UNIVERSITY OF PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND
UPEI researchers awarded over $1.7 million in federal funding

Researchers at the University of Prince Edward Island have been awarded over $1.7 million in federal funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).

The funding was part of an announcement earlier this summer by the Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions, and the Honourable Marjorie Michel, Minister of Health, of over $1.3 billion in funding in support of over 9,700 researchers and research projects across Canada.

The NSERC discovery grants and discovery launch supplements received by researchers at UPEI totalled over $1.6 million and the SSHRC Insight development grants over $130,000.

Dr. Greg Naterer, Vice-President, Academic and Research at UPEI, congratulated the faculty members on their success.

"We are proud of the success of UPEI researchers in these grant competitions," he said. "With support from NSERC and SSHRC, they are contributing to new knowledge and innovations that will benefit society, while strengthening UPEI's reputation in research nationally and internationally."

The following researchers received discovery grants and discovery launch supplements from NSERC:

• Dr. Marissa Clapson, assistant professor, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, for a project titled "Targeting Sustainable Catalysis: Pollutant Transformation, Green Solvents, and Reusable Catalysts"
• Dr. Gaoliang Fang, assistant professor, Faculty of Sustainable Design Engineering, "A Next-Generation Switched Reluctance Electric Drive System"
• Dr. Emma Ladouceur, assistant professor, Department of Biology and the School of Climate Change and Adaptation, Faculty of Science, "Disturbance, Regeneration, and Restoration from Land to Sea"
• Dr. Désirée Seib, assistant professor, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, "Effects of Maternal Diet on Brain Development and Behaviour"
• Dr. Sundeep Singh, assistant professor, Faculty of Sustainable Design Engineering, "Advancing Digital Twin Technology for Precision in Thermal Therapies: A Pathway Towards Patient-Specific Treatment Strategies"

The following are recipients of discovery grants from NSERC:

• Dr. Suzanne Gray, associate professor, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, "Physiological and behavioural responses of freshwater fishes to a changing world"
• Dr. Joseph Gordon, associate professor, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, "The role of Nix in Striated Muscle Development and Remodeling"
• Dr. Colins Kamunde, professor, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, "Decoding the Adverse Outcomes of Metabolic and Redox Dyshomeostasis in Environmental Stress"

SSHRC insight development grants were received by the following:

• Dr. Thomas Larkin, assistant professor, Department of History, Faculty of Arts, for "Encountering U.S. Empire in American and Chinese Port Cities, 1784-1898"
• Dr. Kenneth MacKinnon, assistant professor, Faculty of Education, "Discovering and Sustaining Joy in School Leadership"