Timothy Richard Parsons, (1 November 1932 – 11 April 2022) was a Canadian oceanographer and the first Canadian to receive a

Japan Prize is awarded to people from all parts of the world whose "original and outstanding achievements in science and technology are recognized as having advanced the frontiers of knowledge and served the cause of peace and prosperity for mankind." The P ...

Background and career

Tim Parsons was born in

Colombo, Ceylon Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo m ...

, and received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1953, a Master of Science degree in 1955, and a Ph.D. in 1958 all, from

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

. He began his research career at the federal government's

Pacific Biological Station The Pacific Biological Station (acronym: PBS) is located on Hammond Bay Road in Departure Bay, Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada. Established in , with the Rev. George William Taylor as its first director and sole employee, it is the oldest fisheri ...

in Nanaimo, British Columbia, before becoming a Professor of Oceanography at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

from 1972 until his retirement in 1992, and subsequently an Honorary Research Scientist at the Institute of Ocean Sciences in Sidney, British Columbia, Canada.

Contributions

Parsons was a biological oceanographer with a strong scientific interest in the application of oceanography for the solution of problems in fisheries and ocean pollution. His lifetime work has been to establish a new

ecosystem approach The ecosystem approach is a conceptual framework for resolving ecosystem issues. The idea is to protect and manage the environment through the use of scientific reasoning. Another point of the ecosystem approach is preserving the Earth and its in ...

for the management of fisheries using oceanographic information. He has followed a research program of developing methods, conducting large scale experiments using mesocosms and making observations in the Gulf of Alaska and the Beaufort Sea. Some of his seminal contributions included his deep involvement in the Controlled Ecosystem Pollution Experiment (CEPEX), his authorship of a widely used textbook and a manual of seawater analysis.

Honours

He became a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Canada The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; french: Société royale du Canada, SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bil ...

in 1979, was the first and remains the only Canadian to be awarded the

in 2001, and was invested as an Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

, in 2005. In 2007, he received an honorary Doctoral degree in Science from the

University of Victoria The University of Victoria (UVic or Victoria) is a public research university located in the municipalities of Oak Bay and Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. The university traces its roots to Victoria College, the first post-secondary instit ...

Death

Parsons died on 11 April 2022 in

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Greater Victoria area has a population of 397,237. Th ...

, Canada.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Parsons, Timothy 1932 births 2022 deaths Scientists from British Columbia Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada McGill University alumni Canadian oceanographers Officers of the Order of Canada Academic staff of the University of British Columbia 20th-century Canadian scientists 21st-century Canadian scientists People from Colombo Presidents of the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography