Water Institute members receive $590,000 for early career researchers and infrastructure

Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Five Water Institute faculty members will receive $590,000 from the provincial government to build Ontario's knowledge-based economy in Waterloo Region.

Kathryn McGarry, MPP for Cambridge, and Daiene Vernile, MPP for Kitchener Centre, made the announcement of the Early Researcher Awards (ERA) and Ontario Research Fund-Research Infrastructure (ORF-RI) awards today as part of an investment in Waterloo region worth $3.6 million.

This announcement will support infrastructure and help early-career researchers build exceptional teams to continue to lead the advancement of transformational research,” said Feridun Hamdullahpur, president and vice-chancellor of Waterloo. “This commitment and investment in research at Waterloo contributes to new knowledge and opportunities, and supports a competitive economy for Ontario.

The Ontario government awarded funds to the following University of Waterloo water researchers and projects:

Early Researcher Awards

The Early Researcher Awards program recognizes provides new researchers with $140,000 each to build a research team.

  • Applied Health Sciences
    • Bryan Grimwood (Recreation and Leisure Studies): Tourism and indigenous livelihoods in Ontario’s near north
  • Engineering
    • Hyung-Sool Lee (Civil and Environmental Engineering): Leveraging advanced microbial electrochemical cell technologies for sustainable wastewater treatment
  • Environment

    • Derek T. Robinson (Geography and Environmental Management): Integrating drones and simulation to estimate the impacts of climate, technology and policy on Ontario farming

Ontario Research Fund – Research Infrastructure (ORF-RI) awards

The ORF-RI fund helps support infrastructure needs such as equipment and modern facilities.

  • Applied Health Sciences
    • Aiping Yu (Chemical Engineering): Development of advanced nanostructured graphene materials for clean energy storage ($50,000)
  • Science
    • Paul Craig (Biology): Integrative responses of fish to environmental stressors ($120,000)

Read more

Read the press release that lists all 21 Waterloo researchers who received these awards.