Physicist, chemist recognized with UBC’s top research awards

UBC Science researchers earned nine of UBCs’ 2022 research awards, including two of the University’s premier honours.

Cosmologist Dr. Mark Halpern earned UBC’s Jacob Biely Prize, the University’s premier research award. Dr. Halpern’s work focuses on measurements of the cosmic microwave background—thermal radiation from the hot plasma that filled the universe for its first few hundred thousand years. His lab is also investigating the history of galaxy and star formation in the early universe.

UBC’s 2022 Charles A. McDowell award for excellence in pure or applied scientific research by a young faculty member went to chemist Dr. Zachary Hudson.

Dr. Hudson’s research on optoelectronic materials spans the fields of organic, inorganic, and physical chemistry, polymer science, and nanomaterials. He works with other researchers in chemistry, engineering and the life sciences to bring his lab’s discoveries to life in functional devices, fluorescent analyses or new chemical transformations.

UBC Science faculty members in Physics and Astronomy, Chemistry, Botany, Microbiology and Immunology, Zoology, Computer Science, and Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences also received awards.

Jacob Biely Faculty Research Prize

• Mark Halpern, Physics and Astronomy, UBC Vancouver

UBC Killam Accelerator Research Fellowships

• Zachary Hudson, Chemistry, UBC Vancouver
• Laura Parfrey, Botany, UBC Vancouver

UBC Research Fellowships

• Cara Haney, Microbiology and Immunology, UBC Vancouver
• Philip Matthews, Zoology, UBC Vancouver
• Stephanie Waterman, Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, UBC Vancouver

Applied Science, Medicine, Sciences

• Cristina Conati, Computer Science, UBC Vancouver
• Scott Oser, Physics and Astronomy, UBC Vancouver

Charles A. McDowell

• Zachary Hudson, Chemistry, UBC Vancouver

UBC’s faculty research awards recognize the research excellence and scholarly achievements of faculty from across all disciplines, ranging from medicine and applied and natural sciences to arts, social sciences and humanities. Recipients span from early career researchers to senior investigators.