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News Release

December 14, 2006

Young Profs Recognized for Research

Two young University of Guelph professors have been recognized for excellence in research. Integrative biology professors Ryan Norris and Ryan Gregory have each received top early career awards in their field.

Gregory is the recipient of the Canadian Society of Zoologists’ (CSZ) Bob Boutillier New Investigator Award. The award honours CSZ members for making significant contributions to zoology and being a “rising star” in their field within five years of receiving their first academic or professional appointment. He will present the Boutillier Lecture and receive his award at the CSZ annual conference May 22, 2007, at McGill University.

“This award is a wonderful honour and means a great deal to me as a proud Canadian,” said Gregory. “I am gratified that others have found my research as exciting as I have. I am grateful to my colleagues for this inspiring recognition of my work.”

Norris is the recipient of the American Ornithologists’ Union’s (AOU) Ned K. Johnson Young Investigator Award. The award recognizes outstanding and promising work by AOU members who have received their doctorate within five years. He received the award in October at the annual AOU meeting in Veracruz, Mexcio.

“It's a tremendous honour to be recognized for my research contributions at this early stage of my career, especially considering that the AOU is the largest and oldest ornithological organization in the world,” said Norris. “In honour of a great Canadian ornithologist who recently passed away, I will be donating half of my monetary award to the Jamie Smith Fund (at the University of British Columbia) to help establish a scholarship for students to attend field courses.”

Gregory was also awarded the Young Investigator Prize from the American Society of Naturalists this year. He heads the genomic diversity portion of the Biodiversity Institute of Ontario, which opened at U of G this summer. He studies relative genome size, or how much genetic material is found in different species.

Norris seeks to understand the evolution of life histories and the dynamics of migratory populations by integrating behavioural and demographic field research, landscape ecology, modelling, and biogeochemistry.