Nominations now open for the 2015 Beaver Medal
The Maritime Museum of BC is inviting nominations for the Beaver Medal, an award that recognizes outstanding contributions to the marine sector of BC. The Maritime encourages nominations for anyone who has made noteworthy contributions to BC’s marine sector, including but not limited to: science, technology, business, applications of maritime skills, nautical heritage and culture, and academic contributions. An award is also made to recognize an organization, vessel, or technological project.
“This will be the fourth opportunity for British Columbians to recommend someone whose work has made a major contribution to our province’s diverse maritime scene,” says Barry Rolston, who heads the medal project. “The Lieutenant Governor, the Honourable Judith Guichon, presented two of the 2014 awards in November to distinguished maritime historian Dr. Barry Gough and to the unique ROPOS (Remotely Operated Platform for Ocean Sciences) system which has been carrying out underwater research for 25 years. The two other 2014 recipients were veteran hydrographer Captain Tim McCulloch and Curator Emeritus of the Vancouver Maritime Museum.”
The gold-plated medal is struck from copper salvaged from the 19th century paddlewheel steamship S.S. Beaver, built in England in 1835 for the Hudson’s Bay Company. This iconic vessel pioneered commercial navigation on the BC coast as a floating trading post, hydrographic survey ship and towboat. She grounded near Vancouver in 1888 and after foundering, some of her machinery was recovered, providing the metal for the Beaver Medal.
The Maritime urges members of the public to nominate a marine contributor for the Beaver Medal. Potential recipients will be selected by an awards committee that includes Capt. Stephen Brown of the Chamber of Shipping of BC; Don Krusel, President & CEO of the Prince Rupert Port Authority; and Capt. Jamie Marshall, Vice President Operations, BC Ferries. Other members include marine journalist Dr. Marianne Scott; marine historian Dr. Michael Hadley; former Coast Guard Capt. Duke Snider and past presidents of the MMBC Society Barry Rolston and Commodore (Ret’d) Jan Drent.
Nominations for 2015 close on May 15th. Nomination information, easy-to-complete forms and due dates are located at http://mmbc.bc.ca/about/s-s-beaver-medal/.
