Scott Forbes was born in Vancouver, British Columbia and had decided by age four to become a biologist. He obtained a BSc in Zoology from the University of British Columbia in 1981, an MSc in Zoology from the University of Manitoba in 1985, and a PhD in Biological Sciences from Simon Fraser University in 1990. He joined the Department of Biology at the University of Winnipeg in 1992 where he is currently a full professor. He began his professional career in wildlife biology evolving gradually into a behavioural ecologist. His doctoral work on ospreys occasionally involved climbing trees (see picture at right) where he learned that he does not really have a fear of heights, but rather a healthy fear of gravity.
He is an editor of the journal Ethology, and the author of A Natural History of Families (Princeton University Press). His work has been featured in the New York Times, Boston Globe, Washington Post, Manchester Guardian, London Times, National Post, and the Creston Advance. He was awarded the Erica and Arnold Rogers Award for Excellence in Research and Scholarship at the University of Winnipeg, and his book won a Choice Award as one of the Outstanding Academic Titles of 2005. In the winter he plays hockey, and in summer slogs around in marshes, catches fish, and likes to build things with power tools. He enjoys Coldplay, U2, Lemon Jelly, the Foo Fighters, Green Day, Arcade Fire, the Chemical Brothers, Sloan, the Killers and Mark Knopfler, and lately has been listening to Angels & Airwaves, Goldfrapp, Paolo Nutini, and the Ike Reilly Assassination. He enjoys reading anything by PG Wodehouse, VS Naipaul, Kurt Vonnegut, Thomas Henry Huxley, John Steinbeck, Christopher Hitchens, Douglas Adams and PJ O'Rourke.
