Click here to visit our People Section).

Most of our lab research (Click here to visit our Research Section) focuses on mammal ecology and energetics across Canada’s North and on understanding the impacts of environmental change on northern wildlife. We use a wide range of methods, both in the lab and in the field, ranging from respirometry-based measures of metabolism to simple behavioural observations. In collaboration with northern communities, we also try to integrate traditional and scientific ecological knowledge to develop community-based wildlife monitoring programs that are closely connected to northern traditional food security. (Click here to see our lab poster).

Education
NSERC PDF. 2002. University of Aberdeen (John Speakman ) and University of Alberta (Stan Boutin).
PhD. 2001. McGill University (Don Kramer) and Sherbrooke University ( Don Thomas).
MSc. 1996. University of Alberta (Stan Boutin).
BSc. (hons.) 1993. University of Manitoba (Bob MacArthur).









Representative Publications (students in bold)

  • Guillemette, C.U., Q.E. Fletcher, S. Boutin, R.M. Hodges, A.G. McAdam, M.M. Humphries. 2009. Lactating red squirrels experiencing high heat load occupy less insulated nests. Biology Letters, 5:166-168.

  • Jarema, S.I., J. Samson, B.J. McGill, M.M. Humphries. 2009. Variation in abundance across a species’ range predicts climate change responses in the range interior will exceed those at the edge: a case study with North American beaver. Global Change Biology, 15:508-522.

  • Landry-Cuerrier, M., D. Munro, D.W. Thomas, M.M. Humphries. 2008. Microclimate and resource determinants of the fundamental and realized metabolic niches of hibernating chipmunks. Ecology, 89:3306-3316.

  • Careau, V., D.W. Thomas, M.M. Humphries, D. Reale. 2008. Energy metabolism and animal personality. Oikos, 117:641-653.

  • Boutin, S., L.A. Wauters, A.G. McAdam, M.M. Humphries, G. Tosi, A.A. Dhondt. 2006. Anticipatory reproduction and population growth in seed predators. Science, 314:1928-1930.

  • Humphries. M.M., S. Boutin, D.W. Thomas, J.D. Ryan, C. Selman, A.G. McAdam, D. Berteaux, J.R. Speakman. 2005. Expenditure freeze: the metabolic response of small mammals to cold environments. Ecology Letters, 8:1326-1333.

  • Munro, D, D.W. Thomas, M.M. Humphries. 2005. Torpor patterns of hibernating eastern chipmunks (Tamias striatus) vary in response to the size and fatty acid composition of food hoards. Journal of Animal Ecology, 74:692-700.

  • Humphries, M.M., J. Umbanhowar, K.S. McCann. 2004. Bioenergetic prediction of climate change impacts on northern mammals. Integrative and Comparative Biology, 44:152-162.

  • Humphries, M.M., D.W. Thomas, D.L. Kramer. 2003. The role of energy availability in mammalian hibernation: a cost-benefit approach. Physiological & Biochemical Zoology, 76:165-179.

  • Humphries, M.M., D.W. Thomas, J.R. Speakman. 2002. Climate-mediated energetic constraints on the distribution of hibernating mammals. Nature, 418:313-316


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Created: November 2005
Last Updated: January 2009