author
Francis Kermode
b. 1874
Best known as the namesake of the rare Kermode, or spirit bear, he was a Canadian naturalist and museum leader who helped document British Columbia’s wildlife in the early 1900s. His writing reflects a careful, practical eye for the birds and animals of the province.
1 Audiobook
Catalogue of British Columbia Birds
by Francis Kermode
About the author
Born in 1874, Francis Kermode became an important figure in the early study of natural history in British Columbia. He worked at the British Columbia Provincial Museum and later served as its director, building a reputation as a careful observer and collector of information about the province’s wildlife.
He is especially remembered through the Kermode bear, the white-coated black bear named in his honour. That connection has kept his name alive well beyond museum circles and reflects the respect he earned among naturalists of his time.
Kermode also wrote Catalogue of British Columbia Birds, a reference work that gathered records of bird species found in the province. For listeners interested in early Canadian nature writing, his work offers a window into how scientists and museum workers were documenting the natural world more than a century ago.