Two months after receiving a prestigious award from the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, Derek Ford has another feather in his cap.
Canadian Geographic has named the Orillia man one of Canada’s 90 greatest explorers.
Ford, 85, earned the Massey Medal in December in recognition of his long career as a geologist, mainly focusing caves and karst, a feature formed when soluble rocks, such as limestone, dissolve.
When opening the Canadian Geographic article online, viewers are greeted by an image of Samuel de Champlain at the top of the list.
“That’s how it should be,” Ford said.
He was humbled to find himself among such company.
“If you asked me to draw up a list of Canada’s leading explorers, I wouldn’t place myself beside (David) Thompson and Champlain,” he said. “It took them years, and they had very hard conditions indeed.”
But, there he is.
“I’m slightly surprised to be on it, but I’m dismayed that a few other names are not on it,” he said, using, as an example, his late friend, John Ross Mackay, a pioneer of studies into permafrost and landforms on permafrost.
Ford said the recognition from Canadian Geographic shows he is “not quite forgotten yet.”
While he is not involved in “all-out cave exploring” anymore, he is still in demand as an authority on the subject. He will be travelling to Slovenia to give the opening talk at a conference.
“Cave exploration is a byway for most Canadians. I find it very exciting and challenging,” he said.
The Union Internationale de Spéléologie, the international body for caving and speleology, of which Ford is a former president, recently gave him a shout-out in its newsletter, referring to him as “one of the most renowned and respected cave scientists in the world.”
“... His global influence is predicated on his rigorous and voluminous research, his mentoring of graduate students, and his advocacy for various UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Canada,” the article continued.
Ford said he was “chuffed” to be named one of the country’s top explorers.
The Canadian Geographic article can be found here.
