The International Conservationist of the Year Award is the highest recognition an individual can earn from SCIF. The award acknowledges an individual’s outstanding conservation achievements in or outside of the U.S.

Joe Hosmer, chairman of SCIF’s Conservation Committee, said, "Mark’s passion for hunting and conservation is unparalleled. His work to promote sound conservation practices around the world truly deserves to be recognized and we are honored to present him this prestigious award."

Boyce was educated at Yale and Oxford universities and is currently a professor at the University of Alberta, supervising one of the largest wildlife research programs in the world. He holds the Alberta Conservation Association Chair in Fisheries and Wildlife, a position endowed to facilitate applied conservation research financed with levies from the sale of hunting and fishing licenses.

He is a productive researcher and has published more than 200 scientific articles and six books. He has served as editor of the prestigious journal Ecology and was editor in chief of the Journal of Wildlife Management. He is also an avid hunter, having hunted in Africa, Russia, Mongolia, Poland, England, Scotland, France, Argentina, New Zealand, Alaska, as well as Canada and the U.S. He serves on the Board of Directors for SCI Northern Alberta, currently the largest SCI chapter in North America.