AN ASSESSMENT OF RESEARCH IN EVOLUTION AND ECOLOGY SUPPORTED BY THE CIENCES-AND-ENGINEERING-RESEARCH-COUNCIL-OF-CANADA

A quantitative review of Canadian university researchers in evolution and ecology shows that, in 1993, the median researcher worked in a sma ll laboratory, consisting of a principal investigator and two associat es. The median total support for these laboratories was Can$51 000/yea r, of which a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council resear ch grant represented about Can$27 000. A few laboratories sometimes en joyed more support, but many were surviving with less. The median labo ratory had graduated two master's and one doctoral student in the prev ious 6 years, and the vast majority of these graduates found positions that made productive use of their training. This median laboratory al so produced two or three papers a year, plus occasional reviews, book chapters, and books. Both productivity and impact rose with funding, b ut grant size explained much less than half of the variation among pub lication and citation rates. Although typical Canadian grants were les s than half the size of those in other countries, available indices of national achievement in evolution and ecology place Canadian research among the world's best. From 1981 to 1992, Canada was the second most active nation in the fields of environment, ecology, and aquatic scie nces in terms of both publications and citations.