Steven Toleikis

Steven N. Toleikis (B.Sc., Dip. Ed., M.A.), is a career teacher with over thirty years of teaching experience. His experience as an educational leader with a reputation for excellence has been in progressive teaching with students of all ages, as well as in consulting and administration. Toleikis is a communicator who forges collaborative solutions to complex issues, motivates and leads teams, and facilitates educational innovation. He was a trailblazer in the integration of media and computers into the school setting. His exciting, nonsexist, award winning classroom (characterized by inclusive student-centered learning, integrated curricula, productive use of technology, and community involvement) was highlighted in a teacher training film, Observation: Seeing the Acorn or the Oak. He led content development and educational design for the exciting science education CD, Base Station Safari. Toleikis was awarded a top prize of a trip to the Canadian Space Agency in Montreal, by BC Science World in Vancouver, for his essay on teaching the science of space and space exploration.

Dr. Andrew Weaver

Dr. Andrew Weaver is a Professor and Canada Research Chair in Atmospheric Science in the School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of Victoria (UVic). He joined UVic in 1992 having spent three years as a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) University Research Fellow in the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, McGill University. He has written over 150 peer reviewed papers in climate, meteorology, oceanography, earth science, policy and education journals. He was involved as a Lead Author in the United Nations (UN) Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change second and third scientific assessments and is also a Lead Author in the fourth scientific assessment. Dr. Weaver is presently co-chair of the UN WCRP CLIVAR-PAGES Intersection Panel and is the Chief Editor of the Journal of Climate, the top ISI Impact factor journal in the field of atmospheric sciences. He has served on numerous other national and international committees over the last decade. In 1997, he was awarded the NSERC E. W. R. Steacie Memorial Fellowship, in 2001 he was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and in 2002 he received a Killam Research Fellowship, a CIAR Young Explorers award as one of the top 20 scientists in Canada under the age of 40, and was selected as one of the 25 Power Thinkers in British Columbia by the BC Business Magazine. In 2003 he was selected as one of the top Canadian Scientists by Time Magazine Canada and in 2005 he received the University of Victoria Craigdarroch Silver Medal for Excellence in Research.