Paul F. Hoffman Explained

Paul Felix Hoffman, FRSC, OC (born March 21, 1941) is a Canadian geologist and Sturgis Hooper Professor Emeritus of Geology at Harvard University. He specializes in the Precambrian era and is widely known for his research on Snowball Earth glaciation in the Neoproterozoic era particularly through his research on sedimentary rocks of Namibia.^{[1] [2] [3]}

Born 1941 in Toronto, Ontario, he received a B.Sc. from McMaster University in 1964, a M.Sc. from Johns Hopkins University in 1965, and was awarded a Ph.D. by Johns Hopkins University in 1970, where his doctoral advisor was Francis J. Pettijohn.^[4]

Paul Hoffman formerly worked for the Geological Survey of Canada and was subsequently the Sturgis Hooper Professor of Geology at Harvard University.^[5] He currently resides in Victoria, British Columbia where he has an appointment within the University of Victoria School of Earth and Ocean Science.

He is also the brother of Abby Hoffman, a Pan American Games gold medalist and Olympian in track and field. Both have received the Order of Canada for accomplishments in different fields.

Honours

• In 1974, he was awarded the Geological Association of Canada's Past-Presidents' Medal
• In 1991 he was awarded the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists's R. J. W. Douglas Medal
• In 1992 he was awarded the Geological Association of Canada's highest honour, the Logan Medal
• In 1997 he was awarded the Royal Society of Canada's Willet G. Miller Medal
• In 2009 he received the Wollaston Medal of the Geological Society^[6]
• In 2010 he received the American Geophysical Union's Walter H. Bucher Medal.
• In 2011 he was awarded the Geological Society of America's Penrose Medal
• In 2012 he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada^[7]
• In 2016 he was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society^[8]
• In 2024 he received the Kyoto Prize in Basic Sciences in the category of "Earth and planetary sciences".

Works

• Hoffman, Paul F. (1968) Stratigraphy of the Lower Proterozoic (Aphebian), Great Slave Supergroup, east arm of Great Slave Lake, District of Makenzie Ottawa: Geological Survey of Canada OCoLC 111430495
• P F Hoffman; D Kurfurst (1988) Geology and tectonics, East Arm of Great Slave Lake, District of Mackenzie, Northwest Territories Ottawa: Geological Survey of Canada OCLC 22412425
• P F Hoffman; L Hall (1993) Geology, Slave craton and environs, District of Mackenzie, Northwest Territories Ottawa: Geological Survey of Canada OCLC 290944947
• Hoffman, P.F., Kaufman, A.J., Halverson, G.P. & Schrag, D.P. (1998) “A Neoproterozoic snowball Earth” Science 281, 1342-46
• Hoffman, P.F. & Schrag, D.P. (2000) “Snowball Earth” Scientific American 282, 68-75
• Hoffman, P.F. & Schrag, D.P. (2002) “The snowball Earth hypothesis: testing the limits of global change” Terra Nova 14, 129-155
• Snowball Earth (2005) Rita Chang & Alan Fine OCLC 165116212

External links

• Short Hoffman bio
• Snowball Earth Theory
• Snowball Earth web site
• Geological Association of Canada Medals and Awards
• Miller Medal Royal Society of Canada

Notes and References

1. Book: Walker . Gabrielle . Snowball Earth: The Story of a Maverick Scientist and His Theory of the Global Catastrophe That Spawned Life As We Know It . 2004 . Broadway Books . 978-1400051250 . registration .
2. Web site: Price . Raymond . 2011 Penrose Medal citation . GSA Honors and Awards . Geological Society of America . May 14, 2019.
3. Poppick . Laura . The story of Snowball Earth . Knowable Magazine . Annual Reviews . March 19, 2019 . 10.1146/knowable-031919-1 . free . 14 May 2019.
4. Hoffman . Paul F. . Big Time . Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences . 30 May 2019 . 47 . 1 . 1–17 . 10.1146/annurev-earth-053018-060145 . 2019AREPS..47....1H . 241913318 . 0084-6597. free .
5. Web site: Price . Raymond . 2011 Penrose Medal citation . GSA Honors and Awards . Geological Society of America . May 14, 2019.
6. Web site: EPS in the news . January 2009 . Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences . . 2009-02-25 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20081219191300/http://www.eps.harvard.edu/eps_in_the_news.php . December 19, 2008 .
7. Web site: Appointments to the Order of Canada. June 29, 2012. Governor General of Canada. 2012-07-25.
8. Web site: Gold Medal- Award Recipients since its inception in 1972. Royal Canadian Geographical Society. 1 December 2016. 6 November 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181106221951/http://www.rcgs.org/awards/gold_medal/previous_winners.asp. dead.