Ernie leads the Vancouver-based wildlife trade team for WWF-Canada and is the National Representative of the TRAFFIC Network — the wildlife trade monitoring program of WWF and the IUCN. He is responsible for monitoring Canadian wildlife trade and its impact on Canadian and international conservation; liaising with Canadian authorities; and assisting the TRAFFIC network’s global efforts to ensure that wildlife trade is not a threat to the conservation of nature. Significant publications include: CITES, Eh? A Review of Canada’s Implementation of CITES Under WAPPRIITA; A Guide to the Identification of Seahorses; and An Overview of the Illegal Trade, Market Forces and Fur Industry Perceptions in North America and Europe.

Ernie, a graduate of the University of Victoria, has worked in the field of international wildlife conservation for more than 20 years and is a leading Canadian authority on wildlife trade; the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES); the identification of wildlife products; and enforcement of Canada’s wildlife trade legislation (WAPPRIITA). Prior to joining WWF-Canada in 2001, Ernie was a Canadian Federal Game Officer and was Environment Canada’s first Wildlife Inspector. Between 1988 and 2001 Ernie conducted inspections of more than 4,000 shipments of wildlife and wildlife products; identified more than 250,000 CITES listed animals, plants and products for the enforcement of CITES; and provided training on CITES, international wildlife trade and the identification of wildlife products to more than 1000 officers from Canada, USA, Mexico and Taiwan.

In addition to his role for WWF-Canada, Ernie is an Associate of the Simon Fraser University Centre (SFU) for Forensic Research, and an Adjunct Professor to the SFU School of Criminology. He is a member of the Society for Wildlife Forensic Science and a founding member of the newly formed Pacific Association for Wildlife Forensic Science.