Organized by the CERLAC student caucus and hosted by 91��ɫ doctoral students Natasha Sofia Martinez and Alex Moldovan.��

is a Jamaican human rights lawyer and founder of Freedom Imaginaries, an organization that uses human rights law to tackle legacies of slavery and colonialism. She holds a Master of Laws degree from Harvard Law School and a Master of Advanced Studies degree from the Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva. She is qualified to practice law in Guyana and Jamaica.��

, PhD is a Jamaican independent film maker, writer, educator and linguist with over thirty-five years of media productions including television programming, documentaries, educational videos, multimedia and feature film. Her activist film making gives voice to those outside of mainstream media and focuses on the perpetuation of local and indigenous knowledge and cultures, the environment, social injustice, and community empowerment. Figueroa’s films include Jamaica for Sale(2009), Fly Me To The Moon��(2019). In 2013, Figueroa was Distinguished Writer in Residence at University of Hawai’i English Department. Her environmental novel Limbo (2014) was a finalist in the 2015 National Indie Excellence Awards for Multi-cultural Fiction.

“When you think of the Caribbean, it is likely that you think of the region as a victim of climate injustice” Dr. Figueroa observes. “Certainly, in their calls for reparations, Caribbean governments stress the innocence of the region. But Caribbean governments promote extractivist models of development, whereby tourism, plantation agriculture and forestry, industrial fisheries, the extraction of hydrocarbons, metals and minerals, car-centric development and urbanized built environments are the engines of their growth economies.” This is in keeping with the role of Caribbean peoples as the early industrial modernizers in and through sugar plantations, leaders within a world system of colonialism and capitalism. In their scale and complexity, the sugar plantations anticipated later industrial developments in Britain and Europe, Dr. Figueroa argues, creating enormous profits for British colonial owners and funding the expansion of British empire, which at one time included a quarter of humanity. In short, through the plantation system, the Caribbean was central to world processes of industrial modernity, empire and global capitalism. 

This matters for the contemporary climate crisis here and now, Dr. Figueroa insists, because the age of European imperialist expansion accelerated what some call the Anthropocene, an era in which human presence has irrevocably transformed the natural world. European imperialisms were marked by the genocide of tens millions of Indigenous peoples, the theft of their lands and waters, and the repurposing of them as natural resources. “A more accurate conceptualization of the Anthropocene is therefore the Plantationocene”, Dr. Figueroa observes, “a patriarchal, colonial, racist capitalist world political economy that began in the late 15^th in the Americas and in the Caribbean, rooted in the genocide of Indigenous peoples, the enslavement of Africans and the profitable destruction of the natural world.” The Caribbean’s history of extractivism continues today in Guyana, as Dr. Figueroa describes:

“Guyana is now positioned to become the largest oil producer in the world transforming from a carbon sink, whereby its immense intact forests hold carbon and supply oxygen, to a carbon bomb, with 10 billion barrels of oil slated to be extracted. It is estimated that burning that oil could release over 4 billion tons of greenhouse gases…And in keeping with the Caribbean’s extractivist tradition, the agreement between the government of Guyana, Exxon and other multinational oil corporations, saddles Guyana with debt and liability while enriching the oil companies. Yet the Guyana government portrays their new role as the largest oil producer as one that will catapult Guyanese society into great wealth and prosperity…”.

Caribbean leaders beholden to billion-dollar corporations and wealthy oligarchs adjust to a violent, racist capitalist world by selling off the last of the Caribbean’s so-called natural resources. “The Caribbean is not innocent,” Dr. Figueroa concludes, “despite its calls for reparations given climate injustice.” What is required is a fundamental transformation beyond the global plantation economy that carries so much violence against human beings, especially Indigenous peoples and the natural world.

“The climate crisis is the logical consequence of a racial capitalist system, which normalizes resource plundering, Indigenous dispossession, and the relegation of former colonies to sacrificial zones of extraction,” Malene Alleyne observes. Communities are becoming uninhabitable due to extreme weather events linked with climate change. In Bahamas, people are still recovering from Hurricane Dorian, which in 2019 caused loss of life and massive displacement, with many living today in what were originally conceived as temporary, emergency housing. In Trinidad and Tobago, wildlife and fishing are threatened by oil spills, while in Jamaica, bauxite mining is contaminating water sources and destroying agricultural lands in Cockpit Country. “What I am describing is a system of global racial inequality,” Alleyne continues, “in which Caribbean nations remain trapped in a cycle of dependency on extraction and climate vulnerability.” Migrants, Indigenous people, and Afro-descendent rural people are marginalized within the Caribbean and, when faced with natural disasters created and exacerbated by climate change, they are most likely to suffer from death and displacement. 

