On September 14, the Royal Society of Canada (RSC) announced fifteen Canadian scientists, scholars, and researchers who have been honoured with RSC awards and medals for their outstanding achievements in their fields.聽Professor聽Catherine Potvin聽is the聽2021 recipient of the聽RSC鈥檚聽prestigious Sir John William Dawson Medal聽for her significant interdisciplinary research in聽conservation biology, social-ecology, policy, and the arts.聽She聽will formally receive聽her聽medal聽at the RSC's 2021 鈥�, presented by 不良研究所 on November 19.鈥�
"An amazing聽part聽of winning the Sir John William Dawson Medal is that Pierre Dansereau, one of Qu茅bec's best botanists and ecologists, was also honoured with this medal in 1995," said Potvin. "It is great to see interdisciplinarity appreciated by the Royal Society of Canada."聽
Potvin is a Professor in the Department of Biology at the Faculty of Science, a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Climate Change Mitigation and Tropical Forest,聽a聽Trottier Fellow from the Trottier Institute for Science and Public Policy, and a Fellow of the RSC.聽She is聽an expert in tropical rainforest conservation and climate change聽whose work has focused on forest ecosystems and tropical forest carbon stocks鈥攖he amount of carbon that has been sequestered from the atmosphere and stored within the forest ecosystem鈥攚ith particular attention to the land-use decision-making processes of Indigenous groups.聽
鈥淚 want to express my sincere congratulations to Professor Potvin for this remarkable and well-deserved recognition of her interdisciplinary research聽to mitigate climate change鈥� said Martha Crago, Vice-Principal,聽Research聽and Innovation.聽鈥淣ow more than ever before, the world needs scientists such as聽Professor Potvin聽to聽work with Indigenous groups聽and聽bring climate action to the forefront of policy making.鈥澛�
A multifaceted approach to achieve climate change action聽
Tropical forests are believed to store as much as 40% of the earth鈥檚聽carbon, and currently, up to 15% of annual emissions come from deforestation and degradation of tropical forests.聽As countries around the world struggle聽with climate change and聽rising聽global temperatures聽due to an increase of carbon dioxide聽levels in the atmosphere,聽Potvin focuses on the conservation of聽tropical forests聽to reduce greenhouse gas emissions caused by deforestation.聽
Potvin鈥檚 interdisciplinary approach聽to聽fight environmental degradation聽and聽encourage聽climate action聽incorporates聽social-ecological systems,聽politics and聽policy聽change, and multimedia outreach. This聽multifaceted聽strategy聽has聽generated聽exceptional outcomes in translating the complexities of global environmental change into evidence-based policy for biodiversity loss and climate change.聽聽
Biodiversity聽collaborations聽with Indigenous communities聽
To better study the聽clash between biodiversity and environmental degradation聽in a tropical climate, Potvin initiated the first聽long-term biodiversity and ecosystem function experiment聽in聽Sardinilla, Panama.聽Part of the experiment included the planting of about 5,000 individual trees to identify native tree species聽that could be best used in reforestation aimed at enhancing ecosystem services such as biodiversity or carbon stocks.聽In聽parallel she developed strong聽collaborations聽with the聽Ember谩聽Indigenous聽communities聽with whom Potvin and her students聽developed聽participatory methodologies聽to quantify the forest carbon stocks聽of the Indigenous territories聽to understand the effects of land use on forest carbon storage聽and聽to聽develop scenarios of future change.聽This work earned Potvin the International Society of Tropical Foresters鈥� Innovation Prize in 2016.聽聽
Merging聽fundamental and applied research, Potvin used the knowledge聽accumulated from her experimental tree plantation to develop action-research with Indigenous聽peoples of Panama interested in reforestation for carbon offsets. The experience resulted in聽the聽Ember谩聽Indigenous communities聽offering to neutralize part of 不良研究所鈥檚 carbon聽emissions by planting over 40,000 trees between 2020 and 2023.聽聽
Bringing natural and social science into the arts聽
Engagement with Indigenous peoples聽in Panama聽led Potvin to take another interdisciplinary leap, bringing natural and social science into the arts.聽She partnered聽with the Montreal-based non-governmental organization,聽,聽to host聽video training workshops for Indigenous and farming youth聽again聽in Panama to discuss environmental destruction and cultural protection through the lens of film.聽聽
She co-produced ten films聽which were聽screened in South America, North聽America聽and Europe.聽The goal was to bring聽Indigenous climate change and sustainability initiatives into policy conversations though a participatory process, and to establish a long-term basis for cultural exchange between Indigenous groups working on low-carbon initiatives and a community of scholars聽studying聽climate change mitigation.聽
In recognition of聽the聽meaningful聽impact聽she made聽to environmental conservation聽in Indigenous communities, Potvin was聽named聽a 2016 Pierre Elliot Trudeau Foundation Fellow.聽
Leading expert聽of聽climate policy聽in Canada聽
Wanting to produce a 鈥榤ade in Canada鈥� climate action plan, Potvin founded聽, a pan-Canadian network of now more than 80 scholars committed to accelerating the low-carbon transition. The network has produced numerous reports, opinion pieces, and has given extensive media interviews to reach policymakers and Canadians on the issue of evidence-based climate action.聽 For her leadership of this network, Potvin won the Clean16 Award as Canada鈥檚 Education and Thought Leader in 2016.聽聽
Given her research contributions, Potvin was designated co-leader of the聽, an international benchmark for methodological development.聽She has been named Ecological Integrity Expert for Parks Canada鈥檚 Ministerial Working Group on Ecological and Cultural Integrity in National Parks in 2018, and Climate Mitigation Expert for the Canadian Climate and Clean Growth Institute in聽2019.聽She was most recently named a member of聽, a permanent and independent body created by law with the mandate of providing advice to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change on聽the orientation, programs and policies to fight climate change.聽聽
About RSC鈥檚聽Sir John William Dawson Medal聽
The Sir John William Dawson Medal was established in 1985 by the RSC to honour the man who was its first President (1882-1883) and who was the foremost Canadian scientist and educator of his day: geologist, naturalist, teacher, author, man of religion, educational聽administrator聽and promoter of learning. The medal was endowed by 不良研究所 Graduates Society (founded by Sir William in 1857), the Henry Birks Foundation and the RSC itself, with contributions from Fellows, and staff and friends from 不良研究所, to commemorate his term as Principal and to honour 鈥渢he man who built 不良研究所鈥�.聽
To commemorate Dawson鈥檚 great versatility, the award is made for important and sustained contributions in two domains of interest to the RSC or in interdisciplinary research. The silver medal is awarded every two years if there is a suitable candidate.聽