> Evolutionary scientist racks up awards
Evolutionary scientist racks up awards
Contact:
- Patrik Nosil, 604.822.3383, pnosil@zoology.ubc.ca (email may be easier as he’s often in the field)
- Bernie Crespi, Patrik’s doctoral supervisor, 604.291.3353, bernard_crespi@sfu.ca
June 12, 2007
Patrik Nosil, Simon Fraser University’s star graduand at this spring’s convocation ceremonies, has won one of Canada’s top prizes for research at the graduate student and postdoctoral levels.
The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) has awarded Nosil its doctoral prize — $10,000 and a silver medal — for producing groundbreaking research in the natural sciences.
Only four of the prizes are awarded annually, two in natural sciences, and two in engineering and computing sciences. Nosil is SFU’s seventh recipient of the prize.
Nosil won his prize by unearthing some of the first real evidence that cultivating the ability to avoid predators can cause new species to form. His analysis of how the walking stick insect fares against its main predator is included in major textbooks about evolution and has put Nosil on a footing with Charles Darwin. Darwin discovered evolution but never documented rigorously how species diversify.
During SFU’s recent convocation ceremony Nosil was awarded the 2007 Governor General’s Gold Medal, a national award for the top academic students in graduate school.
The Croatia-born biologist and Burnaby resident has also picked up the American Society of Naturalists Young Investigator Award and an NSERC postdoctoral fellowship, which he is pursuing at the University of British Columbia.
The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) has awarded Nosil its doctoral prize — $10,000 and a silver medal — for producing groundbreaking research in the natural sciences.
Only four of the prizes are awarded annually, two in natural sciences, and two in engineering and computing sciences. Nosil is SFU’s seventh recipient of the prize.
Nosil won his prize by unearthing some of the first real evidence that cultivating the ability to avoid predators can cause new species to form. His analysis of how the walking stick insect fares against its main predator is included in major textbooks about evolution and has put Nosil on a footing with Charles Darwin. Darwin discovered evolution but never documented rigorously how species diversify.
During SFU’s recent convocation ceremony Nosil was awarded the 2007 Governor General’s Gold Medal, a national award for the top academic students in graduate school.
The Croatia-born biologist and Burnaby resident has also picked up the American Society of Naturalists Young Investigator Award and an NSERC postdoctoral fellowship, which he is pursuing at the University of British Columbia.