A rights-based decolonial approach to justice demands a transformative approach that shifts power to these communities, Alleyne emphasizes, so that they can defend their way of life and environment against unsustainable development. This human rights-based approach to climate justice includes the following three pillars:

• environmental rights, including the right to clean air and water, as well as procedural environmental rights, such as the right to access climate information, participate in climate decision-making processes, and access remedies in cases of harm; 
• a racial equality framework based on international treaties that prohibit racial discrimination, including with respect to climate change;
• climate reparations, including just economic and social systems enabling a postcolonial future; 

This is much more than a matter of financial reparations. Since a racist world capitalist system engenders climate change, Alleyne argues, challenging climate change requires that we dismantle that system and join together to build a more socially, economically and racially just world.

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Stephen Gaetz (right), professor and associate dean in the Faculty of Education, has received more than $2.5 million in funding over seven years to lead “Canadian Observatory on Homelessness”, with more than 27 researchers – including Professor Janet Mosher at Osgoode Hall Law School, Professor Valerie Preston in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS) and Professor Stan Shapson in the Faculty of Education − and 29 partner organizations. The project, a non-partisan research and policy partnership, aims to evaluate current policy directions and programmatic approaches to preventing and reducing homelessness, address key policy questions, and support the development and implementation of effective and sustainable solutions to homelessness in communities across Canada. The goal is to mobilize research on homelessness so it has a greater impact on policy and practice, leading to more effective solutions to homelessness. The project, which will also receive more than $2.5 million in matching funding and contributions from partnering organizations, will leverage the collaborative, research and knowledge mobilization capacities of participating individuals and organizations.

Anna Hudson (left), professor in the Faculty of Fine Arts, has received more than $3.5 million over six years to lead a major project titled “Mobilizing Inuit Cultural Heritage: a multi-media/multi-platform re-engagement of voice in visual art and performance”, with 10 researchers – including Professor Susan Dion in the Faculty of Education and Professor Angela Norwood from the Faculty of Fine Arts – and nine partner organizations. The goal of the project is to conduct collaborative research on the contribution of Inuit visual culture, art and performance to Inuit language preservation, social well-being and cultural identity. The project will address the current disconnect for Inuit today between orality – being the voice that defines the self in relation to others – and materiality – being the environment in which one lives well together through three primary objectives: access to advanced information and communication technologies, connection of Inuit voice to objects of Inuit cultural heritage and expanded creation of Inuit cultural capacity. It will receive an additional $1.9 million in matching funding and contributions from partnering organizations.

Leah Vosko (right), Canada Research Chair in the Political Economy of Gender and Work and political science professor, LA&PS, has received more than $2 million in funding over five years to lead a major national project with 33 researchers – including Professor Mark Thomas in the Department of Sociology and Professor Eric Tucker at Osgoode Hall Law School − and 16 partner organizations. The project, titled “Closing the Enforcement Gap: Improving Employment Standards Protection for People in Precarious Jobs”, will examine the role of employment standards enforcement in ensuring minimum conditions in areas such as wages, working time, vacations and leaves for workers in precarious jobs in Ontario, characterized by job insecurity, low income and limited access to regulatory protection. The objectives of the project, which will receive more than an additional $1.3 million in matching funding and contributions from partnering organizations, are to map the nature and scope of employment standards violations and document enforcement practices to identify regulatory challenges and develop alternative models of enforcement that may be applied in Ontario and other jurisdictions within Canada and internationally.

“We are delighted by the results of these recent SSHRC competitions, enabling 91��ɫ to maintain our track record in leading the country in the Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council of Canada’s large-scale awards competitions valued at $1 million or more,” said Robert Haché, 91��ɫ’s vice-president research and innovation. “The projects led by 91��ɫ Professors Stephen Gaetz, Anna Hudson and Leah Vosko enable our researchers to work together with research partners to address persistent, social and economic challenges facing our society today. It will also enable our researchers and graduate students to make important contributions to our country’s knowledge base.”

