John P. Smol, OC, PhD, FRCGS, FRCS, FRS is a Canadian Geographic ambassador and a Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Biology at Queen’s University. John’s research and lecturing, which focuses on long-term changes in lakes, have brought him to all seven continents.

John has authored over 700 publications, as well as completed twenty-four books, including his recent volume, Lakes in Anthropocene: Reflections on Tracking Ecosystem Change in the Arctic. Since 1990 he has received seven honorary doctorates and awarded over 100 research and teaching awards, including the NSERC Herzberg Gold Medal as Canada’s top scientist or engineer.

From the Royal Canadian Geographic Society (RCGS), he was named a RCGS Fellow in 2010 and was awarded the Bergmann Medal for Excellence in Arctic Leadership and Science, as well as the society’s senior medal, the Vincent Massey Medal, to “recognize outstanding career achievement in the exploration, development or description of the geography of Canada.” Canadian Geographic Magazine named John as one of Canada’s Top 100 Explorers, and selected him as one of nine Change Makers—“Canadians changing our world.”

Amongst his fifteen teaching and outreach awards was the Sandford Fleming Medal for outstanding communication of science. In 2013, he was named an Officer of the Order of Canada for his environmental work, and recently to the Order of Ontario.