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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.

2025 AWARD CEREMONY

October 15, 2025 at Government House

Left to Right:

Prof. Anya Waite, Dalhousie University

Prof. Karen Wiltshire, Trinity College Dublin

His Honour The Honourable Mike Savage, ONS, Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia

Her Honour Ms. Darlene Savage

Dr. Alice Ortmann, A.G. Huntsman Foundation

Ms. Taryn Tomlinson, Bedford Institute of Oceanography

Award Citation and Event Photographs

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 th 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]