ABOUT CLRA | ACRSD

Dr. Edward M. Watkin Award

—

 

The Dr. Edward M. Watkin Award is one of three prestigious awards and is named after a founding member of the Canadian Land Reclamation Association / Association Canadienne de Réhabilitation des Sites Dégradés (CLRA/ACRSD) in recognition of his significant service to furthering land reclamation in Canada.

The award is presented in recognition of the major contributions of the nominee to land reclamation, especially through service to foster advances in regulation, reclamation success, or development of personnel or students. The efforts for which the individual is nominated do not need to span a major portion of the recipient’s career and may be project-focused. A recipient may have made major contributions to CLRA/ACRSD, which has led to the advancement of the association. The recipient may be an individual or agency, institution, or company.

For the purpose of this award, the word reclamation will include facets of research, planning, developing, implementing, executing, and teaching programs to establish conditions on disturbed or stressed land that will make the land useful.

ELIGIBILITY

  • Nominators must be members of CLRA/ACRSD in good standing (dues paid) at the time of the nomination.

  • Nominees will be considered for either their contributions to land reclamation in Canada or their contributions to the CLRA/ACRSD and may or may not be members of the CLRA/ACRSD. Individuals, companies, industrial associations, colleges, universities, or departments thereof, are eligible for nomination.

  • The CLRA/ACRSD President, Vice-President, and members of the Watkin Award Selection Committee are not eligible to be nominated or submit nominations during their term of office.

NOMINATION PROCEDURES

Preparation of the best nomination possible for a colleague is a compliment to both the nominee and the nominator. The Watkin Award Selection Committee members may not be familiar with the qualifications of the nominees and, therefore, their evaluation and decision must be based upon the information presented in the nomination.

One nominator is required for the nomination. The nominator must sign the nomination letter. Electronic signatures are acceptable.

In fairness to all nominees, submissions must be complete and conform to a specific format. The nominator may seek the assistance of the nominee in supplying background information for use in preparing the nomination. This will help to ensure accurate, quality nominations. The clear identification and detailed description of the nominee’s contributions and achievements is the most important part of the nomination.

The nomination must be prepared according to the format presented in the following section. Each nomination must contain a cover page, documentation to support the nomination, justification for the nomination, and one copy of each of the signed supporting letters.

One electronic copy of the completed nomination must be submitted to the CLRA/ACRSD Awards Committee Chair at least three months prior to the Annual General Meeting. The deadline for nominations will be posted each year on the CLRA/ACRSD website as soon as the date of the annual meeting has been set.

SELECTION OF AWARD RECIPIENT

The Watkins Award Selection Committee consists of the Awards Committee Chair of the CLRA/ACRSD, as well as representatives from two CLRA chapters. None of these individuals can either make nominations or submit letters of recommendation.

One award will be given per year.

Nominations that do not meet all of the criteria or format requirements will not be considered. Nominations that exceed the size limitations or are not received by the deadline will not be considered to ensure a fair and equitable evaluation of the nominations.

NoMINEE SUPPORTING DoCUMENTS

Documents if the nominee is an individual:

Obtain a current curriculum vitae which must include the following:

  1. Education: Give degree, academic field, institution, and date of all education above high school diploma.

  2. Work Experience: List dates, employers and location of professional positions held, beginning with current position or last position held (if retired).

  3. Professional Service: List memberships and offices held in professional societies and honourary organizations and service on professional and technical committees.

  4. Honours and Awards: List all honors, and awards received and designate whether local, regional, or national. List these chronologically and give descriptions of them.

  5. Publications: List and group all relevant publications by referred journal, conference and workshop proceedings, book chapters, university or institutional publications, and magazine-type articles.

Documents if the nominee is an agency, institution, or company:

  1. Background Information: Location and structure, involvement in reclamation and environmental matters, and relevant information related to land reclamation and the CLRA/ACRSD.

  2. Honours and Awards: Details of all awards with background information on the nature of the award, who gave the award, whether it was local, regional, or national and the date given.

  3. Publication and Presentations: List recent publications and presentations relevant to the Watkin Award, such as where presented, where published, name of conference or workshop, year given, and name of authors, as appropriate.

Justification

Provide a narrative statement that describes the overall achievements and impact of the nominee, paying close attention to the requirements of the award. Give specific examples to ensure that the committee can identify the importance of the nominee’s achievements.

This section should be a maximum of two single-spaced pages with one-inch margins in Arial 11 size font.

Describe the overall achievements and impact the nominee has had either in the field of land reclamation or on the CLRA/ACRSD.

Specific examples should be provided to ensure that the committee can identify the importance of the accomplishment. Emphasis should be placed on describing how the accomplishment influenced regulation, reclamation, development of personnel and/or students, reclamation technology, resource protection or conservation, and/or the advancement of the CLRA/ACRSD.

Publications listed may be referenced as part of the narrative on the nominee but should not constitute more than half the justification section.

If the nomination is for a specific project, provide a description that may include reclamation objectives, progressive reclamation completed, the reclamation vision and interim, and results of the reclamation work completed.

Support Letters

A minimum of two and a maximum of four letters should be included to further support the nomination. These letters should be written by persons in positions appropriate to address the role the nominee has played in the described area or project.

The persons writing the letters should identify their relationship with the nominee and give a description and evaluation of the nominee’s role in the specific endeavour and accomplishment identified. The letter can be from a member or non-member of the CLRA/ACRSD but cannot be from a member of the Watkin Award Selection Committee.

Supporting letters for an agency, institution or company could be from some of the following: a conservation authority, a municipality, an elected politician, provincial or federal government staff, an environmental group, or a special purpose body, as appropriate.

Accepting Nominations: January 1
Nomination Deadline: December 31

Please email info@clra.ca to inquire.