Professor Myrna Simpson of the department of physical and environmental sciences is this year’s recipient of the Clair C. Patterson Award from the Geochemical Society.
Named after Clair Cameron Patterson, the scientist who developed the uranium-lead dating method for rocks and minerals, the prestigious annual award celebrates innovative breakthrough research in the field of environmental geochemistry.
“This recognition is truly humbling, and I only hope that my research withstands the test of time to the same extent of that of Clair C. Patterson,” said Simpson, who also becomes a fellow of the Geochemical Society as a result of receiving the award.
Simpson’s earlier research focused on developing methods to unravel complex environmental processes at the molecular level to better understand how climate change and other human-caused activities were fundamentally changing the environment.
Over the past 15 years her lab used a series of innovative techniques including nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and mass spectrometry to address knowledge gaps related to global environmental change, pollution of the environment and long-term storage of used nuclear fuel.
“I am particularly proud of how my group has been able to provide new insight into geochemical processes in the environment and uncover the ‘why’ behind so many processes. Knowing the ‘why’ means we are better prepared for protecting the earth,” said Simpson.
Earlier this year Simpson, who is the Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Integrative Molecular Biogeochemistry, received the DIMA Award from the Chemical Institute of Canada. Last year she was also a co-recipient of the Sir George Stokes Award.
This is the second time a U of T faculty member has recently received the Clair C. Patterson Award. Professor Barbara Sherwood Lollar from the department of earth sciences was a recipient in 2019.
“Having two U of T faculty recently recognized with this award really demonstrates that U of T is a leader in environmental geochemistry,” said Simpson.