Browse "Earth scientists"

 Abraham Gesner, geologist, author, chemist, inventor (b near Cornwallis, NS 2 May 1797; d at Halifax, NS 29 Apr 1864). Gesner invented kerosene oil and, because of his patents for distilling bituminous material, was a founder of the modern Petroleum Industry.

Albert Peter Low, geologist, explorer (b at Montréal 24 May 1861; d at Ottawa 9 Oct 1942). Low joined the Geological Survey of Canada on graduation from McGill. The Québec-Labrador border was eventually defined on the basis of his 1893-95 explorations.

Alexander Murray, geologist, explorer (b at Crieff, Scot 2 June 1810; d there 18 Dec 1884). Murray served in the Royal Navy 1824-35, and then in 1837 immigrated with his young bride to Woodstock, Upper Canada.

Alfred Richard Cecil Selwyn, geologist, director of the Geological Survey of Canada (born 28 July 1824 in Kilmington, England; died 19 October 1902 in Vancouver).

Alice Evelyn Wilson, MBE, geologist, paleontologist (born 26 August 1881 in Cobourg, ON; died 15 April 1964 in Ottawa, ON). Educated at the Universities of Toronto and Chicago, Wilson spent her entire professional career, from 1909 to 1946, with the Geological Survey of Canada. She was Canada’s first female geologist and the recognized authority on the fossils and rock of the Ottawa-St. Lawrence Valley. While she repeatedly faced barriers as a woman in a profession dominated by men, Wilson was gradually recognized for her work through various honours, including becoming the first female Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1938.

Andrew Thomson, meteorologist (b at Dobbinton, Ont 18 May 1893; d at Toronto 17 Oct 1974). Following graduation from U of T in 1916, Thomson studied and worked in the US, Samoa, New Zealand and Europe before returning in 1932 to the national meteorological service.

Andrew John Weaver, OBC, FRSC, climate scientist, leader of the BC Green Party 2015–20 (born 16 November 1961 in Victoria, BC). Andrew Weaver is a leading climate change researcher who made historic gains for the Green Party of British Columbia in his second career as a politician. In 2013, he was elected the province’s first Green MLA. In 2017, he led the Greens to three seats. After the 2017 election, he engineered a power-sharing deal with the BC New Democratic Party and toppled the Liberal government of Christy Clark to help John Horgan become premier.

Angus Mackay, prairie agriculturist (b near Pickering, UC 10 Jan 1841; d at Indian Head, Sask 10 June 1931). Mackay is reputedly the man who introduced "summer fallow," which some historians consider more important than any other discovery in allowing successful agriculture on the Canadian prairies.

Arthur Gilbert McCalla, cereal chemist (b at St Catharines, Ont 22 Mar 1906; d at Edmonton 30 Apr 1985).

Cedric Robert Mann, physical oceanographer (born at Auckland, New Zealand 14 February 1926; died at Sidney, BC 15 October 2009).

Charles Carpmael, meteorologist (b at Streatham Hall, Eng 19 Sept 1846; d in Eng 21 Oct 1894). Carpmael directed the development and extension of the Canadian storm-warning and weather-forecasting services for more than a decade.

Charles Gibb, horticulturist (b at Montréal 29 July 1845; d at Cairo, Egypt 8 Mar 1890). Poor health led Gibb to seek an outdoor occupation and in 1872 he established extensive orchards at Abbotsford, Qué, to study fruit culture and arboriculture, and to test plant material from abroad.

Charles Sherwood Noble, agriculturist, industrialist (b at State Centre, Iowa 16 May 1873; d at Lethbridge, Alta 5 July 1957). He developed the Noble Blade, a cultivator that gave dryland farmers everywhere their first sure method of protecting soil from wind erosion.

Christopher John Raymond Garrett, physical oceanographer (b at Bude, Eng 30 July 1943). Educated at Cambridge, he joined the department of oceanography at Dalhousie University in 1971. Known for his early work with W.H.

Crawford Stanley Holling, “Buzz,” OC, FRSC, ecologist (born 6 Dec 1930 in Theresa, New York; died 16 August 2019 in  Nanaimo, BC). One of the best-known Canadian forest entomologists, Holling gained international recognition for his work in the management of natural resources.

The Criddle family were naturalists known for detailed and long-term records of fauna and flora at Aweme (near Treesbank), Manitoba, starting with Percy's diaries kept since their arrival from England in 1882.

David William Schindler, OC, FRSC, FRS, AOE, scientist, limnologist (born 3 August 1940 in Fargo, North Dakota). Schindler is an outspoken researcher who has advanced the understanding, protection and conservation of Canada’s fresh waters.

David Takayoshi Suzuki, CC, OBC, geneticist, broadcaster, environmental activist (born 24 March 1936 in Vancouver, BC). A Canadian of Japanese parentage, Suzuki was interned with his family during the Second World War and later became one of Canada’s most popular scientists and media personalities. He is known for his career as a broadcaster (including the CBC TV series The Nature of Things) as well as his work as an environmental activist.

This article was originally published in Maclean’s magazine on October 4, 2004. Partner content is not updated.

This article was originally published in Maclean’s magazine on November 5, 2007. Partner content is not updated.