On April 10th, 2014, the Canadian Association of Physicists awarded its 2014 Herzberg Medal to McGill professor Matt Dobbs. Professor Dobbs has developed new digital telescope technology of unprecedented reach and precision that is allowing researchers to demystify the early history of the cosmos. His work aims to improve our understanding of how the universe began—and where it’s headed. Dobbs, who is the Canada Research Chair in Experimental Astro-particle Physics, has also led Canadian contributions to several high profile international projects such as the South Pole Telescope and the EBEX Stratospheric balloon-borne telescope.
2014 is already proving to be a big year for Dobbs. His Herzberg win comes less than a month after he received the inaugural Dunlap Award from the Canadian Astronomical Society. Last year was pretty good for Dobbs, too: The international South Pole Telescope project was named one of 2013’s Top 10 breakthroughs by Physics World magazine, and he was part of the team that landed in Québec Science’s annual Top 10 for rewriting the conventional wisdom about star birth in the early cosmos.
The Canadian Association of Physicists, founded in 1945, represents more than 1,600 individual physicists and physics students. Professor Dobbs will receive his Herzberg Medal at the CAP’s 2014 Congress, which will be held at Laurentian University from June 16 to 20. The Herzberg Medal is awarded for outstanding achievement by a Canadian physicist within 12 years of defending their doctoral thesis.