Scientist from Municipality of Pontiac awarded Order of Ontario

Scientist from Municipality of Pontiac awarded Order of Ontario

A highly acclaimed scientist residing in the Pontiac who studies greenhouse gas emissions and climate change was named a Member of the Order of Ontario on Monday (October 24). Dr. Raymond Desjardins, an agricultural meteorologist, currently resides in Breckenridge but has been a research scientist at the Central Experimental Farm in Ottawa for the past 55 years. He is originally from the francophone town of Carlsbad Springs, Ontario.

The Order of Ontario is the province’s highest civilian honour and is awarded to those whose “contributions have shaped – and continue to shape – the province’s history and place in Canada.”

Desjardins is an innovator in using planes outfitted with special instruments to measure the CO2 output from various crops as well as certain types of forest and grassland. He has worked with agricultural associations such as the Dairy Farmers of Canada and published a book in 2008 titled “Better farming, better air – a scientific analysis of farming practice and greenhouse gasses in Canada”.

Desjardins was named a Member of the Order of Canada back in 2019 and is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. He was part of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007.

A link to the stream of the awards ceremony is available here (Desjardins’ award starts at 3:11:55).

CHIP 101.9 will be speaking with Desjardins about his award on Thursday (October 27).