Prof Named to World Innovation Body
April 03, 2006 - News Release
A University of Guelph environmental microbiologist has been named as a Fellow of the World Innovation Foundation (WIF), a prestigious international thinktank whose members include numerous Nobel laureates from around the world.
Jack Trevors’ election to the organization adds to his extensive involvement with numerous scientific and cultural groups in Canada and internationally. As one of more than 1,000 WIF members and fellows, he will consult on technological and scientific development projects intended to help governments and their nations’ people.
An award-winning researcher, Trevors is an expert in the use of microbes to clean up environmental contamination. His research interests include infectious pathogens in the environment, space microbiology and the origin of genetic information.
He also works with U of G’s Controlled Environment Systems Research Facility, which studies plants and micro-organisms grown in low-pressure and microgravity conditions for potential use in long-distance space missions. In addition, he developed a specific bacterium used at the Johnson Space Centre.
Prof. Mike Dixon, chair of the Department of Environmental Biology, says his colleague’s latest accomplishment is “a testament to the quality of the science that he represents.”
Trevors is a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, the Linnean Society (United Kingdom) and the World Academy of Art and Science. The author of more than 240 journal articles, he is the editor-in-chief of numerous journals on pollution, microbiology, evolution and the environment. He is also one of about 200 scientists from 40 countries involved with the Gene Emergence Project, which investigates how the genetic code arose.
The World Innovation Foundation is based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1992, it is the world’s only independent think tank intended to provide scientific, technological, engineering and applied economics advice to governments. It has no financial ties to any government or corporation.
WIF’s members include many Nobel laureates from around the world, including James Watson, co-discoverer of the structure of DNA; Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency; and South African Bishop Desmond Tutu.
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