Re: Leader of Sudbury Neutrino Observatory Wins Top Canadian Science Prize/Queen's physicist awarded Canada's top science prize (Forwarded)

-- "Andrew Yee" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council
>
> Media Contacts:
> Arnet Sheppard, Cell: (613) 294-8773
> Francis Lionnet, Cell: (613) 761-0419
>
> November 24, 2003
>
> Leader of Sudbury Neutrino Observatory Wins Top Canadian Science Prize
>
> Ottawa, Ontario -- Arthur McDonald was today named winner of the 2003
Gerhard
> Herzberg Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering.
>
> The prize guarantees that Dr. McDonald, a professor at Queen's University,
will
> receive $1 million in research funding from the Natural Sciences and
Engineering
> Research Council (NSERC).
>
> "Dr. McDonald was the driving force for the Sudbury Neutrino Project,
which has
> been such an outstanding international scientific success story and a
source of
> great pride for all Canadians," said Ottawa-Vanier M.P. Mauril Bélanger,
who
> announced the award on behalf of Allan Rock, Minister of Industry and Dr.
Rey
> Pagtakhan, Secretary of State (Science, Research and Development). "Like
Gerhard
> Herzberg, he has had an outstanding influence on science in Canada and
also on
> how Canadians perceive themselves as an innovative, science-friendly
nation."
>
> "Designing and building a large underground experiment to reveal the
ultimate
> truth about solar neutrinos was both a novel and high risk endeavour,"
said
> NSERC President Tom Brzustowski. "Yet Art McDonald recognized that Canada
had
> the ingredients to pull it off, and he did. Thanks to his great abilities
as a
> scientist, mentor, leader and coordinator, we have an amazing scientific
> facility in Sudbury, and Canada is recognized as a major training ground
for
> particle, nuclear and astrophysicists from around the world."
>
> Dr. McDonald will receive the Herzberg Medal at a gala dinner tomorrow
evening
> at the National Gallery of Canada. The event will also feature an address
by
> Canadian entrepreneur Mike Lazaridis.
>
> For more information on Dr. McDonald's achievements, visit
>       http://www.nserc.ca/about/award_e.htm
>
> The three finalists for the 2003 Herzberg award were Arthur McDonald, John
Smol,
> also of Queen's University and Richard Bond of the University of Toronto.
Each
> receives the NSERC Award of Excellence which consists of a crystal
sculpture.
> Dr. Smol and Dr. Bond also receive an additional $50,000 each in research
support.
>
> Dr. Bond is one of the world's leading cosmologists. He is responsible for
major
> new insights into the nature of dark matter and black holes and for
greatly
> expanding our knowledge of the structure and evolution of the early
universe.
>
> Dr. Smol transformed paleolimnology and the study of ancient lake
sediments into
> one of the hottest fields in ecology and a powerful tool for revealing how
> aquatic organisms interact with their environment and respond over time to
> climate change.
>
> The Medal selection process involved both international peer review of the
> nominees and adjudication by a distinguished NSERC jury. This year's panel
was
> chaired by Dr. Gretchen Harris, a member of NSERC's Council and a
professor at
> the University of Waterloo.
>
> Tomorrow night's event will also celebrate the achievements of major prize
> winners announced earlier in the year.
>
> NSERC Steacie Fellowships are awarded to outstanding Canadian university
> scientists or engineers who have earned their doctorate within the last 12
> years. The 2003 winners are Michel Gingras (University of Waterloo),
Zongchao
> Jia (Queen's University), Victoria Kaspi (McGill University), Molly
Shoichet
> (University of Toronto), Gary Saunders (University of New Brunswick) and
Kim
> Vicente (University of Toronto).
>
> Ryan Gregory (who earned his doctorate at the University of Guelph ) is
being
> honoured as this year's recipient of the $20,000 NSERC Howard Alper
Postdoctoral
> Prize. The prize was created by the first winner of the Herzberg Medal.
>
> The four NSERC Doctoral Prize Silver Medalists are David Bryce (doctorate
from
> Dalhousie University), Erik Demaine (doctorate from the University of
Waterloo),
> Martin Dvorak (doctorate from Simon Fraser University), and David Vocadlo
> (doctorate from the University of British Columbia). The medals and a
$10,000
> cash prize are awarded for the best doctoral work completed in science and
> engineering at a Canadian university last year.
>
> NSERC is a key federal agency investing in people, discovery, and
innovation.
> Over the last 10 years it has invested $5 billion in basic research,
> university-industry projects, and the training of Canada's next generation
of
> scientists and engineers.
>
> For photos and more background information on all the award winners, visit
>       http://www.nserc.ca/about/award_e.htm
>
> *****
>
> News & Media Services
> Queen's University
> Kingston, Ontario
>
> Contacts:
> Nancy Dorrance, Queen's News & Media Services
> 613.533.2869
>
> Lorinda Peterson, Queen's News & Media Services
> 613.533.3234
>
> Monday November 24, 2003
>
> Queen's physicist awarded Canada's top science prize
>
> Kingston, ON -- Queen's Physics professor Art McDonald will receive the
> country's top science award -- the prestigious Gerhard Herzberg Canada
Gold
> Medal from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
> (NSERC) -- at a gala ceremony in Ottawa Tuesday.
>
