Applications for the 2025 Larkin Award is now CLOSED.
Thank you for your submissions!

Dr. Peter Anthony Larkin was a world-renowned leader in fisheries science, and an active and honoured member of the American Fisheries Society. He earned his MA. at University of Saskatchewan and PhD at Oxford University in London. He was a University Professor Emeritus, Member of the Order of Canada., Member of the Order of British Columbia and Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

The Peter A. Larkin Award for Excellence in Fisheries at a Canadian Institution is given yearly to two deserving graduate students – one doctoral and one masters – conducting fisheries at a Canadian based institution. The award recognizes one of Canada’s great fisheries scientists who was passionate about students.

• The award is not restricted to students with Canadian citizenship.
• Successful applicants will be chosen by CARS based on academic qualifications, a proposal of their research, and their AFS involvement.
• The award is administered and supported by the Canadian Aquatic Resources Section (CARS) of the American Fisheries Society (AFS).
• To be eligible for the award, you must be a current member of AFS:
  • You can join at the time of applying to this award.
  • We encourage applicants to check the box to be a CARS member in the AFS application form.
  • Already an AFS member but didn’t know about CARS?  Modify your membership online. 

For specific details and to download the application instructions, click here.

2025 Larkin Award Results

Dr. Steven Cooke (Carleton University) and Dr. Graham Raby (Trent University)

Research Highlights:

• Bradley’s doctoral research focuses on predator-prey interactions to determine movement patterns that raise predation risk.
• Using warm-water species, his whole-lake acoustic telemetry experiment, including novel V3D 307 kHX Innovasea predation-sensing transmitters, aimed to assess movement ecology.
• He also used tissue and respirometry data to integrate fish behaviour, physiology and movement ecology to improve understanding of predator-prey dynamics in freshwater systems.

Dr. Steven Cooke (Carleton University), Dr. Jake Brownscombe (DFO)

Research Highlights:

• Anne’s research on Caribbean Reef Sharks aims to evaluate how such a highly mobile and sought after species uses their resource landscape.
• Using a combination of passive acoustic telemetry around Turks and Caicos Islands, abiotic data and stable isotope analyses to assess resource use, and abiotic data, she investigates how intraspecific variation can lead to predictable variation in energy use.

Bryan Neff (University of Waterloo)

Research Highlights:

• Kevin’s thesis identified how thiamine deficiency stands as a threat to the cardiac health of Chinook salmon, potentially affecting their ability to undergo spawning migrations.
• Using high-performance liquid chromatography, skeletal and cardiac ventricle muscle from fish sampled from Lake Huron had greater thiamine concentrations; fish with lower thiamine concentrations displayed histological markers of cardiac stress.

Dr. Rob Lennox (Dalhousie University)

Research Highlights:

• Caliyena’s research aims to better understand migration and mortality drivers of Atlantic Salmon kelts within the inner Bay of Fundy so biologists may determine critical marine and estuarine habitats and improve recovery strategies.
• Using a network of 250+ acoustic receivers, she is tracking over 100 kelts equipped with temperature sensors – spikes in temperature suggest fish are being digested – and have noted shark predation is a substantial mortality risk.

Congratulations to all of our 2025 Larkin Winners and Runner Ups!

Past Larkin Winners:

Year	PhD Winner	PhD Runner Up	MSc Winner	MSc Runner Up
2024	Jessica Robichaud, Carleton University	Erin Stewart, Trent University	Avery Dextrase, University of Northern British Columbia	Emily Yeung, Dalhousie University
2023	Kayla Hamelin, Dalhousie University	Erin Stewart, Trent University	Miguel Eduardo Felismino, Concordia University	Brett Studden, University of Toronto
2022	Morgan Piczak, Carleton University	Jennifer Herbig, Memorial University	Bradley E. Howell University of Winnipeg	Veronica Groves, Concordia University
2021	Paul Bzonek, University of Toronto Scarborough	Jordanna Bergman, Carleton University	Jamie Card, University of Winnipeg	Shannon Clarke, Concordia University
2020	Alyssa Murdoch, York University	Suncica Avlijas, McGill University	Cole Brookson, University of Alberta	Beth Watson, Dalhousie University
2019	Emmanuelle Chretien, University of Montreal	Emmanuelle Chretien, University of Montreal & Christopher Cahill, University of Calgary	Natalie Klinard, University of Windsor & Theresa Mackey, University of Winnipeg	NA
2018	Rowshyra Castaneda, University of Toronto Scarborough	Thaïs Bernos, University of Toronto Scarborough & Karling Roberts, University of Alberta	Anna Smith, University of British Columbia	Allison Hebert, University of British Columbia
2017	Andrea Reid, Carleton University	Michael Lawrence, Carleton University	William Twardek, Carleton University	Sarah Walton, Carleton University
2016	Nathan Furey, University of British Columbia & Jacqueline M. Chapman, Carleton University & Sarah Lehnert, University of Windsor	NA	Jill Brooks, Carleton University & Petra Szekeres, Carleton University	Brittany Sullivan, Carleton University
2015	Karen Dunmall, University of Manitoba	Jacqueline M. Chapman, Carleton University	Brian Maitland, University of Alberta & Taylor Ward, Carleton University	Jacqueline Lavery, University of New Brunswick
2014	Vivian Nguyen, Carleton University	Natalie Sopinka, University of British Columbia	Sean Godwin, Simon Fraser University & Maxime Veilleux, Carleton University	Jacqueline Michelle Lavery, University of New Brunswick
2013	Jake Brownscombe	Graham Raby	Samantha Wilson	Nicholas Burnett, Univeristy of British Columbia
2012	Lee Gutowsky, Carleton University	Sebastian Pardo, Simon Fraser University	Stephanie Avery-Gomm, University of British Columbia	Sarah McConnachie, University of PEI
2011	Erika Eliason	Michael Donaldson	NA	NA