UBC Reports | Vol. 47 | No. 05 | Mar. 8, 2001

Honour Roll

Music Prof. Stephen Chatman's Tara's Dream is the first-ever Canadian work to be short listed as a semi-finalist in the Masterprize international composition competition.

The 11-minute work is one of 12 orchestral works selected from 1,131 entries from 62 countries in the global competition for new music based in London, England.

All semifinalist works will be broadcast beginning in April through BBC Radio 3, European Broadcasting Union members, and radio networks throughout the world.

The worldwide potential audience is 150 million listeners.

The first place winner in Masterprize receives $70,000.

Zoology Assoc. Prof. Sarah Otto has been awarded a 2001 Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Steacie Fellowship for her contribution to new knowledge in evolutionary genetics.

Otto's research covers a broad range of theoretical questions about the evolution of genomes -- the whole of an organism's genetic material -- such as how changes in animal population affect evolution rates. This information will assist in the conservation of endangered species.

A faculty member since 1995, Otto is one of six fellowship recipients from universities across Canada. She will be able to pursue her research full-time over the next two years with support from the award and from UBC.

NSERC Steacie Fellowships are awarded to the most outstanding Canadian university scientists or engineers who have earned their doctorate within the last 12 years. The other B.C. recipient is Dr. Ben Koop of the University of Victoria.

Geography Asst. Prof. Matthew Evenden has earned a major international award from the American Society for Environmental History.

His doctoral dissertation, "Fish vs. Power: Remaking Salmon, Science and Society on the Fraser River, 1900-1960," has been selected for the 2001 Rachel Carson Prize for the best dissertation in environmental history.

Evenden, a West Vancouver native, teaches historical and environmental geography of Canada and the U.S.

The prize will be presented at an awards banquet this month in Durham, N.C., during the society's annual conference.