Two 91��ɫ researchers were also awarded more than $397,000 in SSHRC funding through the Partnership Development Grants program.��The program encourages applicants to work collaboratively with partners to develop research in the social sciences and humanities.��This funding will support partnerships between 91��ɫ researchers and Canadian and international universities, a charitable organization and an international association.

Gary Goodyear, federal minister of state for science and technology, announced the funding on Friday, May 31, at the launch of the annual Congress of the Humanities & Social Sciences.�� In total, more than $63 million is being awarded over a period of seven years to support 78 research teams across the country through SSHRC’s Partnership Grants and Partnership Development Grants. An additional $104 million from SSHRC’s Talent Program will support more than 3,700 master’s, doctoral and postdoctoral scholarships and fellowships.

An analysis conducted by the Strategic & Institutional Research Initiatives Unit, in the Office of Research Services at 91��ɫ, revealed that between 2006 and 2013, 91��ɫ researchers received more SSHRC awards valued at $1 million or more than any other institution in Canada. SSHRC’s large-scale awards offered between 2001 and 2013 have included the Community-University Research Alliance (CURA), Major Collaborative Research Initiatives (MCRI), the Strategic Knowledge Clusters and the SSHRC Partnership Grants.

For a complete list of Partnership Grant and Partnership Development Grant awards, visit the website.

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin to research stories on the research website.

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Two workshops were recently held providing an opportunity for members of the 91��ɫ community to share their thoughts on the development of the new plan with vice-president research & innovation Robert Haché and the Strategic Research Plan facilitators, Celia Haig-Brown, professor, Faculty of Education and Gary Miller, instructor,��Schulich School of Business MBA program and the Schulich Executive Education Centre.

“I am pleased that the 91��ɫ community is taking an active role in participating in the discussion about the development of the new Strategic Research Plan,” said Robert Haché (left), vice-president research & innovation.�� “Their feedback is being heard and will be valuable in informing the plan. We are very much encouraging all community members to take part in the SRP consultations and conversations as we work towards the development of a new institutional plan, one that best supports and integrates the core research values and priorities of the entire 91��ɫ community.”

During the workshops, participants were asked to discuss the value that research brings to 91��ɫ and explore 91��ɫ’s competencies in key areas of research.

Among the comments resulting from the workshops were: the hope that the new Strategic Research Plan be inclusive, recognizing and capturing the wide variety of research being conducted and balancing both specific and overarching research focus areas, a desire for the plan to have some impact on hiring, resourcing, budget�� and decision making, a recommendation to ensure graduate students and post-doctoral fellows research is encouraged, ensuring the plan addresses ways to better enable research at 91��ɫ, a suggestion that the plan encourage a more interest in research at all administrative levels at 91��ɫ, and an emphasis placed on collaborative research initiatives.

Meeting notes are accessible to the 91��ɫ community and can found on the ��website by clicking on Meeting Notes and using a Passport 91��ɫ login. The next workshops will be held Oct. 16, 26 and Nov. 1. To register, click .

����ܲ�������������courtesy of��YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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On Monday, Gary Goodyear, minister of state (science & technology) announced the significant investment by the Government of Canada in basic research and research training in the social sciences and humanities.

Gary Goodyear

“We are very pleased with SSHRC’s investment to support the work of 91��ɫ’s researchers in the Social Sciences & Humanities,” said, Robert Haché, 91��ɫ’s vice-president research & innovation. “This funding allows our researchers to grow and strengthen their innovative research programs while contributing to Canada’s knowledge base.”

Thirty-two 91��ɫ faculty members received more than $3.8 million to fund their research projects through SSHRC’s Insight Grants and programs.�� In the Insight Grants competition, 91��ɫ enjoyed an exceptional 39 per cent success rate, which is 12 per cent higher than the national success rate for the competition.��

Robert Haché

The funding was granted for research covering a wide range of topics, including:��

• Institutional changes and adaptive search behaviour of business groups in developing economies
• Industrialization, human capital and democracy
• Teaching for mathematical understanding: The potential of 'folding back' as a pedagogical tool
• Second generation success and marginalization: the impacts of race, gender and place on employment and social mobility
• Multilingualism and ethnic identity: An international perspective
• The roles of lead banks and institutional investors in secondary loan sales
• Modernist Literary Musics

Graduate students and doctoral fellows benefited from the announcements as well: ��167 91��ɫ master’s and doctoral students have won more than $5.8 million in scholarships and fellowships.��More than 2,400 graduate and postdoctoral projects across Canada received funding.��

“Canada’s position as a world leader in research excellence leads to discoveries, innovations and advanced skills that drive job creation and opportunities in the knowledge economy,” said Goodyear. “Through Economic Action Plan 2012, our government provided additional resources to support advanced research at universities and other leading research institutions, which will build on previous investments to further strengthen Canada’s research advantage.”

