Prize-winning SFU ecologist Anne Salomon enjoys Olympic moment

by Charlie Smith on October 7th, 2013 at 1:10 PM

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It's not often that anyone, let alone a scientist, experiences the elevation of a Canadian flag upon winning an award.

But that's what happened to SFU ecologist Anne Salomon in Odendorf, Germany, when she was granted the International Recognition of Professional Excellence Prize by the International Ecology Institute.

"I felt like I'd won an Olympic medal," Salomon quipped in a news release issued by SFU.

The award includes a $4,000 endowment. To win, an ecologist must 40 years old or younger and have published ground-breaking work, possibly under difficult conditions.

Salomon has studied rocky reefs along the coast of North America and in New Zealand. In B.C., her research has involved extensive collaboration with aboriginal groups.

She has spent a great deal of time examining the effects of human activity on biodiversity of marine ecosystems along the B.C. coast. (For more, go here.)

In 2010, Straight arts editor Janet Smith reported that Salomon and three other SFU ecologists collaborated over a three-year period with dancer-choreographer Gail Lotenberg.

It resulted in Experiments: Where Logic and Emotion Collide, which showcased similarities and differences between these disciplines.