July 7, 2024 | Vancouver is Awesome via UVic News
Dr. Paul Hoffman was awarded the Kyoto prize for his contributions to the “snowball Earth” hypothesis, and plate tectonics. The Kyoto Prize (external link) is an international award that is presented to those who have made significant contributions in science and technology, arts and philosophy. The recipients receive a diploma, a medal, and prize money equivalent to $850k.
As Dr. Hoffman’s page (external link) on the Kyoto Prize website says, the “snowball Earth” hypothesis came as an explanation to the evidence that glaciers had existed in areas around the equator 600 million years ago. The theory suggests that at one point, the entire earth was covered in ice. While scientists rejected the theory at the time, Dr. Hoffman’s work on the “snowball Earth” theory followed initial evidence, and conducted surveys in Namibia, and found supporting evidence for the snowball theory.
In Dr. Hoffman’s work with tectonic plates, he expanded the extent to which scientists were previously able to trace the tectonic plate motions. Whereas they were only able to be traced back to 500 million years ago, Dr. Hoffman was able to show that plate tectonics date back to 2.5 billion years ago.
As said on the Kyoto Prize’s website (external link) “Throughout his lifetime geological research, Hoffman has shown that the essential factor for making the Earth habitable, as we know today, was the interaction between the solid Earth, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and even the biosphere. He is still actively continuing his research.”
According to the Vancouver is Awesome (external link) article, Dr. Hoffman is the third Canadian, and the first geologist, to be presented with this award.
Dr. Hoffman is currently an adjunct professor in the University of Victoria’s school of earth and ocean science. His research areas currently include sedimentary and tectonic geology, Proterozoic Earth history, and Cryogenian snowball earth.
If you are interested in reading more of Dr. Hoffman’s work, we encourage you to check out his author page (external link) on our institutional repository, UVicSpace (external link)! Or if you are interested in learning more about “snowball Earth” (external link) theory, try searching for it in our “browse by subject option” on UVicSpace!
