Sandra Lai obtained her PhD at Université du Québec à Rimouski within the Canada Research Chair in Northern Biodiversity. Her research interests cover the behaviour and movement ecology of mammals living in harsh environment, and how trophic and non-trophic interactions shape ecosystem structure and functioning. During her Ph.D., she studied movement tactics, socio-spatial organisation and population genetics of a major tundra predator, the Arctic fox, at Bylot Island (Nunavut, Canada). Her postdoctoral research focused on the large-scale movements of another northern mammal, the Arctic hare, and on the ecological network of a polar desert near Alert (northern Ellesmere Island, Nunavut). She also coordinated the implementation a biodiversity monitoring programme and management plans for endangered and other listed species in that area.