Kiirsti grew up surrounded by the coastal rainforests and mountains of British Columbia. She always had a strong interest in the natural world, but it was during her second year of undergrad, while working on a project counting overwintering Barrow's Goldeneye and Surf Scoter along the Stanley Park foreshore, that she became fascinated with birds. Since then, Kiirsti has worked on several bird research and conservation projects across Canada and beyond: from Canada Warblers in northern Alberta to American Redstarts in Jamaica to seabird surveys through the Northwest Passage.
Kiirsti completed her Master of Science degree at the University of Windsor with fieldwork in Costa Rica looking at bird community recovery in regenerating tropical dry forests and vocal behaviour of Rufous-and-White Wrens. She then completed her PhD at the University of New Brunswick and Acadia University where she studied how wetland birds use human-created landscapes in Atlantic Canada, such as Nelson’s Sparrows nesting in agricultural fields. After completing her doctorate, Kiirsti returned to the west coast where she now works as a wildlife biologist and lives on Vancouver Island.
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