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The Weston Family Prize
The W. Garfield Weston Foundation is pleased to announce Dr. Serge Payette as the inaugural recipient of The Weston Family Prize for Lifetime Achievement in Northern Research. This $50,000 Prize is given in recognition of significant contributions to northern science and the broad impact of a career devoted to research in the Canadian north.
Dr. Serge Payette is an internationally recognized northern scientist and researcher. His passion for the North and contributions over forty years has heightened our understanding of northern forests, climate change and caribou herds. His many accomplishments include establishing and directing the Centre d’Études Nordiques at University of Laval, holding the NSERC Chair for Northern research and being recognized as a laureate of the Killam Fellowship. His dedication to the North is apparent through his teaching and mentoring of over 80 post-graduate students. Click here for Dr. Payette’s full biography.
The inaugural Weston Family Prize was presented in August 2011 as part of a special ceremony celebrating the opening of the new Churchill Northern Studies Centre (CNSC), located in Churchill, Manitoba. The CNSC will present the Prize annually in celebration of their achievements with the scientific community and longstanding relationship with The W. Garfield Weston Foundation.
The Weston Family Prize is administered by the Association of Canadian Universities for Northern Studies.
Click here for full Press Release 
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Our Approach
Canada’s North is a unique and sensitive landscape, facing unprecedented challenges. Scientific knowledge is needed to understand and predict the effects of climate change on the physical and biological environment, ecosystems and human population of the North, as well as on all Canadians.
The launch of the International Polar Year in 2007 was a response to a widespread concern about the decline of research in the North. It was at that time that the Foundation entered into a dialogue about Canada’s great North. The Foundation has responded to the growing concerns by adopting a goal of advancing natural science research in Canada’s North as part of its mandate.
Goal: To position Canadian scientists to play a leadership role in local and international initiatives that will take place in the Arctic in years to come and foster awareness and education about the Canadian Arctic.
Strategies:
- Enabling Canadian scientists to work in and affect change in those regions most at risk.
- Facilitating scientific infrastructure and support.
- Granting graduate and post-graduate scholarships to leading Northern researchers.
- Supporting awareness and education about Canada’s Arctic region.
One way in which the Foundation is contributing to scientific endeavours and helping to cultivate Canada’s next generation of scientists is through The W. Garfield Weston Awards for Northern Research. By offering research scholarships at the graduate level, the Foundation hopes to sustain and advance expertise in northern research, encourage training of the next generation of northern researchers and increase the quantity and quality of research being done in the North.
“I have been able to spend a good deal of meaningful time in the North, thanks in part to the generous support of The W. Garfield Weston Foundation. My initial excitement of researching in the North has developed into a strong commitment and connection to the North and its people.” Kaitlin Breton-Honeyman, W. Garfield Weston Award for Northern Research Recipient, Ph.D. Candidate
The Foundation has also supported the Churchill Northern Studies Centre, an internationally recognized centre of excellence for Arctic research and education. Through a challenge grant, the Foundation enabled Churchill to leverage matching funds needed for their renewal. This key northern hub will continue to support more than 50 different scientific research projects annually. The new 27,000 sq. ft. sustainable facility will enhance the study of important Arctic environmental issues. Researchers will be greeted in the Weston Family Welcome Centre as they embark on each field season.
Support for Wildlife Conservation Society – Canada is another example of how the Foundation is strengthening the science capacity and contributing to conservation outcomes in Canada’s North. The Foundation’s focus is on projects that enable conservation scientists, research associates and the W. Garfield Weston Foundation Fellows to work in Northern Ontario and the Yukon/Northern British Columbia. These researchers are contributing to our understanding of the ecology and conservation of these northern regions.
A partnership with TELUS World of Science – Calgary is engaging the community in an exchange about research in Canada’s North through a series of Science Cafés. Audience members dialogue with academic researchers and industry professionals in an informal setting, encouraging “plain talk” about the latest ideas and issues in science and technology. The W. Garfield Weston Foundation is pleased to bring a Northern focus to this already successful program.