Two Glendon researchers have been honoured with the 2015 Principal’s Research Excellence Awards. Professor Joanna Robinson from the Department of Sociology has been selected as the recipient of the emerging scholar category, while Psychology Professor Anne Russon has received the award in the established scholar category. The Principal’s Research Excellence Awards are given annually to recognize full-time faculty members who have made an outstanding contribution to research in the last three years.
“Along with teaching and learning, research is a significant source of credibility and prestige for Glendon. Professors Robinson and Russon are exceptional researchers whose work has deeply impacted Glendon and York communities as well as at the national and international levels,” said Donald Ipperciel, Glendon’s Principal.
Robinson, an expert in environmental politics, climate change, and social movements, has made extraordinary contributions since her arrival at Glendon three years ago. Her first book, Contested Water: The Struggle against Water Privatization in the United States and Canada, published by MIT Press, received positive reviews by leading researchers in the field. Her research examined local social movements against water privatization, looking closely at battles for control of local water services in Stockton, California and Vancouver, British Columbia.
Robinson has also authored three articles and four book chapters including a comparative study on environmental-labour coalitions and green jobs in the United States and Canada. Robinson is the Principle Investigator of a three-year, SSHRC Partnership Development Grant, examining workers in traditional carbon-intensive sectors and the transition to a low-carbon economy.
“It is an honour to have my work recognized with the Principal’s Research Award. The Glendon community has been very supportive and I am inspired by the students, faculty and research community. I look forward to continuing my research on the green economy, inequality and climate change and advancing our understanding of these critical issues,” said Robinson.
Russon, the recipient of the Principal’s Research Excellence Award in the established scholar category, is a world-renowned psychologist and primatologist. Since 1989, she has been studying intelligence and cognition in ex-captive Bornean orangutans rehabilitated and released to free forest life and, most recently, wild orangutan behaviour and ecology. Her research in the fields of primate intelligence, behaviour and ecology has been widely published. In the past three years, her publication record includes a co-edited volume, four articles in top-tier journals and six book chapters.
Russon is the author of several acclaimed books including Orangutans: Wizards of the Rainforest, Reaching into Thought: The Minds of the Great Apes, and The Evolution of Thought: Evolution of Great Ape Intelligence. She holds external research funding from NSERC, as well as private zoos. According to Dr. Shumaker of the Indianapolis Zoo, “It would not be an exaggeration to state that Dr. Russon’s research defines the literature.” Russon has also popularized her research findings in the New Yorker and National Geographic.
“Over my many years of working at Glendon, my departmental colleagues and the Glendon community as a whole have been exceptionally supportive of my research. So I am especially pleased to receive the Glendon Principal’s Research Excellence award this year, since Glendon’s support has been such a major contributor to my research success,” said Russon.
The awards will be presented in March 2016 at the Glendon Celebration of Excellence.