“This research is the key to innovation and to building knowledge for Canada’s future,” said Chad Gaffield, president of SSHRC. “Through this funding support, we are generating insights and developing innovative solutions for today’s social, economic and cultural issues, while training the next generation of researchers and leaders.”

A complete list of SSHRC-funded projects is available on the website.

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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“Perfectionism does not necessarily result in higher levels of performance and may even backfire,” says Gordon Flett, a psychology professor in 91��ɫ’s Faculty of Health and Canada Research Chair in Personality��& Health.��“Students can be vulnerable to negative automatic thought patterns, which can lead to psychological distress and performance avoidance.”��

Gordon Flett

Flett, lead author of “Procrastination Automatic Thoughts as a Personality Construct: An Analysis of the Procrastinatory Cognitions Inventory”, a new article soon to be published in the Journal of Rational-Emotive and Cognitive-Behavior Therapy, found related patterns of negative ruminations among procrastinators focused on perfectionism, fear of failure and guilt. These negative thought patterns ��contributed to an increased stress level in students and delay in accomplishing tasks, findings that are similar to a previous study by the same research team showing that perfectionistic professors produce fewer published articles.��

Recent surveys show that between 50 and 60 percent of responding students rated themselves as perfectionists, and 45 per cent indicated a problem with chronic procrastination.

So how can students move past the negativity and become high achievers? Flett offers��tips for starting the school year off right:��

Aim for excellence, not perfection
“The goals should be striving for excellence rather than striving for perfectionism,” says Flett.�� “This means that students should work strenuously – but not obsessively – in order to achieve their goals. The goals should focus on excellence and doing well rather than being flawless. The focus should be on learning effective and adaptive ways to learn new material and developing good study skills.”��

Don’t get bogged down with external expectations
“Some students suffer jointly from procrastination and perfectionism. Fear of failure is one personality style that links these. It is important here to be not too concerned with what other people think.”��

Learn to muzzle that negative inner voice
“Students are especially prone to stress if they ruminate and think continuously about the need to be perfect. Our work shows that students ruminate about their procrastination and have such thoughts as ‘Why didn’t I start earlier?’ and ‘Next time will be different.’�� Students can learn to control these thoughts and should do so since these thoughts are linked with depression, anxiety, lack of conscientiousness and avoidance.”����

Get help if you need it
“Perhaps the biggest problem is that perfectionistic procrastinators do not seek help, whether it is for assistance with their learning style or for their psychological issues. Asking for help is not a sign of weakness and is not something to be ashamed of. In fact, it is the smart thing to do.”

For more University news, photos and videos, visit the homepage.

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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91��ɫ graduate students Pierre-Yann Dubé Dolbec, Douglas Hunter and Juha Mikkonen are the 2012 recipients of Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships, Canada’s most prestigious awards for doctoral research. Each will receive��$50,000 per year for three years.

Vanier scholars are selected for their exceptional leadership skills and for realizing the highest standards of scholarly achievement in graduate studies in natural sciences, engineering, and the social sciences and humanities.

Pierre-Yann Dubé Dolbec (left) is a doctoral student in 91��ɫ’s Graduate Program in Administration, offered through the Schulich School of Business. A world traveller, Dubé Dolbec has conducted research, studied and fostered collaborations in more than 30 countries, including India, France and Denmark.

Dubé Dolbec has an��undergraduate degree in business administration from Laval University and a master’s of science in marketing from HEC Montréal. His previous research on brand experiences is set to be published in the coming year.

“Pierre-Yann is motivated, highly involved and enthusiastic,” said Allan Hutchinson, dean and associate vice-president graduate, “and he has an exemplary drive for research innovation.”

Dubé Dolbec's��research is aimed at helping��create public spaces that encourage more socially responsible behaviour when people come together in large groups, perhaps avoiding destructive riots and creating an environment that fosters more peaceful discussion.

