John Smol
John P. Smol, OC FRS FRSC[2] is a Canadian ecologist, limnologist and paleolimnologist who is a Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Biology[3] at Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, where he also held the Canada Research Chair in Environmental Change for the maximum of three 7-year terms (2001–2021).[4] He founded and co-directs the Paleoecological Environmental Assessment and Research Lab (PEARL).[5][1][6]
John P. Smol | |
|---|---|
John Smol holding a Glew lake sediment corer in his lab at Queen`s University | |
| Born | John P. Smol Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Alma mater |
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| Known for | Advancements in the field of long-term environmental change |
| Awards | Steacie Prize (1992) Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering (2004) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Limnology Paleolimnology Limnogeology Arctic Diatoms[1] |
| Institutions | Queen's University |
| Thesis | Postglacial changes in fossil algal assemblages from three Canadian lakes (1982) |
| Website | queensu |
Early life
John Smol was born in Montreal, Canada. Both his parents were originally from Czechoslovakia. His mother was a war refugee and his father a political defector, who met in the immigrant sections of Montreal. His father was killed by a drunk driver in a car accident when Smol was 8 years old. He has three siblings, all of whom are in academia/education.
Education
Smol was educated at McGill University (BSc),[7] Brock University (MSc),[8] and Queen's University (PhD).[9]
Career and research
Smol works on a diverse range of subjects, most of which focus on using lake sediments to reconstruct past environmental trends. Topics include: lake acidification caused by acid rain, sewage input and fertilizer runoff (eutrophication), studies of nutrient and contaminant transport by birds and other biovectors, and a large program on climatic change. For about three decades, he has been leading research in the high Arctic, studying the present-day ecology of polar lakes and ponds, and then using paleolimnological approaches to determine how these ecosystems have been changing due to natural and anthropogenic stressors.
The author or editor of 23 books and about 700 journal publications and book chapters,[1][10] Smol is an international lecturer and media commentator on a variety of topics, but most dealing with environmental issues. From 1987 to 2007, he edited the Journal of Paleolimnology.[11] Since 2004, he has been editor of the journal Environmental Reviews.[12] He is the series editor of the Developments in Paleoenvironmental Research[13] book series. He held the Chair of the International Paleolimnology Association [14] for two three-year terms ending in August 2018, and until recently was President (2019–2022) of the Academy of Science, Royal Society of Canada.
Honours and awards
Among over 70 awards and fellowships,[2] he is the recipient of the Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering,[15] given by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)[16] to honour Canada's top scientist or engineer. Smol was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2018.[17] He holds six honorary degrees: LLD, St Francis Xavier University (2003); PhD, University of Helsinki (2007); DSc, University of Waterloo (2012); LLD, Mount Allison University (2016); DSc, Ryerson University (2016); DSc, Western University (University of Western Ontario) (2017). In 2013 he was named an Officer of the Order of Canada.[18]
Selected publications
- Smol, J. P. (2008). Pollution of lakes and rivers : a paleoenvironmental perspective. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub. ISBN 978-1-4051-5913-5. OCLC 123391088.
- Stoermer, Eugene F.; Smol, J. P. (1999). The diatoms : applications for the environmental and earth sciences. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-511-15506-9. OCLC 559275787.
- "Water and wisdom: an open letter to Ottawa". The Globe and Mail. 2012-06-05. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
- Smol, John (2016). "Some advice to early career scientists: Personal perspectives on surviving in a complex world". Ideas in Ecology and Evolution. Queen's University Library. 9. doi:10.4033/iee.2016.9.5.e. ISSN 1918-3178.[19]
- Smol, John P. (2018-10-01). "A crisis in science literacy and communication: Does reluctance to engage the public make academic scientists complicit?". FACETS. Canadian Science Publishing. 3 (1): 952–957. doi:10.1139/facets-2018-0022. ISSN 2371-1671. S2CID 158775829.
- Smol, John P. (2019-07-10). "Under the radar: long-term perspectives on ecological changes in lakes". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. The Royal Society. 286 (1906): 20190834. doi:10.1098/rspb.2019.0834. ISSN 0962-8452. PMC 6650715. PMID 31288704.
References
- ^ a b c John Smol publications indexed by Google Scholar
- ^ a b "Professor John Smol Developments in Paleoenvironmental Research". www.queensu.ca.
- ^ "Undergraduate Degree Biology Graduate Courses Research – Queen's Biology Department". biology.queensu.ca.
- ^ "Research Chair". 29 November 2012.
- ^ "PEARL".
- ^ John Smol's ORCID 0000-0002-2499-6696
- ^ Algal blooms OCLC 883989884
- ^ Paleolimnology of selected Precambrian Shield lakes OCLC 1032916530
- ^ Postglacial changes in fossil algal assemblages from three Canadian lakes OCLC 15941406
- ^ "Publication List".
- ^ "Journal of Paleolimnology". Springer.
- ^ "Canadian Science Publishing". Environmental Reviews.
- ^ "Developments in Paleoenvironmental Research".
- ^ "Home". Paleolim.
- ^ "Herzberg Gold Medal". 28 June 2016.
- ^ "NSERC". 28 June 2016.
- ^ Anon (2018). "John Smol". royalsociety.org. Royal Society.
- ^ General, Office of the Secretary to the Governor. "The Governor General of Canada". The Governor General of Canada.
- ^ Smol, John (July 29, 2016). "Some advice to early career scientists: Personal perspectives on surviving in a complex world". Ideas in Ecology and Evolution. 9 (1). doi:10.4033/iee.2016.9.5.e – via ojs.library.queensu.ca.