Researchers quit selection panel over lack of female nominees

Two prominent researchers have resigned from the selection panel for the Canadian Science and Engineering Hall of Fame after no women were nominated for the second year in a row.

Judy Illes, a neurologist at the University of British Columbia, and Catherine Anderson, from British Columbia’s faculty of medicine, asked that the nomination period be extended and more direct efforts be made to solicit nominations of women. When this request was refused, they resigned from the panel.

Illes said that the committee, herself included, had not done enough to ensure that a broad spectrum of researchers was nominated. "There are great science and engineering women out there in Canada today who have been part of our communities. To have zero women two years in a row signifies a failure on our part to really reach out as needed," she told CBC News.