UVic faculty share in $23.8 million for research support

Thanks to the Canada Foundation for Innovation’s New Opportunities Fund, faculty members at UVic will soon be equipping labs to further their research.

The fund provides infrastructure support to newly recruited academic staff. It also helps universities attract high-calibre researchers in areas that are essential to their research objectives.

At UVic on March 10, Industry Minister David Emerson and Carmen Charette, CFI senior vice-president, joined UVic President David Turpin to announce $23.8 million in funding to Canadian universities, $760,588 of which is coming to UVic.

“This funding strengthens Canada’s international research position,” says Turpin. “It helps UVic recruit and retain outstanding scholars whose research contributes to the betterment of all Canadians.”

The UVic researchers who received funding are:
Dr. Brad Buckham (mechanical engineering) receives $144,067 to build a small, remotely operated vehicle (ROV) system to test and develop advanced underwater vehicle technology. This technology is critical to maintaining Canada’s leading role in undersea exploration, and especially to the installation and maintenance of the VENUS and NEPTUNE ocean observatories, both led in Canada by UVic.

Dr. Rosaline Canessa (geography) receives $149,159 to create a marine visualization and spatial analysis lab for marine resources. The lab will test how GIS (geographic information systems) and other spatial technologies can help decision-makers manage resources, resolve user conflicts and protect key habitats in coastal areas.

Dr. Laurence Coogan (earth & ocean sciences) receives $162,532 to equip a facility for the analysis of trace element abundance in Earth materials such as rocks, minerals and seawater. The facility will allow Coogan and his collaborators to continue their investigations into the chemical evolution of our planet.

Dr. Jutta Gutberlet (geography) receives $60,154 to establish a facility on sustainable community development. Using a variety of research tools, Gutberlet and her colleagues will study theoretical frameworks for community development and how they can be translated into public policy. The primary focus will be on communities in Latin America, Asia and Africa.

Dr. Hendrik Hoekstra (physics & astronomy) receives $81,920 to acquire computer resources for processing large amounts of astronomical data. Hoekstra, an observational cosmologist, is involved in a number of large international projects focusing on understanding the nature of dark matter and dark energy, two mysterious forces involved in the evolution of the universe.

Dr. David Sinton (mechanical engineering) receives $162,756 to establish a state-of-the-art microfluidics laboratory. Microfluidics is the manipulation of minute amounts of liquid in miniaturized systems, and has applications in the development of new biomedical devices and fuel cell technologies.

The B.C. Knowledge Development Fund is an equal matching partner in CFI projects.