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THE A.G. HUNTSMAN AWARD was established in 1980 by the Canadian marine science community to recognize excellence of research and outstanding contributions to marine sciences. It is presented by the Royal Society of Canada. The award honours marine scientists of any nationality who have had and continue to have a significant influence on the course of marine scientific thought. The Award is named in honour of Archibald Gowanlock Huntsman (1883– 1973), a pioneer Canadian oceanographer and fishery biologist.
The A.G. Huntsman Award was established through principal contributions from Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Natural Resources Canada, the Province of Nova Scotia, and the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. Additional endowment was granted by the LiFT Family Fund through Gift Funds Canada. The Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia is Honorary Patron of the A.G. Huntsman Award. |
2022 AWARD RECIPIENT
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The 2022 A.G. Huntsman Medal will be awarded to Uta Passow in recognition of her significant contributions to our understanding of the ocean and its ability to respond to anthropogenic changes such as climate change and oil pollution. Dr. Passow’s research in marine sciences encompasses the biological pump and carbon cycling, marine gels and more recently the interaction between marine snow and oil, to help predict and mediate the impact of these ecosystem challenges.
Since her training as a field-going Biological Oceanographer in Kiel, Germany, Dr Passow has worked at the University of California, Santa Barbara, USA, at the Alfred Wegener Institute, Germany, and currently holds a Canada Research Chair at Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada. She enjoys an international reputation for her ongoing efforts to mentor the next generation of marine scientists as well as her leadership within the marine science community. The 2022 award ceremony and distinguished lecture will be held in November, with plans to include both an in-person event and a simultaneous livestream. Details, including the data and time, along with a link to the ceremony will be provided at a later date. |
The photograph on the website header shows the CSS Hudson in Scott Inlet, Baffin Island, on September 6, 1977. The cliffs in the background are 300 or more metres high. In the fall of 1976, Bedford Institute of Oceanography scientists had observed an oil slick off the Inlet but because of ice conditions at the time they were unable to locate its source or to determine its extent. So in 1977 and again in 1978, CSS Hudson returned to measure the background levels of petroleum residues in the eastern Arctic and also to investigate the geology of the Baffin Island shelf. Together, the chemical and geological studies demonstrated that the slick at Scott Inlet is the result of natural seepage of petroleum from the walls and bottom of the submarine trough that cuts across the continental shelf in this area. This image of CSS Hudson appears on the Huntsman Medal. Photograph by Roger Belanger.
