David G. Barber

David George Barber, (28 November 1960 – 15 April 2022) He held the Canada Research Chair in Arctic-System Science at the University of Manitoba. He was an officer of the Order of Canada and a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

Biography Barber obtained his bachelor's (1981) and master's (1987) degrees from the University of Manitoba, and his Ph.D. (1992) in Arctic climatology from the University of Waterloo. He started his academic career teaching at the University of Manitoba in 1993. He received a Canada Research Chair in Arctic System Science in 2002 at the University of Manitoba.

Barber was married to Lucette. The couple had three children. Barber died on 15 April 2022 following complications from cardiac arrest.

Research Barber's research focused on studying the effects of climate change on the arctic sea ice, and development of tools to study its harmful effects. He used technologies including geographic information systems, remote sensing, and mathematical modelling to study linkages between the atmosphere, ocean, and ice, and connecting the same to people and their habitats. He showed that some apparently frozen sea ice was in fact porous and fragile "rotten ice", and studied the effects of its presence on Arctic food chains.

He led the development of many arctic research projects including the Canadian Arctic Shelf Exchange Study (CASES), Network of Centres of Excellence ArcticNet, and the Hudson Bay System Study (BaySys).

Honours Barber was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2016.

Barber was elected as a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2016, and was a member of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society. He was also a recipient of the Northern Science Award for his advancement of northern research.