Roger James Evan Brown, 1931-1980

Abstract

Dr. Roger Brown died in hospital in Ottawa, Ontario, on November 4, 1980 after a long and valiant battle with cancer. ... Roger Brown was born in Toronto, Ontario, on 17 January 1931 and received his B.A. and M.A. degrees in geography from the University of Toronto in 1952 and 1954, respectively. He attended Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, U.S.A. from September 1956 to July 1957 where he completed the course work for his Ph.D. From September 1957 to August 1958 he studied at the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge, England, gathering information for his thesis in Canada - Its Effect on Developments in an Area of Marginal Human Activity. He received his Ph.D. in geography from Clark University in June 1961. ... Roger joined the Division of Building Research, National Research Council of Canada, in June 1953 and immediately began studies to determine the distribution of permafrost in Canada and to investigate the climatic and terrain factors that affect the formation and stability of permafrost. He devoted his career to permafrost research and carried out both exploratory and detailed field studies throughout the permafrost region in Canada. ... In 1969 he initiated studies in other parts of the Canadian permafrost region. Observations on the climate, terrain and ground thermal regime were begun at various locations .... Much of this work was directed toward gathering information on permafrost conditions in the vicinity of the boundary between the continuous and discontinuous permafrost zones. In the early 1970s, similar work was begun on alpine permafrost in the Canadian Cordillera, the Gaspe and Labrador. He also undertook studies in the High Arctic to investigate the nature and distribution of permafrost in the northern part of the continuous zone. ... Roger was the author or coauthor of more than 45 scientific and technical papers. In 1967 he prepared the Permafrost Map of Canada, published jointly by the National Research Council of Canada and Geological Survey of Canada. ... Much of the information he gathered during his early years ... was published in 1970 by the University of Toronto Press in a book entitled Permafrost in Canada - Its Influence on Northern Development. The maps, the book and his papers represent not only the remarkable achievements of one man but also a tremendous contribution to the knowledge of permafrost in Canada, which is vital in the planning and development of the natural resources and the communities of northern Canada. ... In addition to his extensive permafrost research activities at the Division of Building Research, Roger was an active member of several national and international committees and organizations concerned primarily with permafrost and periglacial phenomena and the North. ... Over the years, Roger was asked to serve on the executive or on special Task Forces or Study Groups of many committees .... Roger was a member of the Canadian Association of Geographers for many years and a member of the Arctic Circle (Ottawa), serving as President of the latter organization in 1969 and 1970. He was a Fellow of the Arctic Institute of North America and was a member of the Board of Governors from 1970 to 1975. Due in no small part to his efforts, strong links were forged with permafrost workers throughout the world, notably in the U.S.A., U.S.S.R., People's Republic of China, France, Poland, England, Denmark, Finland and Iceland. ... Permafrost underlies about one-half of Canada and Roger was keenly aware of its importance to the efficient and effective development, with due regard for environmental concerns, of our northern areas. He therefore was very active in furthering the scientific and public knowledge of permafrost in Canada. ... In 1977, Roger was awarded the Silver Jubilee Medal and in late September 1980 (five weeks before his death) he received in person, at the annual Canadian Geotechnical Conference in Calgary, the R.F. Legget Award of the Canadian Geotechnical Society. ... Roger Brown was a man of many facets, having a wide sphere of interests outside his professional field. ...