Five faculty members will be presented with the university’s Prize for Excellence in Research at this year’s fall convocation ceremonies, marking the first time that there have been more than two recipients of the Prize.

 

Rick Birtwhistle (Family Medicine, Community Health and Epidemiology), John Burge (School of Music), Troy Day (Mathematics and Statistics, Biology), George Lovell (Geography), and Kerry Rowe (Civil Engineering) will receive the prizes that reward major contributions for their impact and performance at Queen’s.

 

“We received numerous competitive nominations, so I am thrilled that with our newly implemented award structure, we were able to award five prizes, instead of only two, in a broad range of academic pursuits,” says Steven Liss, Vice Principal (Research). “The breadth and depth of our scholarly community and the first slate of award winners is an indication of the excellence represented in our community.”

 

Dr. Birtwhistle was awarded the Prize for his work creating the Canadian Primary Care Sentinel Surveillance Network, Canada’s first multi-disease primary care electronic record surveillance system. The network has helped advance patient care and chronic disease management and will help encourage innovation and excellence in primary health care research across Canada. 

 

For Dr. Burge, the Prize for Excellence in Research signifies the synergy between research and creative activity. He is recognized both nationally and internationally for his musical output for vocals and instruments. Since 1987, 120 works composed by Dr. Burge have been premiered and he has been teaching in the Queen’s School of Music for over 25 years.

 

Dr. Day, generally agreed to be the leading theoretician in the field of evolutionary epidemiology, is currently one of three chief editors of The American Naturalist and has co-written two textbooks: one on mathematical modeling and one a revision for life science students of a major calculus text. Dr. Day’s work is particularly important as his research uses mathematics to understand and predict the selective response of pathogens to public health interventions.

 

Dr. Lovell is an intrepid field researcher who is considered one of the leading authorities on the indigenous Maya people, their experiences under colonialism and their cultural survival. He is a winner of the prestigious Killam Research Fellowship, and has published 10 books and more than 100 articles on his field of research. 

 

Before holding the Canada Research Chair in Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, Dr. Rowe served 10 years as Vice Principal (Research) at Queen’s. He is a Killam Fellow and has written 290 journal papers, 3 books, 18 book chapters and more than 280 full conference papers. Dr. Rowe recently had a lecture named after him by the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering and is a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and the Royal Society in the United Kingdom.

 

The Prizes for Excellence in Research are awarded annually to outstanding Queen’s researchers Recipients must give public lectures within 6 months of the announcement of the Prize.

 

For more information on the Prizes for Excellence in Research, visit the Vice-Principal (Research) website.