Dr. Heidi Swanson, Department of Biology
Heidi Swanson (Biology) and her colleagues from the School of Public Health and First Nations partners find some northern fish are safe to eat, and contain healthy fatty acids, despite concerns that this traditional food is contaminated with mercury. The long-standing relationships this research team has built with the First Nations is not only yielding important scientific findings, but is helping to improve quality of life in the communities of the Canadian North.
Dr. Robert Case, Department of Social Development Studies
Rob Case compares the dynamics of community engagement in water activism in two Canadian communities. He finds that reactionary community engagement in the presence of the proverbial ‘bad guy’ is not enough to sustain long-term engagement. His findings are helping activist groups understand how to effectively mobilize and create positive change in the water sector.
Dr. Frank Gu, Department of Chemical Engineering
Frank Gu (Department of Chemical Engineering) finds that toxic oil sands water stored in tailing ponds at mine sites can be partially remediated with sunlight, offering new hope for cleaning this water that is currently being held on-site under a no-discharge policy. They began with the goal of improving water treatment applications, but discovered that buoyant photocatalysts may be useful in remediating Canada’s oil sands as well.
Dr. Brian Dixon, Department of Biology, Canada Research Chair in Fish and Environmental Immunology
Brian Dixon (Biology) and his Chilean colleagues provide evidence, for the first time, that although vaccine use in farmed fish has expanded greatly in the past 10 years, they are not protecting salmon which are infected by more than one pathogen. In fact, they showed co-infection with sea lice essentially removed the protective effects of vaccination.
