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THE A.G. HUNTSMAN AWARD was established in 1980 by the Canadian marine science community to recognize excellence of research and outstanding contributions to marine sciences. It is presented by the Royal Society of Canada. The award honours marine scientists of any nationality who have had and continue to have a significant influence on the course of marine scientific thought. The Award is named in honour of Archibald Gowanlock Huntsman (1883– 1973), a pioneer Canadian oceanographer and fishery biologist.
The A.G. Huntsman Award was established through principal contributions from Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Natural Resources Canada, the Province of Nova Scotia, and the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. Additional endowment was granted by the LiFT Family Fund through Gift Funds Canada. The Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia is Honorary Patron of the A.G. Huntsman Award. |
The photograph on the website header shows the CSS Hudson in Scott Inlet, Baffin Island, on September 6, 1977. The cliffs in the background are 300 or more metres high. In the fall of 1976, Bedford Institute of Oceanography scientists had observed an oil slick off the Inlet but because of ice conditions at the time they were unable to locate its source or to determine its extent. So in 1977 and again in 1978, CSS Hudson returned to measure the background levels of petroleum residues in the eastern Arctic and also to investigate the geology of the Baffin Island shelf. Together, the chemical and geological studies demonstrated that the slick at Scott Inlet is the result of natural seepage of petroleum from the walls and bottom of the submarine trough that cuts across the continental shelf in this area. This image of CSS Hudson inspired the design of the Huntsman Medal. Photograph by Roger Belanger.
2026 AWARD ANNOUNCEMENT
The A.G. Huntsman Foundation is pleased to announce that the 2026 A.G. Huntsman Medal will be awarded to Dr. Matthew England. This award recognizes the significance and impacts of his research in physical oceanography linking oceans to climate.
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MATTHEW ENGLAND is Scientia Professor of Oceanography at the University of New South Wales and Director of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for our Future Oceans. England’s research explores large-scale ocean circulation and its influence on regional and global climate, spanning timescales from seasons to millennia. England’s research brings together ocean and climate observations, numerical modelling, and theory to explore the physics of ocean and climate phenomena, with a particular focus on the role of the oceans in a changing climate.
He is a Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher, with >300 journal papers, including seminal research into global ocean heat uptake, the stability and variability of the ocean’s overturning circulation, the past and future behaviour of tropical climate modes including El Niño and the Indian Ocean Dipole, and abrupt change around the Antarctic margin. |
England completed a PhD at the University of Sydney in 1992 holding a Fulbright Scholarship at Princeton University in 1990. During 1992-1995 he held positions at the CNRS in France and the CSIRO Marine Laboratories in Australia. Since 1995 he has been based at the University of New South Wales, where he held an ARC Federation Fellowship (2006-2010) and an ARC Laureate Fellowship (2011-2016).
England is widely engaged in scientific advisory roles and has contributed to major assessments, including those of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). England is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, the American Geophysical Union (AGU), the American Meteorological Society (AMS), and the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society (AMOS).
England is widely engaged in scientific advisory roles and has contributed to major assessments, including those of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). England is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, the American Geophysical Union (AGU), the American Meteorological Society (AMS), and the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society (AMOS).
A. G. Huntsman Distinguished Lecture and Award Ceremony
November 10th, 2026.
- The lecture will be presented at 10:00 am in the Ford Auditorium at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography (1 Challenger Drive, Dartmouth, NS). The lecture will be shared through Teams providing a virtual option for those outside of the Halifax area (Teams link: 2026 AG Huntsman Distinguished Lecture).
- The A. G. Huntsman Medal will be presented to Dr. England at a ceremony at Government House in Halifax, Nova Scotia November 10th, 2026 at 2:00 pm, with a reception to follow.
- RSVP and reserve your free tickets for the award ceremony at: 2026 AG Huntsman Award