University Professor Marie-Josée Fortin of the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology has been awarded the 2024 Massey Medal by the Royal Canadian Geographical Society.
The Massey Medal recognizes outstanding career achievement in the exploration, development or description of the geography of Canada, and was first awarded in 1959 by the Massey Foundation. The award is presented annually in recognition of outstanding career achievement in the field.
Fortin holds the Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Spatial Ecology at U of T and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2016. She was designated as a University Professor in 2020, a title awarded by the university to recognize exceptional scholarly achievement and preeminence in a particular field of knowledge.
Recognized the world over for her groundbreaking work, Fortin is a specialist in spatial ecology. This field examines how the spatial distribution of organisms, populations and landscapes affect ecological dynamics. In particular, she is responsible for launching the concept of spatial analysis in ecology. In this respect, she has developed novel spatial statistics, quantitative methods and spatially explicit simulation models to predict species dispersal in fragmented landscapes for the conservation of biodiversity.
Her research has unified spatial analysis, ecological theory and statistical network frameworks to model species’ spatial interactions; it has also been used to propose novel ways to maintain species’ persistence in the face of climate change and land use change.
Fortin’s insights and discoveries have transformed how spatial ecological data are analyzed, and her work has been crucial in the establishment of informed decision-making in the protection and maintenance of global biodiversity and ecosystem services, as well as human health.
“I am tremendously honored that this prestigious Canadian award has recognized my expertise in spatial analysis and empirical research of Canadian ecosystems,” says Fortin.
"Marie-Josée Fortin has made essential contributions to knowledge and practice in the field of spatial ecology," says Antoinette Handley, acting dean of Arts & Science and professor in the Department of Political Science. "Her pioneering insights launched the field of spatial analysis in ecology, and her discoveries have transformed how spatial ecological data are analyzed. I extend my warmest congratulations to Professor Fortin on her receipt of this year’s Massey Medal."