Officer of the Order of Canada

• Awarded on: November 22, 2019
• Invested on: March 05, 2021

Josef Svoboda, O.C.
Toronto, Ontario and Baker Lake, Nunavut

Josef Svoboda is a pioneer in the field of circumpolar ecology. Professor emeritus at the University of Toronto, he spent more than three decades in the remote north researching and cataloguing little-known plant communities in de-glaciated polar landscapes. As Canada’s representative on the International Tundra Experiment (ITEX), he took the unprecedented first steps in tracking the effects of climate warming on plant communities and arctic ecosystems. He has trained a generation of scientists who emulate his expertise and custodianship of this unique arctic biome.