Two projects led by Waterloo Engineering researchers were awarded almost $4.2 million in funding today through a federal program created to tackle climate change by achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
Dr. Nandita Basu, a professor of civil and environmental engineering, as well as earth and environmental sciences, will receive $3.7 million through the Climate Action and Awareness Fund for a project called Solutionscapes: Designing climate and water-smart agricultural solutions in complex working landscapes.
Nandita Basu, a professor at Waterloo Engineering, leads a research project awarded $3.7 million in federal funding.
“This project aims to inform achieving a net-zero future while also prioritizing water quality and healthy ecosystems,” a project description reads. “It will take a novel and multidisciplinary approach to developing nature-based climate solutions that integrate food, energy, and water systems.”
Dr. Eric Croiset, a professor of chemical engineering, was granted $480,000 as co-lead of a project called Robust decision making using dynamic adaptive policy pathways for direct air capture deployment in Canada.
“This project aimsto develop a decision-support framework for ‘direct air capture’—technology that deploys equipment to directly capture carbon from the atmosphere,” according to its description. “The project will inform policy and plans to develop and deploy direct air capture technology in Canada.”
Campus-wide at the University of Waterloo, six projects were awarded $15.8 million. Across the country, $58 million was announced for 24 projects.
"Scientific research underpins everything we do to fight climate change,” Steven Guilbeault, the minister of environment and climate change, said in a media release. “This funding provides critical support, allowing government and academia to collaborate to explore practical and achievable climate change solutions.”
Go to $15.8 million awarded to six Waterloo research projects aimed at tackling climate change for a University media release and Expert group receives funding to assess policies to reach net-zero emissions for more detail on the direct air capture project.