In 1930, Kees Vermeer was born in Noordeloos, a small village in the Dutch polder, where he acquired his first interest in birds and nature. Kees was almost ten when the Nazis invaded Holland, where at one time his family was forced to share their home with a German tank crew. He also witnessed the historic surrender of the German army in his hometown Gorinchem. In 1954, Kees immigrated to Canada, where after a few months of farming, he accepted any jobs available to him until he realized he needed more education. He enrolled at the University of British Columbia (BC) in 1956, where he obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Geology and Zoology in 1959, and a Master of Science degree in Zoology in 1963. For his Master thesis, he studied the nesting biology of Glaucous-winged Gulls on Mandarte Island, a small rocky islet near Sidney along the BC coast. Even though his thesis was published in an obscure provincial museum series, it became a Citation Classic. Kees completed his doctorate in Zoology at the University of Alberta in 1967. As a research scientist for the Government of Canada, Kees studied the ecology of fresh water and marine bird populations. He also investigated the effects of changes in seawater temperatures; that of pesticides, mercury and oil pollution; and habitat destruction and predation on aquatic birds. Kees presently lives with his wife Rebecca in North Saanich on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. In his retirement, he enjoys bird watching, gardening, history and travel. In his eighties, he began writing short stories for his family in the Netherlands, which eventually culminated in his autobiography, Immigrant Gone to Heaven.
