Ziggy Pleunis receives the 2021 Plaskett Medal

The Canadian Astronomical Society (CASCA) and the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC) awarded the J.S Plaskett Medal for 2021 to Ziggy Pleunis for the best doctoral thesis in astrophysics in Canada.

Dr. Pleunis completed his PhD thesis in 2020 under the supervision of Prof. Victoria Kaspi at McGill University. His thesis, titled “Fast radio burst detection and morphology with the CHIME telescope” represents a set of groundbreaking contributions to the fast-emerging field of Fast Radio Burst (FRB) astronomy. Dr. Pleunis has contributed to all aspects of the CHIME telescope’s (Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment) FRB project, from instrumentation to software to observation to analysis to science interpretation. Beyond CHIME, he has also made multiple breakthroughs using the LOw Frequency Array (LOFAR), whether in the discovery of a low-frequency FRB or the study of millisecond pulsars.

Dr. Pleunis will soon begin postdoctoral studies at the University of Toronto as a Dunlap Fellow.

The Centre for research in astrophysics of Quebec (CRAQ) congratulates Ziggy Pleunis for this prestigious award.

About the Plaskett Medal

The Canadian Astronomical Society (CASCA) and the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC) inaugurated a price, the Plaskett Medal, in recognition of the important role played by John Stanley Plaskett (1865-1941) in the development of astrophysical research in Canada. The price, consisting of a gold medal, is awarded each year to the PhD graduate from a Canadian university with the most remarkable PhD thesis in astrophysics in the preceding two years. The laureate is then invited to give a conference lecture at the CASCA annual meeting.

Several former student members of the CRAQ have received the Plaskett Medal, including Pierre Bergeron (UdeM, 1990), Paul Charbonneau (UdeM, 1991), Pierre Brassard (UdeM, 1993), Alain Beauchamp (UdeM, 1997), Stéphane Charpinet (UdeM, 1999), Christian Marois (UdeM, 2005), Frédéric Grandmont (ULaval, 2007), Pier-Emmanuel Tremblay (UdeM, 2012), Anne Archibald (McGill, 2015), Jonathan Gagné (UdeM, 2016) and Simon Blouin (UdeM, 2020). The CRAQ is proud to say that its members (and former members) have received 12 out of the 34 annual Plaskett Medals.

Source:
Robert Lamontagne
Public outreach
Centre de recherche en astrophysique du Québec
Phone : (438) 495-3482
lamont@astro.umontreal.ca