The A.G. Huntsman Foundation announces that the 2024 A.G. Huntsman Medal will be awarded to Dr. William Cheung in recognition of his outstanding achievements in research focused on climate change, biodiversity and ocean sustainability as well as his efforts to connect marine sciences to the social sciences. Dr. Cheung’s work recognizes the interdependence of ocean systems and human systems and that the scale of climate change impacts range from local to global, as do the needs for solutions.
Dr. Cheung is a Professor, Canada Research Chair in Ocean Sustainability and Global Change, and the Director of the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, at the University of British Columbia. He is the Principal Investigator of the Changing Ocean Research Unit at UBC. He serves as Director for a 6-year partnership with Canada’s Social Science funding agency focused on “Solving the Sustainability Challenges at the Food-Climate-Biodiversity Nexus”. Dr. Cheung is actively involved in international and regional initiatives that bridge science and policy and has served as the Coordinating Lead Author for the Assessment Reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). Dr. Cheung obtained his BSc and M.Phil. from the University of Hong Kong. He completed his PhD in Resource Management and Environmental Studies at UBC. From 2009 to 2011, he was Lecturer in Marine Ecosystem Services in the University of East Anglia before returning to UBC.
The A.G. Huntsman Award was established by the Bedford Institute of Oceanography in 1980 to recognize excellence of research in, and outstanding contribution to, the marine sciences. The award honours those persons, of any nationality, who have had, and continue to have, a significant influence on the course of marine scientific thought. The award was created to honour the memory of Archibald Gowanlock Huntsman (1883–1972), pioneer Canadian oceanographer and fishery biologist.
Dr. Cheung received the A. G. Huntsman Medal, and gave a Distinguished Lecture, on December 3, 2024 in Halifax Nova Scotia.
Photos from the Medal ceremony
All photo credits to Dr. Vicky Lam
![]() Dr. William Cheung receives Huntsman Medal from Lt. Governor of Nova Scotia, The Honourable Arthur J. LeBlanc |
![]() Dr. William Cheung gives remarks at Huntsman Medal ceremony |
![]() Dr. William Cheung |