Professor John Smol FRSC, and holder of the Canada Research Chair in Environmental Change, is the the founding editor of the Journal of Paleolimnology. He received his B.Sc. in Marine Biology from McGill University in Montreal, Canada in 1977, and an M.Sc. in limnology from Brock University (St. Catharines, Ontario) in 1979. His Ph.D. in 1982 is from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. Following post-doctoral work in the High Arctic with the Geological Survey of Canada, he became a faculty member at Queen's University in 1984. John was promoted to Full Professor in 1991. He holds and has held adjunct appointments in Canada and the United States.
John co-directs the Paleoecological Environmental Assessment and Research Laboratory (PEARL) at Queen's University, a group of about 30 paleolimnologists working throughout the world on a variety of limnological and paleoecological problems. John has about 400 journal publications and book chapters to his credit. He has edited and authored 16 books, including one textbook.
PEARL's paleolimnological work was used extensively in the acid rain debates, and John received a citation from the US government for "outstanding contributions" to the NAPAP program. John was awarded an N.S.E.R.C. E.W.R. Steacie Memorial Fellowship in 1990. In 1992 he was awarded the Botanical Society of America Darbaker Prize, and in 1993 John, along with his lab, was presented with the North American Lake Management Society (NALMS) Research Award. In 1993 he was also awarded the National Research Council's Steacie Prize, as Canada's most outstanding young scientist or engineer. In 1994, he received an award from the Atomic Energy of Canada, Ltd., and was presented with the Queen's University Prize for Excellence in Research. Other recent awards include the 1995 Rigler Prize from the Society of Canadian Limnologists and the Canada Council Killam Fellowship (1995-1997). In 1996, he was elected as a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, Academy of Sciences, and in 1997 he received the University of Helsinki Award Medal, as well as the Geological Association of Canada's (GAC) Past-President's Medal for outstanding contributions to the geosciences. The GAC also elected him as one of their Distinguished Fellows. In 1998 and 2001, he was chosen to receive the Best Professor Award for excellence in undergraduate teaching by the Queen's Biology DSC, and in 2000 he received the W.T Barnes Teaching Excellence Award. In 1999 he was awarded the Turku Academia Medal, the Canada Research Chair in Environmental Change in 2000, and in 2001 he was presented with the Miroslaw Romanowski Medal from the Royal Society of Canada for contributions to the resolution of scientific aspects of environmental problems. In 2002, he was granted an Ontario Distinguished Researcher Award (ODRA). St Francis Xavier University conferred John with the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws (LLD) in June 2003, in recognition of his work on aquatic ecology and environmental change. In November 2003, John was presented with the NSERC Award for Excellence. In December 2004, John was awarded the NSERC Gerhard Herzberg Gold Medal, as Canada's top scientist or engineer. In June of 2005, John was awarded the Canadian Quaternary Association's most meritorious award, the WA Johnston Medal for professional excellence in Quaternary science. John was presented with two additional teaching awards offered by Queen's University in 2006: the inaugural Award for Excellence in Graduate Supervision, and The Chancellor A. Charles Baillie Teaching Award. In addition, he was listed by Thompson Scientific as an ISI Highly Cited Researcher. In 2007, John was presented with the G. Evelyn Hutchinson Award from the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography "For outstanding contributions and leadership in bridging paleolimnology with limnology, ecology, and the environmental sciences, as well as his seminal work on polar limnology and environmental change." The University of Helsinki conferred John with an honorary PhD in May 2007. Later that year, he was awarded the T. Geoffrey Flynn Advancement Champion Award, Queen's University's highest award for service, for his scientific outreach and education work with the public. In 2008, John was selected by the Royal Society (London) to be "The UK-Canada Rutherford Lecturer", and later that year he, along with his brother J. Blais, were chosen as Canada's Environmental Scientists of the Year by the Royal Canadian Geographical Society. In November, John was presented with his second medal from the Royal Society of Canada -- the Flavelle Medal for outstanding contributions to biology. In 2009, the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (STLHE) presented John with a 3M National Teaching Fellowship, considered by many to be Canada's highest teaching award. Shortly afterwards, John won the 2009 Killam Prize in the field of natural sciences, which is the highest career achievement award presented by the Canada Council, and later that week the Premier of Ontario presented him with the Premier's Discovery Award for the Life Sciences and Medicine, the province's highest award for academic achievement.
In addition to his work with the Journal of Paleolimnology, in 2004 John became Editor-in-Chief of the National Research Council of Canada's Environmental Reviews, is the series founding co-editor of the book series Developments in Paleoenvironmental Research, and is also on the editorial boards of several other journals.
John can be reached at
John P. Smol
Paleoecological Environmental
Assessment and Research Lab (PEARL)
Department of Biology, 116 Barrie St.
Queen's University
Kingston, Ontario, Canada K7L 3N6
office telephone: (613) 533-6147
fax number: (613) 533-6617
e-mail: SMOLJ@QueensU.ca
