Canadian Astronomical Society
The Qilak Award for Astronomy Communications, Public Education and Outreach
The Qilak award was developed jointly by the Beyond International Year of Astronomy group (a collaboration of CASCA, the FAAQ and the RASC). Established in 2011, these Awards are given, one by each of the sponsoring organizations, with a common purpose and evaluation criteria. The Qilak Award recognizes individual Canadian residents, or teams of residents, who have made an outstanding contribution either to the public understanding and appreciation of astronomy in Canada, or to informal astronomy education in Canada. Beginning in 2018, CASCA will separate award cycles to recognize outreach efforts accumulated over a career in odd years and recent and impactful outreach activities in even years. Nominations should carefully outline why a given nominee or group of nominees falls with a specific category. In recognition of the nuances associated with group nominations, the Award can only be received by a specific group once every 8 years. Individual nominees may only win the Award once, and individual Award winners may not be nominated as part of a group award. The Award is open to all CASCA members.
One goal of the award is to promote such activities among the members of the sponsoring organizations. The recipient of the CASCA Qilak award will write an invited article for the Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (JRASC), and will be offered the opportunity to address the membership at the Annual General Meeting of the Society.
Nomination Requirements
The nomination package must consist of
-
A letter of nomination (self-nominations are accepted). No letter should exceed three pages in length. The letter of nomination should highlight how the nominee, or team of nominees, have distinguished themselves in astronomy outreach or communication, and/or cite exceptional achievements. Additional material such as examples of a nominee’s work is allowed. Nomination letters should be written in the third person, without reference to nominator identity, and without institutional letterhead or other identifiers. This ensures that self- and non-self nominations are not distinguishable (see nomination guidelines).
-
The CV of the nominee
Please submit nomination packages entirely in electronic form in a single pdf document to the Chair of the Awards committee.
2026 Qilak Award
CASCA is pleased to announce Professor Samantha Lawler and Professor Aaron Boley as the 2026 recipients of the Qilak Award for astronomy communications, public education and outreach. As all Canadian astronomers and astronomy enthusiasts know, the night sky is under threat from light and radio-spectrum pollution, and from the overcrowding of orbits by satellites. In the face of these pressures, it has become crucial to cultivate understanding among both the public and lawmakers about these threats to the practice of astronomy. This is the important task that Profs. Lawler and Boley have undertaken. On issues related to light pollution, the proliferation of satellites and their effects on the night sky, radio spectrum, and orbital environments, they have met with government officials and decision-makers, and they have relentlessly petitioned the Canadian Space Agency, Innovation, Science, and Economic Development Canada, Transport Canada, the Department of National Defence, and Global Affairs Canada, as well as the U.S. Federal Communication Commission, the UK Space Agency and the UK Civil Aviation Authority. They have also made numerous appearances in the media, produced educational material for schools and presented dozens of public lectures to raise public awareness about these important issues. CASCA is delighted to recognize Prof. Samantha Lawler and Prof. Aaron Boley for these outstanding contributions to the safeguarding of the night sky.