David A. Dunlap Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics

Madeline Nardin receives 2022 Professor Mercedes T. Richards Award

siddiq22 — Thu, 19 Jan 2023 19:04:16 +0000

Madeline Nardin receives 2022 Professor Mercedes T. Richards Award

Research & Innovation

Academic Achievement

siddiq22 Thu, 01/19/2023 - 14:04

Students

St. George

Professor Mercedes T. Richards Award

David A. Dunlap Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics

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Bryan Gaensler, director of the Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics, presents the Professor Mercedes T. Richards Award to Madeline Nardin (supplied photo)

University of Toronto student Madeline Nardin has won the inaugural Professor Mercedes T. Richards Award for excellence in summer undergraduate research in astronomy.

Named after the late renowned astronomer, professor and U of T alumna Mercedes T. Richards, the $2,000 award was created to recognize a student in the U of T summer undergraduate research program (SURP) in astronomy and astrophysics who has demonstrated outstanding achievement and growth in scientific research. Richards advocated for young people within the field of science, including women and other underrepresented groups.

“I am tremendously honoured to receive the Mercedes T. Richards Award,” Nardin says. “It’s awesome to be recognized for the work I’ve done in SURP – that work continues to motivate me in my research.”

Nardin, a fourth-year undergraduate student at New College specializing in astronomy and physics, worked with Keith Vanderlinde, a professor in the Faculty of Arts & Science's David A. Dunlap department of astronomy and astrophysics, to develop technologies to observe the origin and evolution of the universe and short-lived astronomical phenomena.

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Renée Hložek awarded the Harvey B. Richer Gold Medal

lanthierj — Fri, 19 Mar 2021 18:26:49 +0000

Renée Hložek awarded the Harvey B. Richer Gold Medal

Research & Innovation

lanthierj Fri, 03/19/2021 - 14:26

Faculty

St. George

Faculty of Arts & Science

David A. Dunlap Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics

Women in STEM

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Renée Hložek has been awarded the Harvey B. Richer Gold Medal by the Canadian Astronomical Society in recognition of her significant and sustained early career research in astronomy.

Hložek, an assistant professor at the Dunlap Institute and the David A. Dunlap department of astronomy and astrophysics in the Faculty of Arts & Science, uses data to explore what the universe is made of, its structure, and how it is changing with time.

“Receiving this award just blows me away,” Hložek says. “I work in large collaborations of scientists to build big telescopes so that we can get enough data to answer fundamental questions in cosmology.

“I’m really moved that some of this work is being recognized with the Richer medal.”

One of an international group of scientists building a series of microwave telescopes in northern Chile to observe the afterglow of the Big Bang, Hložek is also part of the Rubin Observatory’s Dark Energy Science Collaboration, which will use the Legacy Survey of Space and Time to unravel the mysteries of cosmic acceleration.

“This is fantastic recognition of Professor Hložek’s many contributions,” says Dunlap Institute director Bryan Gaensler. “She has had an electrifying effect on Canadian astronomy, and has brought many new ideas, approaches and discoveries to the table. It’s exciting to think that she is still only very early in her career – her future is very bright.”

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CHIME wins Governor General's Innovation Award

lanthierj — Wed, 29 Jul 2020 15:26:07 +0000

CHIME wins Governor General's Innovation Award

Research & Innovation

lanthierj Wed, 07/29/2020 - 11:26

Faculty

Students

St. George

David A. Dunlap Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics

Faculty of Arts & Science

Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics

Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics

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Many members of the CHIME collaboration stand in front of the telescope in 2019, at the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory in Penticton, British Columbia. (photo by Andre Renard)

The team behind the Canadian-based radio telescope CHIME (the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment) has been awarded the fifth annual Governor General’s Innovation Award.

The award recognizes Canadians who have “developed new or better ways of creating value and who are having a meaningful impact on our quality of life.”

The CHIME team includes almost two dozen scientists and students from the University of Toronto, drawn from the David A. Dunlap Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, the Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics, and the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics (CITA), along with scientists from across Canada and internationally.

“The U of T astronomers on the team have played an incredibly important role in the project, and we’re all so proud to have them as our colleagues,” said Professor Roberto Abraham, department chair.

Since it began taking data in 2017, CHIME has made diverse discoveries on fast radio bursts and cosmology.

“It’s exciting to work on CHIME, to be part of the team as different surveys come together and turn on,” said Associate Professor Keith Vanderlinde, CHIME co-investigator. “The instrument has showed itself a revolutionary tool for studying the cosmos, and we’re thrilled to receive this award.”

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