Named in honor of David L. Crawford (b. 1931), astronomer at the Kitt Peak National Observatory recognized for his fundamental contributions to protecting dark skies around observatories from light pollution through good outdoor lighting practices. In 1972 he was instrumental in establishing the first comprehensive lighting code, which regulated outdoor lighting in southern Arizona, and the code has become a model for such regulation throughout the world.

Named for Aceraceae, the maple family, with two genera and more than 100 species. One well-known species is Acer saccharum (sugar maple), the sap of which is used for maple syrup and maple sugar.

Orbit type: Main Belt Asteroid

Reference: MPC 34348

Dr. Elizabeth Harper-Clark (married name: Boulianne) (b. 1984) was a finalist in the 2002 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for their Earth and space sciences project. They studied at Presdales School, U.K.; Cambridge University, UK, MIT, Boston, USA and University of Toronto, Canada. Elizabeth received their PhD from the University of Toronto in 2011, working on computer simulations of the disruption of nebulae by the stars within them.

Orbit type: Main Belt Asteroid

Reference: MPC 46104

To bridge music and science for children during IYA 2009, the Victoria Symphony, under music director Tania Miller, created concerts played in several Canadian cities with teacher’s guides combining music and astronomy in an engaging manner.

Orbit type: Main Belt

Reference: MPC 66245

David Arthur Gregory (b. 1951) is a physician in St. Thomas, Ontario, who collects, displays and assists scientists in identifying and studying meteorites. Many of his meteorites were donated to the Royal Ontario Museum. The name was suggested by P. Jedicke.

Orbit type: Main Belt

Reference: MPC 65713

Christian Marois (b. 1974), René Doyon (b. 1963) and David Lafrenière (b. 1978) developed instruments that allowed seeing an extrasolar planetary system, HR 8799. Doyon was director of the Mt. Mégantic Observatory; Marois and Lafrenière were postdoctoral fellows at the Herzberg Institute and the University of Toronto.

Orbit type: Main Belt

Reference: MPC 65712

Michel Courtemanche (b. 1964 in Laval) is an internationally known Canadian comedian and actor. He has drawn hundreds of thousands to his one-man shows in Quebec, France, Belgium and Switzerland. He has starred in Québécois films La Nuit de Noces and Karmina 2, and on the Secret Adventures of Jules Verne television series, playing the role of Passepartout.

Having moved to New York City during the Depression, Jane Jacobs, OC, O. Ont, (b.1916 in Scranton, PA - d.2006 in Toronto) was way ahead of her time in championing the idea that cities are more important than nations in the "real economic world". Cities should not be laboratories for ill-placed expressways and housing projects but left to develop by themselves.

Harvard University economist and polemicist John Kenneth Galbraith (b.1908 in Iona Station, Ontario - d.2006 in Cambridge, MA), renowned for his use of irony and for stressing the human element in the study of economics, rejected "the conventional wisdom" (a term introduced in his 1958 best-seller The Affluent Society) and the idea that economics is a "science".

Orbit type: Main Belt Asteroid

Reference: MPC 56957

Michael Ondaatje (b. 1943), a Canadian novelist, poet and writer, was born in Sri Lanka into a Burgher family. Best known for his novel The English Patient, adapted into an award-winning movie, he returned to his Sri Lankan origins in two other books, Running in the Family and Anil's Ghost.

Orbit type: Amor 

Reference: MPC 56958