October 30, 2026
In November 1951, Dr. Douglas Ross welcomed nine other nature enthusiasts to his home for the first meeting of what would become the North Okanagan Naturalists’ Club. Appointed the Club’s first president, Ross helped establish an organization that would bring together people with a shared interest in the region’s natural environment.
Part of GVMA MS 306, North Okanagan Naturalists’ Club fonds.
Born in Vineland, Ontario, in 1916, Ross developed an early interest in the natural world through his father, who headed the Dominion Entomological Laboratory in Vineland and later Ottawa. Growing up in Ontario’s Niagara region, Doug spent much of his childhood observing birds and insects.
He went on to earn a Bachelor of Science from the Ontario Agricultural College in Guelph in 1939. Between 1941 and 1950, he served with the Governor General’s Foot Guards and worked with Canada Agriculture in Ontario and Quebec, researching the maple leaf cutter and eastern budworm parasites. He later earned master’s and doctorate degrees in Entomology from Cornell University.
In 1950, Ross and his wife, Edie, moved to Vernon, where he joined the Forest Entomology Laboratory as a Research Officer; by 1955, he was in charge of the laboratory. His research covered a wide range of forest insects, including seed and cone insects, wood borers, Douglas-fir needle midge, pine butterfly, European pine shoot moth, larch casebearer, and winter moth. He published numerous journal articles and identified a new species of Dioryctria, a genus of snout moths, which was named D. rossi in his honour.
Ross was involved in several professional organizations throughout his career. He served as both a director and president of the Entomological Society of British Columbia, represented the society at the national level through the Entomological Society of Canada, and served as president of the North Okanagan Branch of the Canadian Institute of Forestry.
Following the closure of the Vernon laboratory, Ross and his family moved to Victoria, where he headed the Forest Insect and Disease Survey of British Columbia and the Yukon. After retiring in 1978, he continued to pursue his interests as a naturalist, historian, and collector, including supporting the Swan Lake Nature Reserve. Douglas Ross passed away in 1996.
As the North Okanagan Naturalists’ Club marks its 75th anniversary, the contributions of Ross and the other founding members remain an important part of its history. What began with a small gathering of local naturalists in 1951 has continued through generations of people interested in learning about and protecting the region’s natural environment.
To learn more about the Club and its activities, or to find out how to get involved, visit nonc.ca.
Archives Manager, Gwyneth Evans