Tue
30 SepDr. Andrew McDonald receives MAC medal
Laurentian University mineralogy prof earns national service award
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2025-09-30 (SUDBURY, ON) Dr. Andrew McDonald, a professor at Laurentian University’s Harquail School of Earth Sciences, has been recognized by the Canadian mineralogy community once again. This time, it’s for his contributions to the Mineralogical Association of Canada (MAC), a leading national non-profit scientific organization dedicated to advancing the study of minerals.
McDonald was presented with the Leonard G. Berry Medal, which is awarded to recognize distinguished service to the Association in areas including leadership, governance, and contributions that enhance the mineral sciences in Canada or broaden the Canadian mineralogical perspective.
McDonald accepted the award at the MAC’s Annual Meeting in May. In his acceptance speech, he said that he recognized the importance of service to MAC in his teenage years, when he found mentors who inspired him to build an academic career in mineralogy. As his career progressed, so did his service to the organization. McDonald served as secretary (2000-2006), as an associate editor and as a senior editor for The Canadian Journal of Mineralogy (CJMP), formerly The Canadian Mineralogist; and held several presidential positions (2014-2022).
Throughout his career, McDonald also dedicated himself to geoscience students and colleagues as a professor and applied mineralogist at the Harquail School of Earth Sciences, where he uses mineralogy as a tool in the geosciences.
His research focuses on using mineralogy and crystal chemistry in mineral exploration. This supports a central educational and research focus at the Harquail School of Earth Sciences, which is engaged in improving our understanding of ore-deposit formation throughout time. This crucial area of geoscience helps to provide minerals and metals needed by industry and society through the discovery of new ore bodies.
McDonald’s exceptional research and collaboration with students are well-recognized. He is a co-author of the top two most-read papers in CJMP since 2023, which McDonald says “speaks to the relevance and calibre of research within the papers, and more broadly, within the Harquail School of Earth Sciences.” McDonald has also been awarded four Hawley medals for best papers in CJMP. It is with both pride and humility that Dr. McDonald accepted the honour as MAC’s 2025 Berry medalist.
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Media Contacts
Lynn Bulloch; Communications Manager, Harquail School of Earth Sciences, Laurentian University, le_bulloch@laurentian.ca, 705-929-8650
Cathryn Nadjiwon; Business Manager, Mineralogical Association of Canada, cnadjiwon@mineralogicalassociation.ca, 705-691-5755
ABOUT
The Harquail School of Earth Sciences at Laurentian University offers some of North America's most comprehensive field- and laboratory-based Earth Sciences undergraduate and Geology graduate programs. Located in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, on the rim of one of the world's oldest, largest, and best-exposed meteorite impact sites, the School provides an exceptional setting for teaching and research that attracts top-calibre faculty and dedicated students. Areas of expertise include economic geology, exploration geophysics, geochemistry, igneous-metamorphic petrology, mineralogy, volcanology, structural geology, and sedimentology, with a focus on Precambrian geology and associated mineralization.
The Mineralogical Association of Canada (MAC) is a non-profit scientific organization that promotes and advances the knowledge of mineralogy and the allied disciplines of mineralogy, crystallography, petrology, economic geology, geochemistry and environmental mineralogy. MAC publishes The Canadian Journal of Mineralogy and Petrology (formerly The Canadian Mineralogist) and various academic, educational, reference texts and learning materials. It also co-publishes Elements magazine. Through annual meetings, field trips, short courses, summer schools, and sponsored symposia, the Association serves 400 global members, provides a forum for the presentation and dissemination of current knowledge, and advances the worldwide community of geoscientists.
