The Cannings: three brothers in biology – bugs, birds, books, conservation, and politics

This blog post references the recently published ‘Three brothers in biology: bugs, birds, books, conservation, and politics’ – The Canadian Entomologist. 2025;157:e5. doi:10.4039/tce.2024.42 – by Robert (Rob), Sydney (Syd) and Richard (Dick) Cannings. Their article and this blog post are modified from the closing plenary address presented at Entomology 2022, the Joint Annual Meeting of the Entomological Society of America, the Entomological Society of Canada, and the Entomological Society of British Columbia, in Vancouver, BC, 16 November 2022. Chandra Moffat (Research Scientist, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada), then President of the Entomological Society of BC, introduced the speakers; her comments are reproduced, in part, here.

 

 

 

Introduction: Chandra Moffat

As a young biology student at the University of Victoria in the early 2000s, I began to hear the name Cannings mentioned casually here and there. I wasn’t sure who Cannings was, but as a student with a sizeable dose of imposter syndrome, I just nodded along, as he seemed like someone I should have known about already. As I started picking up field guides to help me catch up with my classmates, who all seemed to have more natural history knowledge than me, I learned Cannings was a birder… and then learned he was an entomologist… and also a naturalist! It took embarrassingly longer to realize there were THREE Cannings brothers who all had their hand in biology, natural history, and the writing of amazing local field guides. The way they were talked about carried such an air of significance, that when I finally met the first Cannings – I think Rob, at an Entomological Society of British Columbia meeting – I could barely get my name out. I wasn’t much cooler when I met Syd at a Canadian Society for Ecology and Evolution meeting in Victoria as a recent PhD graduate, or when I finally met Dick somewhere in the Okanagan after I moved there – I think I pulled over while he was riding his bike and hollered out my window! Over the last decade and a half, I’ve met each of them a handful of times, and become a bit more comfortable in their presence. A recent highlight has been collaborating with Dick (not Rob!) on a scarab beetle project here in the Okanagan and volunteering on his last political campaign.

Given my early admiration and ongoing respect for the Cannings trio, one might imagine the importance I felt when, during the course of organizing the 2022 Joint Annual Meeting of the Entomological Society of America, Canada, and British Columbia, it was suggested that we not only invite Rob, Syd, and Dick to provide the closing plenary speech but that I, as current President of the Entomological Society of British Columbia, should moderate it.

In preparation for their introductions, I dug into the history of the Cannings family a little. The Cannings brothers grew up in the South Okanagan of British Columbia – where I now reside. I had heard that their father Steve had worked many years at the Agriculture Canada Research Station in Summerland, where I also now work. In fact, Steve Cannings was first a technician in Plant Pathology and then the Station’s Photographer and, if the timelines had been different, we would have been colleagues interacting regularly.  Knowing that Steve Cannings and his wife Jean, a Summerland local, and all four of their children had spent so much time on the same property where I conduct my own research program in entomology makes giving this introduction all the more special. The significance of standing on the stage in front of a meeting of more than 3000 attendees to introduce the Cannings brothers was a career highlight, and it is an absolute pleasure to again introduce, this time in print: Rob, Dick, and Syd Cannings, Three Brothers in Biology.

Robert (Rob), the eldest boy (sister Bette is two years his senior), earned a BSc (1970) and MSc (1973) in Zoology, specializing in entomology, at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver and, after working for many years, obtained his doctorate degree from the University of Guelph (2000). After his UBC degrees, he worked as a lecturer in the Zoology Department at UBC and then, briefly (1979), was Curator of the Spencer Entomological Museum. The next year, Rob moved to Vancouver Island (where many biologists hope to retire!) to take up the position of Curator of Entomology at the Royal British Columbia Museum in Victoria; following his retirement in 2013, he has been Curator Emeritus there. Rob has been active in many organisations, including the Scientific Committee of the Biological Survey of Canada (Terrestrial Arthropods), the Arthropod Subcommittee of COSEWIC (Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada), and the executives of the Societas Internationalis Odonatologicae and the Dragonfly Society of the Americas. Rob is the author or co-author of several books, including The Birds of the Okanagan Valley, British Columbia (1987), Introducing the Dragonflies of British Columbia and the Yukon (2002), and The Systematics of Lasiopogon (Diptera: Asilidae) (2002).  In 2009 he was given the Bruce Naylor Award from the Alliance of Natural History Museums of Canada for outstanding contributions to museum-based natural history studies in Canada. On his retirement from the RBCM he received the museum’s Lifetime Achievement Award and was made an Honorary Member of the Entomological Society of BC.

Sydney (Syd) and Richard (Dick) are twins almost six years junior to Rob. Syd has had a meandering and adventurous life. Like both his brothers, he began his career as a summer nature interpreter for BC Parks (where I also began my career!) and then received a BSc (1975) and MSc (1978) in Zoology at UBC. He also focused on entomological museum work as Curator at the Spencer Entomological Museum (UBC) (1980–1991). In this job, he spent much time studying the insects of Yukon and developed a strong attachment to this northern land. Later, he served as Program Zoologist for the BC Conservation Data Centre in Victoria (1991–2002), and finally settled as a Species at Risk Biologist for the Canadian Wildlife Service in Whitehorse, Yukon. In this role, Syd works on a variety of issues dealing with assessment, listing, and recovery of species at risk—everything from bumble bees to bears. Since 2012, he has been a representative for the Canadian Wildlife Service on COSEWIC. He is the author of a number of books (most of them with Richard), including British Columbia: A Natural History, The New B.C. Roadside Naturalist, and Geology of British Columbia: A Journey Through Time.

Richard (Dick), also following the biology track, completed his BSc in Zoology at UBC (1975) and ventured far afield to undertake a MSc in Biology (studying birds) from the Memorial University of Newfoundland (1977). The third curator in the family, Dick served as Curator of the Cowan Vertebrate Museum for 17 years in the Department of Zoology at UBC where, among other research subjects, he became an authority on owls. In 1995, he moved back to the Okanagan where he spent 20 years as a consulting biologist and writer. He worked with Birds Canada coordinating Canadian Christmas Bird Counts, the eBird program, the British Columbia Owl Survey, and the British Columbia Breeding Bird Atlas. Dick served on various boards and committees, including 8 years as co-chair for birds on COSEWIC, 11 years on the British Columbia Environmental Appeal Board, and 5 years on the British Columbia Forest Appeals Commission.  He was a founding director of the Okanagan Similkameen Conservation Alliance and also served as a national board member for the Nature Conservancy of Canada. Dick has written over a dozen books on birds and the natural history of British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest, including The Rockies: a Natural History, Birds of British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest, and An Enchantment of Birds. Like Syd, he has led many international nature tours. In 2015, Dick moved from biology to politics and, for the last eight years, has served as the New Democratic Party Member of Parliament in Ottawa for the electoral district of South Okanagan-West Kootenay.

Rob, Syd and Dick were made Honorary Fellows of Okanagan College in 2008 for their work in biology, public education, and nature conservation in British Columbia.

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