The Harington Fellowship Overview

Since 1987, the Centre has annually awarded the Dr. C. Richard Harington Fund to a student based at The University of Winnipeg to pursue advanced research on some aspect of Rupert's Land studies.

Several Postdoctoral Fellows have also been affiliated with the Centre. Although we have no funding to support postdoctoral studies, we can offer collegiality and modest material services to visiting scholars. If you are interested in a Centre and University of Winnipeg affiliation, please contact us as above.

Dr. Charles Richard Harington (1933-2021)

Born in Calgary in May 1933, Charles Richard (Dick) Harington received his academic training at McGill University and the University of Alberta. He was awarded a PhD in zoology from the latter institution in 1977 for a thesis on Pleistocene mammals of the Yukon Territory.

After working for geophysical companies in Alberta, and for the Arctic Institute of North America in Ottawa, he spent a year on northern Ellesmere Island during the International Geophysical Year, 1957-58, and came full circle in the summer of 2008 by carrying out field work on Ellesmere Island during the International Polar Year. From 1960-65, he worked as a Canadian Wildlife Service biologist, specializing in polar bear and muskox research while completing his Master’s Degree in zoology.

In 1965, he was appointed Curator of Quaternary Zoology with the National Museums of Canada and was Chief of the Paleobiology Division (1982-91). He carried out detailed studies of the ice age animals of the Yukon, concentrating his work on the unglaciated country near Dawson and Old Crow; and on Pliocene vertebrates and environments of Ellesmere Island. His interests include: the ice age vertebrates of Canada, Alaska and Greenland; the evolution and distribution of arctic and alpine mammals; and climatic change in Canada during the ice age. One of his later scientific publications summarized research on ice age vertebrate remains from caves in Canada (2012).

He directed the National Museum of Natural Sciences (now Canadian Museum of Nature) Climatic Change Project from 1977 to 1992, and received the Massey Medal of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society in 1987. He retired in 1998 and became Curator of Quaternary Zoology Emeritus and Research Associate at the Canadian Museum of Nature.

In 2001, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada, and was awarded an honorary DSc degree by University of Alberta in 2004. He was awarded the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal (2002) and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012).