The Royal Society of Canada (RSC) has elected six York University faculty members as part of the Class of 2022. Recognition by the RSC is the highest honour an individual can achieve in the arts, social sciences and sciences.
Celia Haig-Brown, Steven Hoffman, Linda Peake and Jianhong Wu were elected to the rank of Fellow, and Sandra Rehan and Sapna Sharma to the College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists. All were elected by their peers for their outstanding scholarly, scientific and artistic achievement.
“York University is delighted to see that Professors Haig-Brown, Hoffman, Peak, Rehan, Sharma and Wu have been recognized by the Royal Society of Canada for their outstanding achievements in education, health care, law, environment, and science,” said Amir Asif, vice-president research and innovation. “These exceptional researchers embody our vision to address complex societal challenges through transdisciplinary research and enhance our impact on the social, economic, culture and overall well-being of the communities we serve.”
Elected to the ranks of the Royal Society of Canada are:
Celia Haig-Brown
Faculty of Education – Fellow, Academy of Social Sciences
Celia Haig-Brown, an Anglo-Canadian scholar, has spent her career committed to respectful and reciprocal research and practice working closely with Indigenous collaborators from Secwépemc territory to the Naskapi Nation. Her 1988 book, based on testimonies of Indian residential school survivors, has served as the basis for two films and a 2022 version with Indigenous
contributions. Her next Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)-funded film: Rodeo Women: Behind the Scenes is in post-production.
Steven J. Hoffman
Global Health, Law, and Political Science – Fellow, Academy of Social Sciences
Steven J. Hoffman is a world-leading authority on global health law and the global governance of health threats that transcend national borders. He has achieved important intellectual breakthroughs by combining law and epidemiology to address challenges faced by the numerous governments and United Nations agencies that rely on his advice. He is a leading voice in public health, a champion for evidence-informed policymaking, and a frequent contributor to news media.
Linda Peake
Faculty of Environmental & Urban Change – Fellow, Academy of Social Sciences
Linda Peake’s award-winning research integrates feminism and anti-racism into theorizations of urban everyday life, inspiring scholarship in human geography and urban studies, as well as promoting equity and diversity in the academy. Her original body of work on women as gendered urban subjects has invigorated critiques of canonical knowledge production, utilizing methodologies that engage with subaltern knowledge production and marginalized communities, and creating the field of comparative feminist urban research.
Jianhong Wu
Faculty of Science – Fellow, Academy of Science
Jianhong Wu, a renowned mathematician, has made foundational contributions to the global dynamics and bifurcation theory. His novel mathematical models have pioneered several research fields. His disease modelling research provides critical insights of mechanisms behind complex patterns and accurately forecasts disease trends. His leadership has profoundly contributed to the paradigm shift toward using interdisciplinary modelling extensively in health planning and firmly establishing Canada as a global leader in mathematical epidemiology.
Sandra Rehan
Department of Biology, Faculty of Science – RSC College
Sandra Rehan is an international leader in the molecular ecology and behavioural genetics of bees. Rehan’s research combines comparative genomics and socio-demography to provide critical insights into the diversity, decline and sustainability of wild bees. Rehan is advancing our understanding of the causes of wild bee declines by developing comprehensive wild bee population genomic and disease ecology models. These results will ultimately be used to implement critical conservation strategies.
Sapna Sharma
Department of Biology, Faculty of Science – RSC College
Sapna Sharma has transformed the understanding and study of how lakes worldwide respond to climate change, including rapid ice loss, warming water temperatures, degrading water quality, and changing fish distributions. She reinvigorated the field of winter limnology using big data and cutting-edge statistical analysis. She is a remarkable science communicator, generating millions of media impressions by clearly conveying complexresearch and as founder of SEEDS, an outreach program for refugees.
The newest appointees will be inducted to the RSC on Nov. 25. The ceremonies will be held in person in Calgary, Alberta. Click here to register.