David Pearson (born 1942) is a British-born

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

scientist, academic and television personality. He is a professor of

earth sciences Earth science or geoscience includes all fields of natural science related to the planet Earth. This is a branch of science dealing with the physical, chemical, and biological complex constitutions and synergistic linkages of Earth's four spheres ...

and

science communication Science communication encompasses a wide range of activities that connect science and society. Common goals of science communication include informing non-experts about scientific findings, raising the Public awareness of science, public awar ...

Laurentian University Laurentian University (), officially Laurentian University of Sudbury, is a mid-sized Bilingualism in Canada, bilingual public university in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, incorporated on March 28, 1960. Laurentian offers a variety of undergr ...

Sudbury Sudbury may refer to: Places Australia * Sudbury Reef, Queensland Canada * Greater Sudbury, Ontario ** Sudbury (federal electoral district) ** Sudbury (provincial electoral district) ** Sudbury Airport ** Sudbury Basin, a meteorite impact cra ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

Education

Pearson was educated at the

University of Durham Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by royal charter in 1837. It was the first recognised university to ...

, where he took a

B.Sc. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree in

geology Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth ...

in 1963, then at

Imperial College, London Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...

, graduating Ph.D. and D.I.C. in 1967.David Pearson biography
at laurentian.ca, accessed 20 July 2015

Career

Joining the teaching staff of Laurentian University in 1969, Pearson was the founding director of Science North, the city's interactive

science museum A science museum is a museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, Industry (manufacturing), industry and Outline of industrial ...

, from 1980 to 1986. He retained an advisory position with Science North after 1986, and returned as science director in 2007 following the departure of Alan Nursall from the institution. He now serves as Senior Science Advisor to Science North and as Laurentian University's co-director of its Science Communication program.David Pearson
at laurentian.ca, accessed 20 July 2015 Pearson also hosted science-oriented television programming, including

TVOntario TVO (stylized in all lowercase as tvo), formerly known as TVOntario, is a Canadian Public broadcasting, publicly funded English-language educational television network and media organization serving the Canadian province of Ontario. It operates ...

's ''Understanding the Earth'' and MCTV's syndicated ''The World Around Us'', in the 1980s. He received the Ward Neale Medal from the Geological Association of Canada for promotion of the earth sciences in 2001, and the McNeil Medal for science communication from the

Royal Society of Canada The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; , SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities, and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bilingual council of distinguishe ...

in 2003. Pearson was the co-chair of the 2009 Ontario Expert Panel on Climate Change Adaptation.

Honours

In 2016, he was made a member of the

Order of Ontario The Order of Ontario is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Ontario. Instituted in 1986 by Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, Lieutenant Governor Lincoln Alexander, on the Advice (constitutional), advice of the Executive Council ...

References

1942 births Living people Canadian geologists Academic staff of Laurentian University Canadian television hosts Members of the Order of Ontario 20th-century Canadian scientists 21st-century Canadian geologists Scientists from Ontario 20th-century British geologists 21st-century British scientists British geologists Alumni of Imperial College London Canadian science communicators Alumni of King's College, Newcastle British science communicators {{Canada-scientist-stub