News, Awards and Administration
Professor Byer has received various awards for his work. These include the:
- Prize for Best Paper Published in 2007 in Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal, journal of the International Association for Impact Assessment, awarded by the Association for the paper "Methods for addressing climate change uncertainties in project environmental impact assessments," by P. Byer and J.S. Yeomans - see citation for this paper on the Publications page.
- J.R. Dymond Public Service Award, 1992, from the Federation of Ontario Naturalists “in recognition of distinguished public service resulting in exceptional environmental achievement." Awarded to the Ontario Environmental Assessment Advisory Committee that was chaired by Prof. Byer.
- Distinguished Service Award in 2003 from the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors for organizing the Association’s 2002 Education and Research Conference, held at the University of Toronto. http://www.aeesp.org
- Special Award in 2004 from the Canadian Chemical Producers’ Association for significant contributions to Responsible Care in Canada, which was the first time the Association had given an award to someone outside the industry.
He has been active in administration and governance at the University of Toronto. Beginning in 1995, he was the inaugural chair of the Division of Environmental Engineering, a position he held until 2006, and in Fall 2007 he was Acting Director of the University's Centre for Environment. He is currently a member of the University's highest decision-making body, the Governing Council, and several of its committees:
- Governing Council, 2001-07, 2010-12.
- Planning and Budget Committee, 2001-07, 2010-12.
- Academic Board, 1996-2001, 2003-07, 2010-12.
He also helped lead (and push) many of the University's environmental initiatives, having started the University's first paper recycling program in the early 1980s, helped draft the University's environmental policy in 1994 and co-chaired its environmental advisory committee for many years.