Canadian Astronomical Society
R.M. Petrie Prize Lecture
The Petrie Lecture is an invited discourse by an outstanding astrophysicist which is held at Annual Meetings of the Society in alternate (odd-numbered) years, in memory of the significant contributions to astrophysical research by the late Robert M. Petrie. The Petrie Lecture originated under the auspices of the Canadian Committee for the IAU, prior to the existence of the Society, and was revived by the Society in 1977 as a regular event.
Nomination Requirements
Nominations for the Petrie Lecture can be made by submitting the name of a nominee to the Chair of the Awards committee at any time (self-nominations are accepted) All nomination documents should be in a single PDF document
(see nomination guidelines). Nominations for the 2025 Lecturer should be received by January 15 2025.
2025 Petrie Prize Lecture
CASCA is pleased to announce Dr. David Charbonneau as the 2025 R.M. Petrie Prize Lecturer. Dr. Charbonneau is a world-renowned leader in observational studies of exoplanets around low-mass stars and the stellar processes that drive planetary evolution. He began his career in Canada, earning his Honours BSc in Math, Physics, and Astronomy from the University of Toronto in 1996, and is currently Fred Kavli Professor of Astrophysics in the Department of Astronomy at Harvard University. Throughout his career, Dr. Charbonneau has contributed to several ground-breaking discoveries, including the first detection of a transiting exoplanet and the first measurement of an exoplanet’s atmosphere. These results have led to the exponential expansion of the field and contributed to a large and lasting Canadian impact in exoplanetary astronomy. Dr. Charbonneau also played key roles on the science teams that built NASA’s Kepler and TESS space telescopes, both of which have revolutionized our understanding of planet formation.