Greater Toronto

By Adit Kumar

Guyanese born Dr Vernon Singhroy, Chief Scientist at the Canada Centre for Remote Sensing in Ottawa, a Canadian Centre of Excellence in Satellite Applications, was presented with the 2011 Gold Medal Award from the Canadian Remote Sensing Society (CRSS) and the Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute last month at the 32nd Symposium of the CRSS at Bishop's University, Sherbrooke, Quebec.
The Award recognizes significant long-term contributions to the field of remote sensing in Canada. It is the highest award granted by the CRSS for excellence in remote sensing. In receiving the award, Dr Singhroy joins an elite panel of Gold Medalists as pioneers and leaders in Space Science.
As a professional engineer and scientist, Dr Singhroy has made a significant contribution to Canadian and International remote sensing science and programs at the Canada Centre for Remote Sensing and prior to that, in private industry, academia consulting environments, and in provincial government service.
He is presently the Chief Scientist at the Canada Centre for Remote Sensing in Ottawa, a Canadian Centre of Excellence in Satellite Applications. He also serves as Professor in Earth Observation at the International Space University in Strasbourg, France, and Adjunct Professor in Earth and Planetary Sciences at University of New Brunswick and McMaster University in Canada.
Dr Singhroy is also the Principal Scientist of the billion-dollar RADARSAT Constellation Mission that will be launched into space in 2014. Satellite radar images from this mission will be used for maritime surveillance, ecosystem monitoring and disaster management. Dr Singhroy is also the Principal investigator of the Canadian RADARSAT 1 and 2 which are currently in Space. The Canadian, Japanese, European and US satellites are being used to assist in forest carbon tracking of many countries.
His work on the uses of satellite images to natural resources management and monitoring takes him to over 40 countries where he collaborates with other scientists on several projects including Haiti reconstruction efforts. He has written over 300 scientific papers in international refereed journals and conference proceedings and has published and edited four books in remote sensing applications.
Since 1990, Dr Singhroy has been the lead scientist in applications development for remote sensing at the Canada Centre for Remote Sensing in Ottawa. In addition, he has undertaken advisory roles related to management of science in government, mentoring of younger scientists, and providing strategic advice. "Our community is also grateful for the leadership you provided to the Canadian Remote Sensing Society as Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Journal of Remote Sensing from 1993 to 1997" said Prof Monique Bernier, President of the Canadian Remote Sensing Society.
Dr Singhroy also received the Special Achievement Guyana Awards (Canada) in 2008 which recognizes outstanding achievements of distinguished individuals and organizations in the Guyanese-Canadian community. Dr Singhroy's excellence is celebrated in a recently published book by Vidur Dindayal (Trafford Press) "Guyanese Achievers, USA & Canada. 2011.
Dr Singhroy is proud of his humble roots growing up in the rice farming community at #30 Village West Coast Berbice and attending Berbice High School. In Canada, he graduated from McMaster University and the University of Manitoba in Earth Sciences and did his PhD in Environmental and Resources Engineering at State University of New York, in Syracuse.
Dr Singhroy lives in Ottawa with his wife and four children. He is particularly proud of the achievements of his four children. His eldest daughter, Diane, is doing her PhD in HIV research at McGill's Faculty of Medicine in Montreal while his second daughter, Celine, graduated in Mass Communication from Carleton University and is now in Public Relations. His older son, Eric, is a 3rd year Energy Engineering student at Carleton University while his youngest, Richard, is in Grade 8, and loves soccer and judo, with his dad at the sidelines cheering him on.
His travels around the world allow him to enjoy the special foods "first hand" of different cultures and he enjoys practising his international taste with his family and friends in his Ottawa kitchen.
In 1995, Dr Singhroy made the short list for the Canadian Astronaut program out of 7000 scientists and engineers. He told Indo Caribbean World that he hopes his achievements will inspire the young folks "to stand on his shoulders and reach for the stars."