The Qilak award was developed jointly by the Beyond International Year of Astronomy group (a collaboration of CASCA, the FAAQ and the RASC). Established in 2011, these Awards are given, one by each of the sponsoring organizations, with a common purpose and evaluation criteria. The Qilak Award recognizes individual Canadian residents, or teams of residents, who have made an outstanding contribution either to the public understanding and appreciation of astronomy in Canada, or to informal astronomy education in Canada. Beginning in 2018, CASCA will separate award cycles to recognize outreach efforts accumulated over a career in odd years and recent and impactful outreach activities in even years. Nominations should carefully outline why a given nominee or group of nominees falls with a specific category. In recognition of the nuances associated with group nominations, the Award can only be received by a specific group once every 8 years. Individual nominees may only win the Award once, and individual Award winners may not be nominated as part of a group award. The Award is open to all CASCA members.
One goal the award is to promote such activities among the members of the sponsoring organizations. The recipient of the CASCA Qilak award will write an invited article for the Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (JRASC), and will be offered the opportunity to address the membership at the Annual General Meeting of the Society.
The nomination package must consist of a joint letter of nomination by at least two members in good standing of CASCA. No letter should exceed three pages in length. A letter of nomination should highlight how the nominee, or team of nominees, have distinguished themselves in astronomy outreach or communication, and/or cite exceptional achievements. Additional material such as examples of a nominees work is allowed.
For the 2020 award, letters of nomination and any supporting materials must be received by the chair of the Awards Committee and the CASCA Business Office, by Dec 16 2019.
2019 Qilak Award
CASCA is pleased to announce Dr. Jan Cami of Western University as the 2019 recipient of the Qilak Award.
Dr. Cami obtained his PhD from the University of Amsterdam and has been the director and coordinator of Western’s historic Hume Cronyn Memorial Observatory since 2010. His work in outreach spans both large public gatherings and hands-on exhibits within the Observatory. In addition to this work at the Observatory, Dr. Cami is the Associate Director of Western’s Centre for Planetary Science and eXploration (CPSX) and is Western’s main organizer for the Science Rendezvous festival. On the national level, Dr. Cami has served for 10 years on CASCA’s Education and Public Outreach Committee, during which time he supported the development of the online platform Discover the Universe. Dr. Cami’s enthusiasm for outreach and his ability to ask ‘how we can’ rather than the ‘if we can’ about any activity makes him an ideal Qilak recipient.
CASCA is delighted to recognize Dr. Cami’s efforts with this award.
| 2018 |  Rob Thacker |
St Mary’s University | Imagination’s gift. Full Citation. |
| 2017 |  Pierre Chastenay |
Université du Québec à Montréal | Teaching & learning astronomy in Elementary Schools Full Citation. |
| 2016 |  Jaymie Matthews |
University of British Columbia | When galaxies, puppets and Ashton Kutcher collide. Full Citation. |
| 2015 |  Paul Delaney |
York University | Outreach from the York Observatory: 40 Years and Counting! Full Citation. |
| 2014 |  Howard Trottier |
Simon Fraser University | The IYA and Beyond at Simon Fraser University. Full Citation. |
| 2013 |  James Hesser |
National Research Council of Canada | Provocative Reflections on Communicating Astronomy in 2013 Canada. Full Citation. |
| 2012 | John R. Percy | University of Toronto | “A Half-Century of Astronomy Outreach: Reflections, and Lessons Learned” |