Shortt was born in Winnipeg and attended the Winnipeg School of Art (1928–1930), studying with
LeMoine FitzGerald and R. Keith Gebhart. He travelled to the Arctic on RMS
SS Nascopie in 1938 as the resident ornithologist and shared a cabin with
Frederick Varley for three months. Varley coached him on painting, stressing he should be more of an artist than a scientist. He began to work for the
Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto in 1930 as a field artist and gallery assistant. In 1933, he became artist-ornithologist for the museum. His career there spanned 46 years. In 1948, he became Chief of Art and Exhibits (Zoology) and in 1959, head of the Biology display. He created many world-class dioramas for the museum as well as leading many expeditions to places such as Galapagos, India and East Africa to gather specimens. He retired in 1976 as Head Artist. The Terence Michael Shortt Field notebooks, illustrations and photographs are in the
Academy of Natural Sciences Archives,
Drexel University, Philadelphia (ANSP-Coll-0805). ==Works==