Born and raised in Newfoundland, Shane Mahoney is a biologist and writer, and is widely known internationally as a lecturer on environmental and resource conservation issues. He has a Masters Degree from Memorial University of Newfoundland and is completing his Ph.D. at the University of Calgary, Alberta, where he is studying with Dr. Valerius Geist, the internationally recognized animal behaviorist and conservation writer. A research biologist with broad experience, Shane has spent twenty years investigating phenomena as diverse as seabird breeding behavior, waterfowl parasites, and the predator prey relationships and population dynamics of black bears, lynx, moose and woodland caribou. He has published in a broad spectrum of scientific journals including Ibis, the Canadian Journal of Zoology, Wilson Bulletin, Alces, the Journal of Wildlife Management, Forest Ecology and Management, Rangifer, and the Journal of Molecular Ecology. In total he has authored or co-authored over 120 scientific and popular articles and reports. In 1992 Shane was appointed head of Ecosystem Research and Inventory for all wildlife species in Newfoundland and Labrador and has been responsible for the creation and direction of a new Wildlife Research Unit in that province. He is currently cross-appointed at three universities in Atlantic Canada.

In addition to his scientific interests, Shane is a frequent contributor to radio arts programs in Canada and his writings and narrations have been aired regionally, nationally and internationally. His writing reflect a deep personal commitment to understanding man's place in nature and are drawn from his own experiences in rural Newfoundland, where undoubtedly his fascination with wildlife and the human cultures that depend upon it was fostered. These experiences are combined in his prose with a passionate interest in historical writings of all sorts. A one hour radio documentary featuring his stories and narrations was awarded the International Gabriel Award for 1996, a distinction granted annually to the radio arts program that most contributes to an understanding of man and society. In addition to its exposure in Canada and the United States, this program was recently aired in Australia. Shane has also appeared in and assisted with a number of wildlife films for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, a special on global warming for the Turner Broadcasting Network, and most recently a conservation film for the British Broadcasting Corporation and National Geographic. Shane co-wrote, narrated and acted as scientific consultant for this latest film, which dealt with the collapse of fish stocks off Canada's east coast and its impact on Newfoundland society. This internationally aired film has now won a total of nine awards in North American and Europe, including Best Wildlife Film and Best Conservation Film for 1997. Other narrations include films for the National Park Service Interpretation Centres in Canada. Shane is also a published photographer whose work has appeared in publications for the Boone and Crockett Club and for displays at the Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History.

A committed hunter and fisherman, Shane lectures widely in the United States and Canada on the future of hunting and sport fishing and the role hunters and anglers have played in conserving our wildlife legacy. He frequently addresses resource management agencies and professionals concerning their roles as conservation leaders in the 21st century and conducts workshops on this theme throughout North America. He has also lectured before international panels on the environmental and economic impacts of forestry and marine fishery practices and has addressed major corporations on their role in conservation and wildlife partnerships. Much sought after as a lecturer, workshop facilitator and after dinner speaker, Shane has challenged audiences to think about the positions and beliefs they hold, emphasizing the evolutionary and historical influences on modern society's outlooks and values. He has suggested to academic, professional and public audiences alike that a deeper understanding of man's lethal interactions with nature and a more profound appreciation of the miracle of 'conservation through wise use' must be developed, by wildlife and fishery specialists themselves, by individuals and industries in support of these activities, and by society at large, if we are to safeguard the future of these cherished traditions. Presently Shane is completing a book on these ideas and he is also working on a definitive compilation of the biology of Newfoundland caribou.

Shane is a noted authority on the North American Conservation Model and narrated a film on the model in partnership with the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation in 2006. Shane operates Conservation Force's Canadian office in Newfoundland.

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