Head and shoulders image of Dr. Earle Ripley, Crop Science and Plant Ecology.

Bio/Historical Note: Dr. Earle Ripley was born on 29 June 1933 in Sydney, Nova Scotia, and spent his childhood in Cape Breton. He graduated from Sydney Academy and went on to Dalhousie University at the age of 16, earning his BSc from King's College while still in his teens. After three years at the University of Toronto, earning a MA in meteorology, Dr. Ripley returned to Nova Scotia, where he spent four years working at the Halifax Weather Office. In 1960 he packed up his steamer trunk and crossed the Atlantic to accept a position with the Colonial Office in Nigeria. Two years later, he moved to Kenya, where he worked as an agrometeorologist. Dr. Ripley moved to Saskatoon in 1968 to join the Department of Crop Science and Plant Ecology at the University of Saskatchewan. During his time in Saskatoon, Dr. Ripley became an avid runner, logging enough training miles to circle the earth twice. In addition to being a sub-three-hour marathoner, he was one of the founding members of the Saskatoon Road Runners Association. Dr. Ripley retired in 2000 after a long career in the department of Plant Ecology. He continued running well into his 70s and rode his bike until a month before his death. Earle Ripley died on 1 September 2018 in Saskatoon at age 85.