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Robert Stewart, director, writer, photographer, conservationist (born 28 December 1979 in Toronto, ON; died 31 January 2017 near Islamorada, Florida). Rob Stewart was an ecologically-minded non-fiction filmmaker, conservationist and activist who was fascinated since childhood by underwater life and photography. His environmental documentaries Sharkwater (2006) and Revolution (2012) set box office records in Canada and won numerous awards worldwide. Stewart was reported missing on 31 January 2017 while diving in the Florida Keys and was found dead after a three day search. The Canadian Screen Award for Best Science or Nature Documentary Program or Series was renamed in his honour.

Bernard Voyer, explorer and lecturer (born 7 March 1953 in Rimouski, Québec) is a born adventurer.

Samuel de Champlain, cartographer, explorer, colonial administrator, author (born circa 1567 in Brouage, France; died 25 December 1635 in Quebec City). Known as the “Father of New France,” Samuel de Champlain played a major role in establishing New France from 1603 to 1635. He is also credited with founding Quebec City in 1608. He explored the Atlantic coastline (in Acadia), the Canadian interior and the Great Lakes region. He also helped found French colonies in Acadia and at Trois-Rivières, and he established friendly relations and alliances with many First Nations, including the Montagnais, the Huron, the Odawa and the Nipissing. For many years, he was the chief person responsible for administrating the colony of New France. Champlain published four books as well as several maps of North America. His works are the only written account of New France at the beginning of the 17th century.

Louis-Edmond Hamelin, OC, GOQ, geographer (born 21 March 1923 in Saint-Didace, QC; died 11 February 2020 in Quebec City, QC).

Paul Franklin Watson, environmental activist, author, reality TV star (born 2 December 1950 in Toronto, ON). Paul Watson is the founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) and a pioneering, polarizing figure in the conservation movement.

Sir David Kirke, trader and privateer, first governor of Newfoundland (born at Dieppe, France c1597; died near London, England 1654). Kirke, with Sir William Alexander, Earl of Stirling, formed the Company of Adventurers, which was granted patents by King Charles I. It gave them the right to trade and settle in Canada. Kirke was the owner of the first recorded Black chattel-slave in New France, Olivier Le Jeune. 

Eenoolooapik, also known as Bobbie, Inuk traveller, guide (born circa 1820 in Qimisuk [or Qimmiqsut], Cumberland Sound, NT; died in 1847 in Cumberland Sound, NU). Eenoolooapik provided British whaling captain William Penny with a map of Cumberland Sound that led to the rediscovery of that area 255 years after English explorer John Davis first saw it. The geographic information Eenoolooapik provided to whalers led to years of permanent whaling camps in Cumberland Sound.

Sven Börje Johansson, CM, choreographer, reindeer specialist (born in Säffle, Värmland, Sweden on 29 August 1924; died 17 October 2018 in Victoria, BC). Johansson participated in the Canadian Reindeer Project, the Geological Survey of Canada and founded the non-profit Discovery Dance Society.

Samuel Wilmot, pisciculturist, farmer, politician (born 22 August 1822 in Clarke Township, West Durham, Upper Canada; died 17 May 1899 in Newcastle, ON). Samuel Wilmot established one of North America’s first fish hatcheries on his farm in Newcastle, Ontario. He began as an amateur working in his basement and became a leading authority on fish culture. Wilmot established 15 hatcheries across Canada and his designs influenced other hatcheries in North America.

Roy Lewis Taylor, botanist (born 12 April 1932 in Olds, AB; died 2 May 2013 in Nanaimo, BC). Throughout his career, Taylor held numerous leadership positions at botanical gardens and societies in both Canada and the United States. Taylor was also a founding director of Botanic Gardens Conservation International, an organization working toward the conservation of threatened plants.

John (“Jack”) Thomas Miner, also known as “Wild Goose Jack,” conservationist, lecturer (born 10 April 1865 in Dover Center, Ohio; died 3 November 1944 in Kingsville, ON). In 1904, Jack Miner created one of North America’s first bird sanctuaries. He was also one of the earliest to attach bands to the legs of migratory birds for the scientific study of their habits. Over the course of his lifetime he banded over 90,000 ducks and Canada geese, often inscribing bits of biblical scripture on each band. His records of these birds and their migratory patterns helped persuade the Canadian government to ratify the Migratory Birds Convention Act in 1917.

Marcelle Gauvreau, Quebec scientist, botanist, educator, administrator, writer and journalist (born 28 February 1907 in Rimouski, QC; died 16 December 1968 in Montreal, QC). A botanist by profession, Marcelle Gauvreau made her mark as a teacher, writer, journalist, administrator and faithful collaborator of Frère Marie-Victorin (Conrad Kirouac). Through her books, articles, talks, the school she established, and her desire to promote public interest in plant life, she encouraged many Quebecers to learn about plants and to love nature in the 20th century.