Austin Mardon

Dr. Austin Albert Mardon, Ph.D. CM KCSS FRSC FRCGS is an associate adjunct professor at the University of Alberta's John Dossetor Health Ethics Centre and assistant adjunct professor at the University of Lethbridge, Department of Neuroscience. Mardon is married to lawyer and activist Catherine Mardon with whom he has co-authored several books.

As a Canadian author and researcher, Mardon regularly publishes research on geography and astronomy. Mardon also co-researches in other fields such as medicine and has co-authored a variety of introductory subject primers through the Golden Meteorite Press. Mardon has published over 360 scholarly papers and 200 non-fiction and fiction books. These publications have received over 87,000 views making Mardon one of Canada's most prolific academic scholars. A 19th Century castle built in the Scottish baronial style, the Ardross Castle property, at one point, encompassed 60,000 acres of the Scottish countryside. Mr. Austin Mardon and his wife lived at Ardross Castle until 1983, when the estate was eventually sold and acquired by the McTaggart family. Today, the Castle hosts private events and is used as a filming location. During his youth, Mardon resided in Lethbridge, Alberta, where he would often fall ill and be subject to bullying. During the winter months, Mardon would travel to Hawaii with his mother and sister. Locally, Mardon attended St. Patrick's Elementary School, St. Mary's Junior High School, and Catholic Central High School. Prior to University, Mardon also attended Invergordon Academy in Ross-shire, Scotland.

In his late teens, Mardon attended the Grenoble Alpes University, a public research university in Grenoble, France. After receiving a French Diploma in 1979, Mardon returned to Canada where he pursued a Bachelor of Arts in Cultural Geography at the University of Lethbridge. In 1985, after graduating, Mardon served with the Canadian Armed Forces as part of the Primary Reserve. From 1981 through 1985 Mardon completed basic training and was stationed at the Canadian Armed Forces base in Dundurn, Saskatchewan. thumb A headshot of Mardon taken at Beardmore Glacier in December, 1986.On his return to Alberta, Mardon gave lectures on Antarctica at the University of Calgary and the University of Lethbridge. While he later secured an interview to be a member of the Canadian/Soviet Arctic traverse from northern Siberia to Ellesmere Island in the Canadian Arctic, he was not accepted for that expedition. He was also supposed to join an Argentinian Antarctic expedition in the late 1980s, but a fire at the Argentinian Antarctic base caused the expedition to be cancelled.

Eventually, Mardon went on another meteorite recovery expedition, this time in the Canadian Arctic near Resolute in the Northwest Territories. Although the mission did not yield results, Mardon wrote a paper on his conversations with locals and what the Inuit thought of meteorites.

One of Mardon's most significant contributions to astronomical science was a series of articles he wrote on the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. In 2011, the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) awarded Mardon the CMA Medal of Honour in recognition of, "personal contributions to the advance of medical research and education." While awarding the medal to Mardon, CMA president Jeff Turnbull said, "Dr. Mardon has worked tirelessly to help Canadians better understand the issues around mental illness. In courageously talking openly about his own experiences, he is truly making a difference in coaxing mental illness out of the shadows in this country." Finally, in 2013, at Norquest College, they put into place the Dr. Catherine & Austin Mardon CM Schizophrenia Award.

Today, Mardon is an assistant adjunct professor in the Department of Neuroscience at the University of Lethbridge as well as an associate adjunct professor at the University of Alberta's John Dossetor Health Ethics Centre.

Honours, appointments, awards, and degrees Honours Ribbon Bars of Austin Mardon

Appointments Order of Canada, Member- October 2006, Invested - October 2007 Honorary Social Worker, Alberta College of Social Workers - April 2015 Order of St. Sylvester - 2017

Medals Antarctic Service Medal- US Congress (Navy) - 1987 Duke of Edinburgh Award - Bronze Level - 1987 Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal - 2002 Alberta Centennial Medal - 2005 Medal of Honour, Alberta Medical Association - October 2010 Honorable Kentucky Colonel - Commonwealth of Kentucky April 2011

Other awards Texas State Proclamation #51, Texas Legislature - 1988 Ron LaJeunnesse Leadership Award, Canadian Mental Health Association - Edmonton 2005