For he’s a jolly Guggenheim fellow

University of Victoria climatologist Andrew Weaver is one of only three Canadians among 190 scientists, scholars and artists selected for 2008 Guggenheim Fellowships. 

The fellowships are awarded “on the basis of stellar achievement and exceptional promise for continued accomplishment.” Scores of Nobel laureates, Pulitzer Prize winners and eminent scientists are former Guggenheim fellows.

“I’m absolutely ecstatic,” says Weaver of his one-year fellowship, worth $42,000 US. “It will allow me to focus dedicated research time to understanding how the thawing of permafrost in Canada’s Arctic will affect climate systems this century.”

One of the world’s leading authorities on climate change and the Canada Research Chair in Climate Modelling and Analysis, Weaver and his research team have built one of the most sophisticated climate modelling facilities on the planet, featuring one of the world’s fastest supercomputers.

Weaver works extensively with international climate organizations and has been major contributors to global climate assessments by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The organization and its contributors were co-winners of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.

Past Guggenheim winners from UVic include astrophysicist Julio Navarro (2003), English professor Anthony Edwards (1988), ocean physicist Chris Garrett (1981) and biologist Job Kuijt (1964).