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THE A.G. HUNTSMAN AWARD

was established in 1980 by the Canadian marine science community to recognize excellence of research and outstanding contributions to marine sciences. It is presented by the Royal Society of Canada. The award honours marine scientists of any nationality who have had and continue to have a significant influence on the course of marine scientific thought. The Award is named in honour of Archibald Gowanlock Huntsman (1883– 1973), a pioneer Canadian oceanographer and fishery biologist.

The A.G. Huntsman Award was established through initial principal contributions from Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Natural Resources Canada, the Province of Nova Scotia, and the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. Additional endowment was later granted from the LiFT Family Fund through Gift Funds Canada.

The Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia is Honorary Patron of the A.G. Huntsman Award.

2019 AWARD CEREMONY

The 2019 A.G. Huntsman Medal award ceremony was held on November 7, 2019 at Government House under the patronage of the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia.

Photo credit: Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Front Row (left to right)
- Dr. Adina Paytan - award recipient
- His Honour The Honourable Arthur J. LeBlanc, ONS, QC
Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia
- Her Honour Mrs. Patsy LeBlanc
- Professor Vijaya Raghavan, President of the Academy of Science, Royal Society of Canada
Back Row (left to right)
- Dr. William Li, President, A.G. Huntsman Foundation
- Professor Douglas Wallace, Dalhousie University
Details

The photograph on the website header shows CSS Hudson in Scott Inlet, Baffin Island, on September 6, 1977. The cliffs in the background are 300 or more metres high. In the fall of 1976, Bedford Institute of Oceanography scientists had observed an oil slick off the Inlet but because of ice conditions at the time they were unable to locate its source or to determine its extent. So in 1977 and again in 1978, CSS Hudson returned to measure the background levels of petroleum residues in the eastern Arctic and also to investigate the geology of the Baffin Island shelf. Together, the chemical and geological studies demonstrated that the slick at Scott Inlet is the result of natural seepage of petroleum from the walls and bottom of the submarine trough that cuts across the continental shelf in this area. This image of CSS Hudson appears on the Huntsman Medal. [Photograph by Roger Belanger, Crown Copyright]