AURORA COLLEGE
Aurora investing in Northern applied research

Aurora College has recently invested $60,000 in research funding for staff, faculty and students at Aurora College. Through the launch of the Internal Grants and Awards program funding, the College is taking significant steps in growing applied research capacity across the Northwest Territories (NWT). Internal research funding is a significant shift from funding external researchers, which has been in place since 1995. The new, competitive program is designed to support applied research initiatives led by Aurora College staff, faculty and students in collaboration with community partners, focusing on critical northern issues such as climate change, Indigenous knowledge, and economic development.

The Aurora College Internal Grants and Awards Program offers four distinct funding streams: Start-up Grants for new researchers and projects, Research Assistant Grants to engage students and community members in research, Student Research Awards for outstanding student participation, and Strategic Grants to foster collaborative research partnerships. In its inaugural year, Aurora College is proud to announce the following projects:

• Bryce Olson (Instructor, Environment and Natural Resources Technology, Thebacha Campus) received a $10,000 Start-up Grant to purchase a "Spectrophotometer for Water Quality Monitoring." This funding will enable Aurora College to acquire essential equipment for water quality monitoring and to develop capacity of staff, faculty, students and community collaborators on how to use the equipment.
• Bryce Olson was also given a $20,000 Student Research Award for "Development of Remotely Operated Drone System." This award supports the salary of Tyler Nagel, an Environment and Natural Resources Technology student at Thebacha Campus, in developing the system.
• Mike Palmer (Research Manager, North Slave Research Centre, Yellowknife) received a $10,000 Research Assistant Grant for "Assessing Climate Change Effects to Legacy Mining Landscapes in Northern Canada." This funding supports the training of a recent graduate to assist ongoing research on climate change impacts on Yellowknife-area lakes.
• Linh Nguyen (Program Head, Environment and Natural Resources Technology, Thebacha Campus) received a $10,000 Research Assistant Grant for "Collaborative Approaches to Ecosystem Conservation and Resource Management in Northern Communities." The funding enables hiring a recent graduate to contribute to diverse environmental monitoring and resource management research projects.

The enhanced Aurora College Internal Grants and Awards funding program is guided by the Aurora College Research Advisory Council, comprised of Board of Governors members and area experts. Aurora College is strengthening its Research Services Office to provide comprehensive support to growing the research capacity at the College. These investments underscore the College's commitment to build northern research capacity and to be a leader for applied research in the North, directly benefiting northern students, Indigenous and northern communities, and the wider science community in Canada.

Quote:

" These investments underscore the College's commitment to build northern research capacity and to be a leader for applied research in the North, directly benefiting northern students, Indigenous and northern communities, and the wider science community in Canada."

- Chris Paci, Vice President of Research, Aurora College