The Nicole Bruinsma Memorial Award for Environmental Leadership

This award has been established by the CHEER Foundation and the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment to honour the life and the work of Dr. Nicole Bruinsma. Nicole was passionate about the environment, and she lived her passion. Concerned that pesticides might have played a role in the breast cancer that cost her her life at age 42, she led the successful drive to ban cosmetic pesticide use in her home town of Chelsea, Quebec . That ban had provincial and indeed national repercussions and led her to national and international prominence. Among other things, she worked with the the gardener to Prince Charles and the Chief Horticultural Officer for the Houses of Parliament, and presented at the First World Breast Cancer Conference in Kingston, Ontario.

Nicole was an early member of CAPE’s Board of Directors, becoming Vice President. Later, when declining health limited her involvement, she accepted the position of Honourary President. Throughout her life, right until the very end, she provided a wonderful example of committed, passionate leadership for other family physicians to follow.

The award is a sculpture in white marble of two snow geese with their necks entwined, a symbol of great emotional importance for Nicole and her husband Scott Findlay.

THE 2002 WINNER:

Dr Alan Abelsohn

Alan Abelsohn has been a leader among family physicians concerned with environmental issues for many years. For nine years, he chaired the Ontario College’s Environment Committee, guiding it as it became a respected resource to and voice for the profession. He was a principal co-author of a major review of standard setting for children’s environmental health, published jointly by the Ontario College and the Canadian Environmental Law Association. Arising from that work, he led a project to develop a web-based educational resource for physicians, hosted on CAPE’s website. Most recently, he has led a project resulting in the publication of several case studies of environmental exposure in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. No member of the CFPC has done more for the education of physicians and the public on health and the environment, and Alan Abelsohn richly deserves the honour of being the first recipient of the CAPE Nicole Bruinsma Memorial Award as well as the newly established Environmental Leadership Award presented jointly by the College of Family Physicians of Canada.

Call for Nominations for the Nicole Bruinsma Memorial Award for Environmental Leadership

The Nicole Bruinsma Memorial Award for Environmental Leadership and the CFPC Environmental Leadership Award are presented annually to one CFPC family physician member who has demonstrated leadership in the area of environmental health. This year's awards will be presented at the CFPC Family Medicine Forum in Calgary, Alberta, October 23 - 25, 2003.

Please submit nominations for the two awards to the CFPC National Office by June 1, 2003 (http://www.cfpc.ca) or email them to greendoc@telus.net. The recipient of the award will be selected by a joint OCFP/CAPE Committee.

Supported by the CFPC's Research & Education Foundation, the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) and the Canadian Health and Environment Education and Research Foundation (CHEER).

About Us | Children's Health | Toxics | Greening Health Care | Climate Change
Regulatory Reform | Resources | Contact | Membership | Home