Calgary Centre-North

Eric Donovan was born in Toronto in 1960. He lived in and around Toronto, never far from the Humber River, until he finished high school in 1980. Eric went to the University of Western Ontario for his BSc and MSc, and then the University of Alberta for his PhD, all in Physics. After the PhD, he lived in Uppsala, Sweden for one year and then moved to Calgary where he has been for the last twelve years.

Eric is an Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Calgary. He is a space scientist, and his research group operates dozens of digital imagers in the north of Canada, Scandinavia, and soon possibly Russia. Those cameras take images of the northern lights that researchers use to address a variety of scientific questions. In his work, Eric deals with scientists and engineers at universities, government labs, and companies all over the world. He leads big projects, writes successful proposals, publishes papers, trains students, and gives many talks. His research group has even spun-off a new company.

Eric has been married to Jo-Anne, who is an astrophysicist, for ten years. Eric and Jo-Anne live in Brentwood with Sean, their four year old son.

Eric’s primary reason for running as a Green Party candidate is his concern for the future. In his view, we live very well in Canada, but are not living very smartly. “Our country needs to accept the realities of global change. In doing so, we can profit from the significant economic and social opportunities that are there for countries that attack the problems associated with global change head on. Our future quality of life in Canada will be better if we lead, rather than follow, on environmental issues.”  Eric also ran in the 2008 election.

Eric Donovan is the nominated candidate for the Green Party of Canada in the riding of Calgary Centre North.