Can kelp help improve soil health and increase crop yields?

How can artificial intelligence help monitor sea ice conditions off Newfoundland and Labrador?

Those are some of the questions Memorial University researchers will try to answer using state-of-the-art technology as they tackle critical issues and find answers to big challenges facing our planet.

Through its John R. Evans Leaders Fund, the Canada Foundation for Innovation recently announced a total investment of $1,136,776 in support of six projects and the multidisciplinary teams conducting the research.

The investment supports projects involving research teams in the faculties of Science, Engineering and Applied Science, and Medicine, and the School of Science and the Environment, Grenfell Campus.

‘Ready to think big’

“Through a longstanding partnership with the Canada Foundation for Innovation and its John R. Evans Leaders Fund, we are ensuring Memorial University’s research teams have access to unique and powerful infrastructure to help find answers to research questions and train the next generation of scientists and scholars,” said Dr. Rod Russell, interim vice-president (research and innovation). “Our teams are ready to think big. Thank you to the Government of Canada for its continued support. Sincere congratulations to those receiving this pivotal support.”

Six diverse projects

The following projects have secured Canada Foundation for Innovation funding:

• Dr. Oscar De Silva, associate professor, Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, and project lead, and Drs. Matthew Hamilton, assistant professor, Department of Computer Science, Faculty of Science, and Rocky Taylor, professor, Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, received $238,048 for their project, Next-Generation Multispectral Sensing Station for Real-Time Sea Ice Monitoring in Coastal Newfoundland and Labrador
• Dr. Trung Duong, Canada Excellence Research Chair, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, and project lead, received $75,001 for the project, Toward Ubiquitous 6G Connectivity: A Software-Defined Testbed for Space-Air-Ground Integrated Networks
• Dr. Zahra Farahnak, assistant professor, Department of Human Biosciences, Faculty of Science, and project lead, and Dr. Christopher Kovacs, University Research Professor and professor of medicine, obstetrics, gynecology and biomedical science in the Faculty of Medicine, were awarded $121,477 for the project, Fully Self-shielded Dual-energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA) System for Body Composition Assessment in Small Animals
• Dr. Christina Smeaton, associate professor and project lead, and Dr. Lakshman Galagedara, both from the School of Science and the Environment, Grenfell Campus, were awarded $421,743, for their project, Sustainable Agro-Biogeochemistry Facility
• Dr. Tevye Stachniak, assistant professor, Division of BioMedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, and project lead, and Drs. Francis Bambico and Susan Walling, both associate professors, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Science, were awarded $199,043 for their project, Electrophysiology and Optogenetics Platform Development for Integrated Neuroscience
• Dr. Susan Ziegler, Canada Research Chair in Boreal Biogeochemistry and project lead, along with Drs. Michael Babechuk, associate professor, and Penny Morrill, professor, all from the Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Science, received $81,464 for the project, Mobile Field Laboratory to Support Accessible Research Informing Climate Change, Mitigation and Energy Transition