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.
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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.
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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 Call for Nominations

2025 AWARD CEREMONY

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October 15, 2025 at Government House

​Left to right:
  • Prof. Anya Waite, Dalhousie University
  • Prof. Karen Wiltshire, Trinity College Dublin
  • His Honour The Honourable Mike Savage, ONS, Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia
  • Her Honour Ms. Darlene Savage
  • Dr. Alice Ortmann, A.G. Huntsman Foundation
  • Ms. Taryn Tomlinson, Bedford Institute of Oceanography

​​Award Citation and Event Photographs
RECENT LAUREATES
SITE NAVIGATION
A. G. HUNTSMAN FOUNDATION
Bedford Institute of Oceanography
1 Challenger Drive
​Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
Canada
B2Y 4A2

​President: Alice Ortmann  email
​Treasurer: Shannon Nudds  email
​Secretary: Diana Cardoso  email
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 Land Acknowledgement
The A.G. Huntsman Foundation acknowledges that it is located in Mi’kma’ki, the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq People. This territory is protected by the Treaties of Peace and Friendship that did not surrender Indigenous land, resources or sovereignty but instead established rules for an ongoing relationship between nations.