Mervin F. Fingas, Ph.D., chief of the Emergency Science and Technology Division for Environment Canada in Ottawa, Ontario, has been selected to receive a 2005 Award of Merit and accompanying title of fellow from ASTM International. The award is the Society's highest recognition for individual contributions to standards activities.

Fingas lives in Orleans, Ontario, Canada.

ASTM Committee F20 on Hazardous Substances and Oil Spill Response notes Fingas' service in ASTM International committee work over a long period of time, his leadership at the committee and subcommittee level, and his contributions to research and testing leading to new standards development. He has initiated new F20 activities and he has made major contributions to a number of standards. An ASTM International member since 1986, Fingas is chair of three F20 subcommittees: F20.13 on Treating Agents, F20.15 on Burning, and F20.16 on Remote Sensing as well as the user vice chair of the main committee.

In addition to his work on F20, Fingas is a member of the ASTM International Committee on Technical Committee Operations, Committee D19 on Water, Committee E54 on Homeland Security Applications, and Committee F23 on Protective Clothing.

Professionally, Fingas has concentrated on research on oil and chemical spills; he directs one of the largest oil spill research programs in the world. Using information gained from his studies, Fingas has championed new technical tools for spill response in the field of in-situ oil burning and remote sensing, expertise that he has also brought to his work in ASTM Committee F20. His research has also led to more than 600 papers and presentations.

A graduate of the University of Alberta with a B.Sc. in chemistry, Fingas earned two master's degrees, one in business administration and one in chemistry, from the Ottawa University, and his Ph.D. in physics from McGill University in Montreal, Quebec.

Release #7164