Douglas Hunter (right) is completing his doctoral studies in 91��ɫ’s Graduate Program in History. A nationally known and award-winning author, public intellectual, popular historian, journalist and artist,��Hunter is dedicated to educating a national audience by making Canadian history accessible.

“With an unusual academic background for a doctoral student in history, Mr. Hunter’s work in historical nonfiction has been exceptional, incisive and richly informative,” said Hutchinson.

The winner of the National Business Book Award in 2002 for The Bubble and the Bear: How Nortel Burst the Canadian Dream��(Doubleday 2002) in which Hunter analyzed the��rise and fall of Nortel Networks, Hunter is also the��author of six history books on topics as diverse as hockey and North American exploration, and��numerous articles on historians and historical��artifacts. With an undergraduate degree in humanities from McMaster University and an advanced degree in securities, Hunter's career has included working as a journalist, editor, illustrator and graphic designer for newspapers, magazines and publishing houses, before he started his own business in 1993.

Now focused on his doctoral research at 91��ɫ,��Hunter is exploring “cryptohistory”, looking at how scholarly histories have influenced and been influenced by public prejudices. Similar to conventional histories, cryptohistorical ideas bolstered the celebration of the racial and cultural superiority of European colonists and later immigrant communities. Douglas is interested in particular in how cryptohistorians appropriated indigenous records, particularly in rock art, oral traditions and archaeological material, to support claims of pre-Columbian European visitors.

Juha Mikkonen (left) is working toward��a PhD in health policy and equity studies. Working in Finnish, French and English, Mikkonen joined 91��ɫ with impressive background in research. With��more than��50 professional and academic contributions geared towards linking academic and non-academic fields, he also has more than a decade working in health promotion in Helsinki and in poverty reduction in 27 European nations.

Mikkonen joined 91��ɫ`s Health Policy and Equity Studies Program with undergraduate and master’s degrees in social sciences from the University of Helsinki, Finland. As a visiting scholar at 91��ɫ, he co-authored a report, Social Determinants of Health: The Canadian Facts with��91��ɫ Professor Dennis Raphael. The report aims to educate the public and health advocates about social determinants of health and shifting thought processes surrounding well-being.

His doctoral research, a comparative analysis of Canadian and Finnish public health policy, will help in developing future policy in both countries and beyond.��“Creative motivated and thoughtful,��Mikkonen will provide many insights into current health policy debate in Canada,” said Hutchinson.

“We are, of course, incredibly proud of our Vanier scholars,” says Peter Mulvihill, associate dean, Graduate Studies at 91��ɫ. “They have each demonstrated their talents at bringing their research out into the world, and the world into their research. I look forward to seeing their progress and the evolution of their work over the next few years.”

Administered by Canada’s three federal granting agencies, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Natural Sciences & Engineering Research Council of Canada and the Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Vanier Canada scholarship program’s goal is to build world-class research capacity in Canada by recruiting and supporting top-tier doctoral students who will positively contribute to��Canada's economic, social and research-based growth.

The Vanier scholarship program is available online at .

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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Las Nubes: Conservation in the Cloud Forests of Costa Rica

“Las Nubes is Spanish for ‘the clouds’, and Las Nubes Biological Reserve is a place where the opportunity for discovery is as limitless as the sky,” write its authors, 91��ɫ environmental studies PhD candidate Chris Saker (MES ’09) and Ana Maria Martinez (MES ’10), a PhD candidate in 91��ɫ’s Faculty of Education.

Organic shade-grown coffee beans. All photos by Brett Cole

Las Nubes: Conservation in the Cloud Forests of Costa Rica (Rainforest Editions), available through the 91��ɫ Bookstore, is dedicated to the memory of the late 91��ɫ environmental studies Professor Howard Daugherty.

Golden-hooded Tanager

“The book is intended to raise awareness of the natural beauty of this ecosystem and the research, teaching and outreach programs conducted at Las Nubes,” says Barbara Rahder, former dean of the Faculty of Environmental Studies (FES). “It is also a fundraising project for FES and the Fisher Fund.”

