UBC News Digest

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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