The UBC News Digest is a weekly summary of news stories about UBC
people, research, learning, community, and internationalization
initiatives. News Digest past
issues are also available on-line.
Nov. 26, 2004
- Chemistry Prof. David Dolphin a Finalist for Canada’s
Top Science Award - Prof Earns United Nations Science Award
- UBC PhD Student Becomes U.S. National Parks Science
Scholar - U-Pass Wins as Transportation Project of the Year
- Faculty earn Killam Fellowships
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Chemistry Prof. David Dolphin a Finalist for Canada’s
Top Science Award
The Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)
has named chemistry professor David Dolphin a finalist for the 2004
Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering.
The annual prize, renamed in 1999 to honour Canadian Nobel laureate
Gerhard Herzberg, is now widely recognized as the country’s
most prestigious science award.
Prof. Dolphin is distinguished for his contribution to the understanding
of porphyrins. Nitrogen-containing organic compounds, porphyrins
are used in light-activated or photodynamic therapy used to treat
cancer, eye diseases and autoimmune and cardiovascular disorders.
His work led to the development of Visudyne™, a drug for
treating age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of
blindness in people over the age of 50. It is produced by QLT Inc.,
a Vancouver-based biotechnology company.
The other finalists are Prof. André Salama of the University
of Toronto and Prof. John Smol of Queen’s University. The
2004 Herzberg Gold Medal will be awarded on Dec. 6 at a ceremony
in Ottawa. The winner’s research funding will be increased
to $1 million over the next five years. Funds may be used for university-based
research or directed in some related way such as the establishment
of research scholarships, fellowships or chairs in the researcher’s
name in Canadian universities. The other two finalists receive $50,000,
which may be used in a similar fashion.
Prof Earns United Nations Science Award
Prof. Hans Schreier of the Institute for Resources, Environment
and Sustainability (IRES) has received a Science in Action Award
from the United Nations for his work to bring watershed management
knowledge and innovative, cost-effective applications to Canada
and developing countries. The award, one of several given as part
of the two-year UN International Year of Fresh Water and Wonder
of Water Initiative, was created in 2003 to focus on the growing
importance of water to the ecological and cultural heritage of Canada.
UBC PhD Student Becomes U.S. National Parks Science
Scholar
Emily Gonzales, a PhD candidate in UBC’s Biodiversity Research
Centre, is one of eight students in North America to be named a
Canon National Parks Science Scholar by the U.S. National Parks
Service. The US $78,000 scholarship is designed to support the next
generation of scientists working in the fields of conservation,
environmental science and national park management, and provide
them with the resources to conduct research critical to conserving
national parks in the Americas.
Gonzales, from Victoria, B.C., is studying the relative influence
of exotic grass competition in Garry oak ecosystems. For her research
project, she will be developing baseline data for Canada’s
newest park, the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve, located on
Mayne, Saturna, the Pender Islands and others in the Strait of Georgia,
to help preserve and restore Garry oak ecosystems in the park.
Another UBC student, Joleen Timko, a PhD candidate in the Resource
Management and Environmental Studies Graduate Program, received
an honourable mention award of $1,000 from the National Parks Service.
U-Pass Wins as Transportation Project of the Year
UBC has won the Bill Curtis Memorial Award for Transportation Project
of the Year for 2003, given out by the Vancouver chapter of the
Canadian Institute of Transportation Engineers. The award recognizes
the efforts of UBC, UBC’s Alma Mater Society, SFU, SFU students,
TransLink and the Greater Vancouver Regional District.
Faculty earn Killam Fellowships
The following faculty members have been awarded a UBC Killam Faculty
Research Fellowship from the Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Fund for
Advanced Studies:
- Kai Behrend, Mathematics
- Joel Friedman, Mathematics / Computer Science
- Liisa Ann Galea, Department of Psychology
- Alan Kingstone, Psychology (Brain and Attention Research Lab
- Matthias Militzer, Metals & Materials Engineering
- Gail Murphy, Computer Science
- Michael Murphy, Microbiology and Immunology
- Bonny Norton, Language & Literacy Education
Isaak Walton Killam Memorial Faculty Research Fellowships top up
faculty salaries while they are on sabbatical leave by up to $15,000.
Scholars also receive a $3,000 grant for research and travel expenses.
