Carl Grillmair (1959-2026) was a Canadian-American astronomer working at IPAC at Caltech. His research focused on galactic halos and stellar debris streams, and he used survey data to identify dozens of tidal stellar streams around the Milky Way. Carl was a member of the Spitzer Science Center Team, and the WISE, NEOWISE and NEO Surveyor Science Data Center.

Reference: WGSBN Bulletin, Volume 6, Number 15, page 14

Deborah Lokhorst (b. 1992) is a Canadian astronomer at the National Research Council of Canada’s Herzberg Astronomy & Astrophysics Research Centre. Her research interests include investigation into galaxy formation and evolution using advanced instrumentation. Deborah is an adjunct professor at the University of Victoria.

Reference: WGSBN Bulletin, Volume 6, Number 15, page 14

Denis Alan Leahy (b. 1952) is a Canadian astronomer and professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Calgary. His research interests include the study of radio pulsars, supernova remnants, compact objects and high-energy astrophysics in general.

Reference: WGSBN Bulletin, Volume 6, Number 15, page 14

Herbert Gush (1929-2025) was a Canadian astrophysicist at the University of British Columbia. He pioneered the techniques of radio interferometry, but is best known for his definitive evidence that the cosmic microwave background has a precise thermal spectrum. This demonstrated that the universe was in good thermal equilibrium when it was only 10 days old.

Reference: WGSBN Bulletin, Volume 6, Number 15, page 14

René Plume (b. 1966) is a Canadian Professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Calgary. His research interests are focused on infrared and submillimeterwave radio astronomy as applied to the physics and chemistry of the interstellar medium and star formation.

Reference: WGSBN Bulletin, Volume 6, Number 15, page 14

Sharon Chan (b. 2005) is a Canadian astrophysics student at the University of British Columbia and a telescope operator for the UBC Southern (Thunderbird) Observatory located in Chile. She is a close collaborator with the Optical Transient Survey conducted at the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory of the National Research Council of Canada.

Reference: WGSBN Bulletin, Volume 6, Number 15, page 14

As a young Canadian Metis woman, Charlotte Small (1785-1857) married cartographer and explorer David Thompson, and together they established fur trading routes across northwestern North America. They traveled some 45000 kilometers in their lifelong quest, even as Small birthed their 13 children on their journeys.

Reference: WGSBN Bulletin, Volume 6, Number 14, page 9

Michelle Thompson (b. 1988) is a Canadian planetary scientist at Purdue University. Her research centers on the interaction of airless bodies with the space environment, including solar wind and micrometeorite impacts. Michelle’s pioneering work on samples from asteroid (101955) Bennu grew from foundational studies of lunar space weathering.

Reference: WGSBN Bulletin, Volume 6, Number 14, page 5

Mariek Schmidt (b. 1977) is an American planetary scientist at Brock University in Ontario, Canada. In addition to her study of volcanic rocks in the Oregon Cascade Range, she has been a leader in the exploration of Mars by participating in the various Mars rover missions and focusing on the role of volatiles during volcanism in Mars’ ancient past.

Reference: WGSBN Bulletin, Volume 6, Number 14, page 6