> The announcement was made today by Minister of Veterans Affairs and
Secretary of
> State (Science, Research and Development) Rey Pagtakhan.
>
> Two of the three finalists for the distinguished national award are from
Queen's.
>
> An internationally-renowned sub-atomic physicist, Dr. McDonald is leader
of the
> large international scientific team that developed the Sudbury Neutrino
> Observatory (SNO) to provide answers to some very fundamental questions of
> physics and astrophysics. SNO is a unique astrophysical observatory the
size of
> a 10-story building, situated two km underground in INCO's Creighton mine
near
> Sudbury, Ontario.
>
> As a finalist for the Herzberg Medal, Queen's Biology professor John Smol
will
> receive the NSERC Award of Excellence for his extensive research in
> paleolimnology, defining the biological history of lakes, including major
> contributions to understanding the effects of acid rain. The third
finalist is
> cosmologist Richard Bond of the University of Toronto. This is the second
year
> in a row that Queen's faculty have been among the finalists. In 2002,
> neuroscientist Barrie Frost received the NSERC Award of Excellence.
>
> "We are thrilled that Art and the SNO team have been recognized with this
> tremendous Canadian honour," says Queen's Vice-Principal (Research) Kerry
Rowe.
> "Their revolutionary results have advanced our understanding of the
universe,
> and have heightened international recognition of outstanding Canadian
> contributions to scientific research. Queen's is doubly honoured to count
both
> Professors McDonald and Smol among our esteemed faculty. As
internationally
> renowned leaders in their respective fields, they exemplify excellence in
> research and teaching at Queen's."
>
> By studying elusive sub-atomic particles called neutrinos from the Sun,
the SNO
> team was able to show conclusively that neutrinos change from one type to
> another before reaching the Earth. This solved a 30-year old scientific
problem
> and confirmed that models of the energy generation in the Sun are correct.
The
> measurements also indicate that the most basic laws of physics are
incomplete
> and provide information that could lead to a more complete description of
nature
> at the most microscopic level.
>
> The Herzberg Gold Medal winner is guaranteed $1 million in funding to be
used
> for university-based research, or to direct in some related way such as
the
> establishment of research scholarships, fellowships or chairs in Canadian
> universities. Dr. McDonald plans to use some of these funds to develop
improved
> capabilities for the SNO detector in future, and to develop experiments
intended
> for the new international science laboratory, SNOLAB, being developed
> underground near SNO.
>
> "The insight that we have obtained on neutrino properties from the
measurements
> made to date by the SNO research team will enable us to design new
experiments
> with the capability to increase our knowledge of physics and astrophysics
at the
> most fundamental level," says the Queen's University Research Chair in
Physics.
>
> He will also devote part of the funding to a scholarship or prize in
honour of
> his former student, André Hamer, who passed away from cancer this year at
the
> age of 35. "Through this award in honour of my student, André, I would
like to
> emphasize the major research contributions that are made by students and
> postdoctoral fellows during their education," Dr. McDonald says. "André
worked
> to the highest standards as a student and it is very appropriate for an
award to
> be made in his name to represent excellence among research students at
Canadian
> universities."
>
> Dr. Smol will receive an award of $50,000 to enhance his work in
paleolimnology,
> a field in which he is regarded as one of the world's top scientists.
Along with
> groundbreaking research, he has been instrumental in creating a rigorous
> intellectual, institutional and policy framework for the science. The
founder
> and co-director of Queen's University's Paleoecological Environmental
Assessment
> and Research Lab (PEARL) -- considered by many to be the world's premier
> paleolimnology training grounds -- Dr. Smol is the 2000/01 winner of the
Queen's
> Biology Departmental Student Council Award for Excellence in Teaching, and
the
> university's 1999/00 Teaching Excellence Award for the Arts and Science
> Undergraduate Society.
>
> Queen's Biochemistry professor Zongchao Jia, Canada Research Chair in
Structural
> Biology, is one of five new recipients of an NSERC Steacie Fellowship,
which
> will also be presented at Tuesday's event. The fellowship is awarded to
> outstanding Canadian university scientists or engineers who have earned
their
> doctorate within the last 12 years.
>
> For more information, see the NSERC web site,
>       http://www.nserc.ca/news/2003/p031124.htm
>

I was in the audience last month when Prof McDonald gave a talk to the Royal
Astronomical Society on the results from the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory.
I had the feeling that this work would be getting a Nobel Prize before too
long.  But the Nobel Committee, like God, works in mysterious ways, so we
will have to wait and see.  A joint prize for him and John Bahcall might be
appropriate.

Congratulations to Prof McDonald and the whole Sudbury team for a
magnificent and beautiful experiment.

--
Mike Dworetsky

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