2023 Medal Winners | francais

The 2023 CAP-COMP Peter Kirkby Memorial Medal for Outstanding Service to Canadian Physics

is awarded to

Laura Pankratz

"Receiving the Kirkby Memorial Medal is an honour and a humbling experience. I especially value how this recognition reinforces that the physics community in Canada includes people working in both high school and post-secondary contexts." winner quote

The Canadian Association of Physicists (CAP) and the Canadian Organization of Medical Physicists (COMP) are pleased to announce that the 2023 CAP-COMP Peter Kirkby Memorial Medal for Outstanding Service to Canadian Physics is awarded to Laura Pankratz, Government of Alberta, in recognition of her service to both the CAP and to Canadian society through her exemplary work in education and outreach. announcement

For over 25 years, Laura Pankratz has been a guiding force behind Physics education in Alberta. From her beginnings as an award-winning teacher, Laura has always had the interests and success of both physics students and their teachers as a primary motivator. It is exceedingly rare to find an educator who has such a passion for promoting excellence in physics education, and who is as willing to share her passion and vision.

Laura’s influence is multipronged; from her work with curriculum development and the Alberta diploma exam process, to developing and delivering professional development activities, as the driving force behind the establishment and running of the Alberta AAPT Physics section, through to actively mentoring teachers across the province, Laura is really the voice of physics in Alberta. It is not an exaggeration to say that her work with Alberta teachers, and the Alberta education infrastructure, has positively influenced virtually every student in Alberta over the last 25 years. It is also fair to say that her work as a facilitator with the Einstein+ program, and recent multiyear secondment to the Perimeter Institute, developing educational activities getting at the heart of modern physics, has had a direct influence on classroom practices across Canada and other countries around the world. nominator citation

ABOUT the Medal

The CAP-COMP Peter Kirkby Memorial Medal is intended to recognize service to the physics community by strengthening the Canadian physics community, by enhancing the profession of physical scientists, by effectively communicating physics to the non-scientific community, or by making physics more attractive as a career.

The Kirkby Memorial Medal, which is awarded biennially, was introduced in 1996 as a lasting memorial to Peter Kirkby and to recognize in others the qualities for which he is remembered best: a vision of a strong Canadian physics community, dedicated efforts to support that vision and, in all things, fairness, and honesty.

Ms. Pankratz will be invited to give a plenary talk as part of the 2023 CAP Congress program, and to receive her medal at a Medallists' Recognition Dinner in Fredericton, NB on Wednesday, June 21, 2023. The Awards Dinner is one of the featured events of the CAP Congress hosted by the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton, NB, from June 19-23. Please refer to the Congress outline (https://www.cap.ca/congress-conference/congress-2023/2023-congress-at-a-glance/) for the schedule of plenary talks by the CAP medal winners. If Ms. Pankratz is unable to attend Congress, the medal will be presented at an alternate mutually-agreed upon event or forwarded to her separately following Congress. medal description

ABOUT the Canadian Association of Physicists (CAP)

The Canadian Association of Physicists, founded in 1945, is a professional association representing over 1600 individual physicists and physics students in Canada, the U.S. and overseas, as well as a number of Corporate, Institutional, and Departmental Members. In addition to its learned activities, the CAP, through its charitable arm - the CAP Foundation, also undertakes a number of activities intended to encourage students to pursue a career in physics. cap description

ABOUT COMP

The Canadian Organization of Medical Physicists is a scientific and professional organization composed of over 700 medical physicists and graduate students working in the areas of medical imaging, cancer therapy, and medical biophysics, plus Corporate Members who are involved in these areas. The COMP also has a close relationship with the Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine (CCPM), which is the national certification body in Canada for clinical competence in physics applied to medicine. joint description

- 30 -

For more information, please contact:

Mrs. Francine Ford, Executive Director
Canadian Association of Physicists
Tel: 343-361-3326
E-mail: execdir@cap.ca
www.cap.cacap contact and joint contact