Astronomy student wins inaugural Professor Mercedes T. Richards award

Posted on January 9, 2023

University of Toronto undergraduate student Madeline Nardin is the winner of the inaugural 2022 Professor Mercedes T. Richards Award for excellence in summer undergraduate research in astronomy.

Named after renowned astronomer and U of T alum (PhD 1986) Professor Mercedes T. Richards, the award was created to recognize a student in the U of T Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) in astronomy & astrophysics who has demonstrated outstanding achievement and growth in scientific research.

Nardin, a member of New College, is a fourth-year undergraduate student specializing in astronomy and physics. During SURP, she worked with Keith Vanderlinde, a professor in the Faculty of Arts & Science’s Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics and Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics, developing technologies to observe the origin and evolution of the universe and short-lived astronomical phenomena, such as fast radio bursts.