From artificial intelligence to social enterprises and from disinformation to municipal wastewater challenges, Memorial University researchers are helping find answers to complex social issues for people and communities here at home and around the world.
The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council recently announced results of several of its research grant programs, with 11 Memorial researchers securing $1,081,464 to support diverse projects based in the faculties of Business Administration, Humanities and Social Sciences, Medicine, Nursing and Science, as well as the School of Science and the Environment at Grenfell Campus.
Funding was announced on July 21 as part of a larger $289-million investment to address social and economic challenges.
Explore the full list of Memorial’s results from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council’s Insight Grants and Insight Development Grants competitions.
‘Exciting projects’
“Memorial University researchers continue to lead innovative studies and collaborations with global experts and trainees to expand knowledge and understanding of issues about people, communities and our world,” said Dr. Rod Russell, interim vice-president (research and innovation). “Through the ongoing support of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, teams are pursuing cutting-edge ideas while opening the doors to excellent opportunities for our students and trainees. Congratulations to these groups on securing this highly competitive research funding. Memorial is proud of your work, and I look forward to learning more about your exciting projects.”
Insight Grants 2025
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
Dr. Nancy Pedri, Department of English and Communication and Media Studies, Graphic Journalism and Underviolences, $370,123
Total: $370,123
Faculty of Science
Dr. Stephane Dandeneau, Department of Psychology, Habit-Based Strategies to Reduce Social Stress, $115,185
Total: $115,185
Insight Development Grants 2026
Faculty of Business Administration
Dr. Carlos Bazan, From Research to Impact: A Systems-Based Theory of Research Mobilization, $68,488
Dr. Sokeibelemaye Nwauche, Social Enterprise Resilience, $48,310
Total: $116,798
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
Dr. Dwayne Avery, English and Communication and Media Studies, Fun Fascism: Generative AI, Platform Aesthetics, and the Transformation of Political Communication, $66,854
Dr. Daria Boltokova, Department of Anthropology, An Ethnography of Language Documentation: Collaborative Knowledge Production in the Dane-zaa Language, $63,368
Total: $130,222
Faculty of Medicine
Dr. Janna Andronowski, Merging Anthropological Theory and Techniques with Historical Analyses to Weave a Narrative of a Nineteenth-Century Sailor from L’Anse Au Loup, Labrador, $100,000
Total: $100,000
Faculty of Nursing
Dr. Esther Monari, Social Frailty in Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Adults in Newfoundland and Labrador (NL): A Qualitative Intersectional Exploration, $44,512
Total: $44,512
Faculty of Science
Dr. Victoria Dykstra, Department of Psychology, The Social and Cognitive Influences on Lie-telling During Adolescence, $81,656
Dr. Brent Snook, Department of Psychology, Bizzaro World: The Effect of the Big Lie on Perceptions of Facts, $64,308
Total: $145,964
Grenfell Campus
Dr. Josie Wittmer, School of Science and the Environment, The environmental politics of wastewater infrastructure and sewage management in Newfoundland, $58,660
Total: $58,660
A number of other Memorial researchers are co-applicants, collaborators and partners on other projects that received support.
