Rudy Boonstra, professor emeritus in the department of biological sciences at U of T Scarborough, has been awarded the 2024 Fry Medal.
Presented annually by the Canadian Society of Zoologists, the award recognizes outstanding contributions to knowledge and understanding of an area in zoology.
Boonstra’s research looks at the factors that affect animal populations and how animals cope with stressful situations such as predation, lack of food, social interactions and climate climate. His work is particularly interested in the maternal effects of stress, especially when it comes to offspring inheriting certain traits from their stressed-out mothers.
His work has spanned across the Canadian boreal forest, prairies, mountains and, most notably, the Yukon and Arctic. Over the past 25 years he’s also relied heavily on a lab he set up at the Kluane Lake Research Station, 220 km northwest of Whitehorse, Yukon, not to mention his mobile research lab (a converted passenger van) to travel back and forth to the Yukon, Alberta and Manitoba.
“Being awarded the Fry Medal is a great honour,” says Boonstra, who recently retired after 40 years at U of T Scarborough but still remains active in his research.
He thanked colleagues from U of T for supporting his research and nurturing ideas, especially those in the department of biological sciences at U of T Scarborough, as well as colleagues at other universities in Canada, Australia and Europe. “It’s also critical to acknowledge that the foundation of this research was done with the key contributions of my graduate students and post-doctoral fellows,” he says.
Professor Stephen Reid, a long-time colleague in the department of biological sciences, says what stood out most about Boonstra was his relentless advocacy for climate change mitigation and prevention strategies.
“Rudy was sounding the alarm at a time when many of us were really just coming to understand that climate change was real and that its effects would be planet-altering and devasting to humans and other animals,” says Reid.
“He deeply cares about the warming of our planet and the associated crises that we now see being unleashed upon the world.”
Charles Krebs, professor emeritus at the University of British Columbia and former Fry Medal recipient, praised Boonstra’s work for leading to the establishment of an entirely new discipline focused on the ecology of stress.
“He is one of Canada’s most prolific and influential ecologists and the impact of his ideas, research, publications, and collaborations are felt worldwide, but particularly in the Canadian north,” says Krebs.
The Fry Medal was established in 1974 in honour of aquatic ecologist and former U of T professor Frederick E.J. Fry. Recipients of the award give a lecture at the Canadian Society of Zoologists' annual conference, which Boonstra did in early May 2024.