But it is also what Rahder calls “a tribute to the years Professor Howard Daugherty spent developing our educational and research programs at Las Nubes.” Daugherty first conceived of the book as a way of showcasing the program's accomplishments, and the reserve itself, as well as promoting conservation. He spent some two years on the book, hand picking the photos from the thousands that had been taken, and helping to fashion the storyline. After his death, the work was continued by his colleagues, students and friends.

Laughing Falcons

The book contains 200 photographs by nature photographer Brett Cole, of everything colourful, strange and wonderful that thrives and fights for life amid the towering rainforests��–��from birds, such as the Golden-hooded Tanager and flowers like the Apostle’s Iris, to the Morpho butterfly, a caterpillar dotted with parasites, and spiders and shiny-backed beetles.

Cole was commissioned by FES in 2007 “to capture the fragile, but diverse ecosystem at Las Nubes,” says Rahder. And capture it he did, showing a glimpse of the rich diversity of the 124 hectares of protected rainforest on the Pacific slopes of the Talamanca Mountains in southern Costa Rica. It was this piece of rainforest that was donated to 91��ɫ by Dr. M.M. (Woody) Fisher in 1998.

It’s not only an essential refuge for tropical biodiversity, but a place where students and researchers from 91��ɫ’s FES, as well as other academic institutions, go to learn and conduct research in tropical conservation, sustainable development and biodiversity, while working with local communities.

Apostle's Iris

“Hundreds of our undergraduate and graduate students have been able to do fieldwork at Las Nubes. 91��ɫ is committed to social justice and that is embodied in our fair trade Las Nubes coffee, which is grown by local farmers in shaded coffee farms,” says Rahder.

Orchard spider

All proceeds from the sale of this book go to the Fisher Fund in Neo-Tropical Conservation, Faculty of Environmental Studies, 91��ɫ, to support student and faculty research at Las Nubes.

Order single copies through the or by contacting Steve Glassman, bookstore director, at glassman@yorku.ca or ext. 33018.

For more photos, visit the at the bottom of the .

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The grant is designed to assist women with university studies, which will lead to careers helping to improve the quality of other women's lives – a goal Roosen plans on achieving. Her doctoral research will include in-depth analysis of body image and eating concerns in young women with physical disabilities.

Through a mix of quantitative and qualitative methods, Roosen plans to survey disabled women to find out if they have “faced many barriers to treatment or to making healthy lifestyle choices; do they see their experiences as different from those of able bodied people; and do they feel misunderstood.”

According to the research literature, women with disabilities have an increased risk of developing an eating disorder, but these same women are not showing up at programs designed to deal with the issue, says Roosen, who studies in 91��ɫ’s Faculty of Health.

“Obesity is higher in physically disabled women, as there is a lack of access to various healthy lifestyle programs and lack of ability for physical activity,” says Roosen. Doctors often encourage these women to diet, yet they’re not given appropriate accessible resources. “Hearing their stories has made me want to work with them, as I felt it was an area that is being overlooked.”

Having conducted a clinical practicum at the Centre for Addiction & Mental Health for women with eating disorders, she has witnessed the lack of involvement of disabled women first-hand. That’s when she began to ask questions, such as: are eating disorders programs set up to handle a disabled person? She believes the answer will be no.

Roosen knows intimately some of the barriers experienced by young physically disabled women. She was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy at the age of 12. During her time at 91��ɫ, she has been a strong advocate for disabled students.

She has published two chapters on body image and one article on disability and psychotherapy, and frequently speaks to the community on disability awareness, eating disorders and body image in women.

Roosen has previously won the Terry Fox Humanitarian Award and a Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

For more information about the grant for Canadian Women Graduate students, visit the website.

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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“On behalf of the 91��ɫ research community, I am very pleased by this announcement,” said Robert Haché, 91��ɫ’s vice-president research & innovation. “NSERC’s investment in science, engineering and technological research reflects the exceptional quality of the research activities undertaken by 91��ɫ’s researchers, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. Our growing success in NSERC grant competitions allows our researchers to continue to grow and strengthen their innovative research programs across these disciplines from a base of excellence.”

Scientists, engineers and students at universities across the country will receive more than $410 million in grants and scholarships over terms ranging from one to five years. ��These awards comprise the 2012 competition results for NSERC’s Discovery Grants, Discovery Accelerator Supplements, Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarships, NSERC Postgraduate Scholarships and Postdoctoral Fellowships Programs.

