Laurentian’s Pearson to receive McNeil Medal

David Pearson, an earth sciences professor at Laurentian University, will be awarded the Royal Society of Canada’s McNeil Medal at a ceremony in Ottawa in late November.

The McNeil Medal was established in 1991 to honour those who have contributed to the dissemination of science. Since its creation, the award has been given to such notables as David Suzuki and Jay Ingram, both of whom have popularized science on television and radio. “It’s good company,” says Pearson. “I feel as though I’ve come to the top of Everest.”

Pearson was born in Newcastle, England, where he attended Durham University. In 1963, he began studying for his doctorate in geology at Imperial College (now London University), and later carried out post-doctorate work at the University of Tubingen in Germany.

Since his arrival at Laurentian in 1969, Pearson has sought to share his enthusiasm for science with an audience wider than geology undergraduates. Toward this end, in 1972, he began hosting a weekly radio program in Sudbury with Laurentian biology professor Gerard Courtin.

In 1975 he developed a successful TVOntario series called Understanding the Earth, which served as the basis for “distance education” courses at Laurentian and other universities.

From 1991 to 1995, Pearson hosted Radio Lab on CBC in northern Ontario, and from 1991 and 1998, he hosted Down to Earth, a program about environmental concerns broadcast by Mid-Canada TV.

In 1980, he took a leave of absence from Laurentian and became project director of Science North, an institution that aims to popularize science via interactive labs and exhibits. Twenty years later, he was awarded the Ward Neale Medal by the Geological Association of Canada for his contribution to the public’s awareness of the geosciences.

“To have your geological colleagues recognize that you’ve made a contribution to the geological world, although you haven’t published a hundred papers, was a huge delight,” says Pearson, referring both to the GAC and the Royal Society medals.

He says no one influenced him more than John Tuzo Wilson (1908-1993), the Canadian geophysicist and geologist who, in the 1960s and 1970s, contributed to the development of plate-tectonics theory. “He combined the cutting edge of research with talking to the public [about science] and pushing for the development of science centres in Ontario,” says Pearson.

Pearson is currently involved in several environmental projects, including EarthCare Sudbury, and often speaks publicly on climate change.