Austin Mardon

Diagnosed with schizophrenia at the age of thirty, Dr. Austin Mardon uses his own experience and road to recovery in advocating in the areas of stigma, service delivery, awareness and education.

He has been a public educator, appointed adjunct professor at the University of Alberta, and tireless advocate for the mentally ill. He also headed an Antarctic meteorite recovery expedition 170 km from the South Pole at the age of 24, which was sponsored by NASA and the National Science Federation. Unfortunately, the harsh conditions he faced led to him developing a number of physical and mental health issues, including schizophrenia at the age of 30.

Although affected by the disease, he went on to earn a PhD in geography from Greenwich University in Australia, following up with a remarkable publication record in prestigious journals including Science and Nature. Since then, he’s been elected as the International Fellow and Corresponding Fellow of the Explorers Club of New York and was inducted into the International Academy of Astronautics. In 2006, he was awarded the Order of Canada by the Governor General of Canada and in 2014, he was elected into the Royal Society of Canada, the pre-eminent academic society of Canada.