Peter Calamai BSc

Peter's desire to excite others about science stretches all the way from a 1959 Science Fair project about the internal architecture of gastropods to recent magazine cover articles about the Higgs Boson. His particular focus on engaging youth in public life, including science, is almost as long-standing, and has just resulted in an unprecedented survey of youth science culture in Canada.

After graduating with a Bachelor of Science in physics from McMaster University in 1965, Peter worked as a reporter with the Hamilton Spectator from 1966-1969. He held a variety of positions with Southam News from 1969 to 1990, including Washington Bureau Chief, National Correspondent, Africa Correspondent, Western Canada Correspondent, London (UK) Correspondent, and Parliamentary Correspondent, as well as Southam Fellow at Massey College, University of Toronto. From 1990 to 1996 Peter was Editorial Pages Editor for the Ottawa Citizen. In 1998, Peter became the National Science Reporter for the Toronto Star, a position he held until his retirement in 2008.

Peter chairs the editorial advisory committee for the Science Media Centre of Canada, of which he is a founding director. He is an adjunct research professor at the Carleton University School of Journalism and Communication, where he supervises Masters students in science journalism. He also serves as a consultant to the Council of Canadian Academies and continues to write feature articles for a variety of publications in Canada and abroad.