The Tóth Award is named in honour of the founder of the Canadian National Chapter of the International Association of Hydrogeologists, Professor József Tóth. During his long and productive career in Canada, Dr. Tóth made many important contributions to Canadian hydrogeology and was an inspirational teacher.
The Tóth Award is presented each year when the IAH-CNC hosts or participates in a national conference and is intended to promote active participation in the IAH-CNC among hydrogeology students attending Canadian Universities and to recognize excellence in hydrogeology. The award provides an incentive for students to attend the national IAH-CNC conferences and present the results of their studies.
Eligibility Criteria
- Abstracts submitted for consideration for the award must be prepared primarily by the student (as first author) and must deal with, as the primary topic, the student’s university thesis or other university work in Canadian hydrogeology.
- The student must, at the time of the submission of the abstract, be currently registered as a B.Sc., M.Sc. or Ph.D. student at a Canadian University and must provide proof of enrollment.
- Mature students who have returned to university to complete an advanced degree following several years of outside experience, or students who have worked as hydrogeologists for several years and are attending university on a part-time basis are not eligible for the award.
- The student must attend the conference and deliver their presentation.
Submission Procedure
Students who wish their contribution to be considered for the Tóth Award should follow the directions set out by the conference organizing committee. Normally students request that their contribution be considered for the Tóth Award at the time their abstract is submitted. The student must meet the eligibility criteria above.
Judging
The Vice President of the IAH-CNC will strike a committee consisting of themselves (or designate) as well as two or more additional Canadian hydrogeologists who will be attending the annual conference. This will constitute the Selection Panel that will be charged with setting the criteria used for judging and determining the winner of the award for the year.
The evaluation criteria may vary year-to-year depending on whether the conference includes the submission of only abstracts or full written papers. The Selection Panel will determine the weighting based on the requirements of the conference. Examples of weights are as follows, but may vary.
- Conferences requiring only an abstract: abstract (20%); presentation (70%); questions (10%)
- Conferences allowing full papers: paper (40%); presentation (50%); questions (10%
Written Component
If a conference requires full papers to be submitted, then award applicants must submit a full paper to be considered for the award and applications without corresponding conference papers will not be evaluated by the committee. If a conference only requires an abstract, then a full paper is not required.
Written material (i.e. abstract or full paper) will be judged on the basis of technical merit, originality of the topic and quality of the writing. The selection panel will evaluate written material (abstract or full paper) prior to the conference, and may identify, on the basis of merit, a short-list for judging of presentations.
Presentation Component
Student presentations will be judged on the basis of the quality of the visual materials and the quality of the oral presentation. Presenters will be evaluated for speaking clearly and meeting the time allocation for the presentation. The quality of responses to questions will also be evaluated, although the overall marking scheme will include flexibility in cases where no significant questions are asked.
The student receiving the highest combined mark will be judged the award winner. The determination of the panel will be final, and the award will be presented as part of the annual conference if possible. The award will not be presented if the Selection Panel decides that no submissions are of a sufficient quality.
Award
The winning student will receive a cash prize of $750 as well as a certificate from the IAH-CNC. The winning presentation will be highlighted and the abstracts reprinted in the IAH-CNC Newsletter.
Additional Information
For additional information, contact the Vice President of the IAH-CNC.
Recent Winners
- 2025 - Stephanie Bringeland (Queen's University)
- 2024 - Leah Crossley (University of New Brunswick)
- 2022 - Liam Price (Queen's University)
- 2021 - Meghan Vissers (Western University)
- 2020 - Victoria Propp (McMaster University)
- 2019 - Robert Wu (McGill University)
- 2018 - Kelly Hokanson (University of Alberta)
- 2017 - Samantha Morgan (Simon Fraser University)
- 2016 - Paul Menkveld (University of Waterloo).
Recent Runners-Up
- 2025 - Madeline Calvert (Carlton University)
- 2023 - Matthew Fellwock (University of Saskatchewan)
- 2022 - Kathryn Smith (Dalhousie University)
- 2020 - Marwa Kraouaia (Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue)
- 2019 - Vinicius Ferreira Boico (Université Laval)
- 2018 - Kayla Moore (University of Manitoba)
- 2018 - Dylan Stafford (University of Manitoba)