Forty-nine 91��ɫ researchers received funding in the Discovery Grants Competition, securing $6,086,000 in funding – a success rate of 71 per cent – highlighting the strength of University research programs in the science and engineering disciplines.

In the Discovery Grants and Discovery Accelerator Supplements Competition, the funding was granted for research programs covering a wide range of topics, including:

• Experiments in the atmospheres of Mars and Earth
• Structural and functional imaging of the human thalamus
• The role of electrical synapses in vision
• The development and application of dynamic smart surfaces
• Thoracic and lumbar spine biomechanics
• Development and application of mass spectrometry imaging to biological models

91��ɫ researchers were also awarded $601,733 in funding in the Research Tools & Instruments competition.

"Our government's top priority is jobs, growth and long-term prosperity. To remain at the forefront of the global economy, our government is investing in the people and ideas that will produce tomorrow's breakthroughs," said Gary Goodyear, federal minister of state for science and technology. "Through these investments, we are creating the best-educated and most skilled workforce in the world."

"Through these programs, NSERC provides direct support to an exceptionally strong base of scientific and creative talent in every field of the natural sciences and engineering," said Suzanne Fortier, NSERC president. "Our scholarships and fellowships programs help us recruit and retain the bright young minds that will lead the next generation of Canadian discoverers and innovators. The flexibility and broad base of research supported by our internationally recognized Discovery Grants Program maintains our capacity to promote important breakthroughs."

The Discovery Grants Program supports ongoing programs of research in every scientific and engineering discipline. Valued at $120,000 over three years, Discovery Accelerator Supplements are awarded to researchers whose research proposals suggest and explore high-risk, novel or potentially transformative concepts and lines of inquiry, and are likely to have impact by contributing to groundbreaking advances in the proposed areas of research.

Research Tools and Instruments (RTI) grants foster and enhance the discovery, innovation and training capability of university researchers in the natural sciences and engineering by supporting the purchase of research equipment and installations.

The NSERC scholarships and fellowships awards announced Wednesday − comprised of the Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarships, NSERC Postgraduate Scholarships and Postdoctoral Fellowships −��offer support at the master’s, doctoral and postdoctoral levels.

For more information, visit the website.

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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91��ɫ Professors Natasha Myers and Thilo Womelsdorf have been awarded $100,000 each in funding under the Ontario government’s Early Researcher Awards program. ��

Ontario’s Ministry of Economic Development��& Innovation announced the awards Monday. ��91��ɫ’s research investment of $50,000 will match the funds for the award.

The program helps promising, recently appointed Ontario researchers build research teams of undergraduates, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, research associates and technicians. The goal of the program is to improve Ontario’s ability to attract and retain the best and brightest research talent. Ontario’s Early Researcher Awards investment of $8.68 million will support 62 emerging researchers and their teams at 19 institutions across the province.

Professor , of the Department of Biology in the Faculty of Science��& Engineering and member of 91��ɫ’s Centre for Vision Research, is studying how individuals focus their attention on one object, thought or event, while ignoring other external information. ��His research examines the three major regions of the brain that guide and determine selective attention, to find out how they work and interact.����Womelsdorf’s research will identify how networks of brain cells coordinate separable attention information using state-of-the-art technologies and will critically advance hotly-debated, neuro-economic decision making theories.��The research will lead to a better understanding of various diseases that widely affect health, education and the economy of Ontario.

Professor Natasha Myers, of the Department of Anthropology in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, examines how plants are acquiring new status and visibility in our culture. Specifically, she explores the ways that artists and scientists are transforming our everyday assumptions through artworks and experiments that render plants as active, sensing organisms. This ethnographic research with practitioners both in Ontario and at international sites will shed light on the ethical and political significance of these shifts in perception about nonhuman life and the order of things.

“I am most pleased that the Ministry of Research and Economic Development has recognized the achievements of 91��ɫ Professors Natasha Myers and Thilo Womelsdorf, who are actively engaged in conducting globally competitive research in the early stages of their careers,” said Robert Haché, 91��ɫ’s vice-president research & innovation. “Our early career researchers represent the future of research at 91��ɫ and contribute to building Canada’s knowledge-based economy. ��The funding provided by the Ministry will provide these emerging researchers with resources to build their innovative research programs.” ��

“This research work is important to helping us meet our health care challenges while fostering long-term job creation and economic growth,” said Brad Duguid, minister of economic development and innovation.

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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