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(Wolfville,
NS) - Dr. John ApSimon, Executive Director of the
Canada Research Chairs Program, was at Acadia University today to
recognize the appointment of three Canada Research Chairs (CRC).
Dr. Hugh Chipman, CRC
in Mathematical Modelling; Dr. Michael Leiter, CRC in Occupational
Health and Well-Being; and Dr. Jan Marontate, CRC in Technology and
Culture were awarded citations by Dr. ApSimon during a ceremony at
the K.C. Irving Environmental Science Centre Auditorium.
During the ceremony,
each Canada Research Chair also made 15-minute presentations to
report on the progress of their research programs.
Since his appointment
in July, 2004, Dr. Hugh Chipman has been building Acadia’s research
capacity in mathematical modelling. He has played a leadership role
in the formation of the Canada Foundation for Innovation funded
Acadia Centre for Mathematical Modelling and Computation (ACMMaC),
which brings together researchers from a wide variety of disciplines
who share interests in mathematical modelling. Dr. Chipman is
actively using ACMMaC resources in his current research in virtual
screening methods for drug discovery problems, statistical learning
algorithms for genomics, network modelling for anti-terrorism
initiatives, and modelling of ocean temperature profiles.
Dr. Chipman is also
building research capacity regionally and nationally. In the last 18
months, he has organized an Atlantic workshop on robust and
computationally intensive statistical methods, and two international
workshops on data mining at the Fields Institute in Toronto. With
his assistance, Acadia is preparing to join the Atlantic Canada high
performance computing consortium, ACEnet, which will further expand
the computing power available to mathematical modellers at Acadia
University.
Since being named CRC
in Occupational Health and Well-Being in 2005, Dr. Michael Leiter
has been working to expand the capacity of the Centre of
Organizational Research & Development (COR&D). This includes
participating in major reviews of the health and long-term care
sectors of Atlantic Canada. A study of nursing environments, funded
by Health Canada, is examining, within Atlantic Canada, the impact
of national recommendations for improving the quality of work life
in the health care system. COR&D is also conducting province-wide
consultations on French language health services, education
strategies and recruitment/retention strategies for the Health Human
Resource Council of Nova Scotia.
In the fall of 2005,
COR&D began a campus-wide initiative entitled Stress Busters as one
of the objectives of Dr. Leiter’s CRC to engage the Acadia
University campus in activities and discussions about occupational
stress and well-being.
In addition to these
projects, Dr. Leiter published a new book in 2005 with Dr. Christina
Maslach entitled Banishing Burnout: Six Strategies for Improving
your Relationship With Work.
Acadia’s sixth CRC,
Dr. Jan Marontate, named in July 2005, is studying techno-cultural
change and its impact on everyday life and the creative work of
musicians, artists, scientists, and engineers. She is concerned with
how the new technologies, using computer-based visual images, sound,
and text, are affecting the working lives of knowledge-based
professionals. Her research focuses on strategies for sustainable
careers in fields involved with techno-cultural innovation. Dr.
Marontate studies new strategies for the preservation of records of
work done with computers as part of our cultural heritage. Her goal
is to keep digital media accessible for future generations.
Dr. Marontate is also
a recipient of a Research Development Initiative grant awarded by
the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, following her
CRC nomination, for a study of new curatorial and conservation
strategies in art museums with a national team of investigators.
The Canada Research
Chair program was developed by the federal government to provide
opportunities for outstanding individuals to further their careers
through financed research, as well as promote innovation and
excellence in Canadian universities.
Acadia University, in
Wolfville, Nova Scotia, has long been recognized as one of Canada’s
premier undergraduate institutions. With its nationally and
internationally recognized research initiatives, small class sizes
and technology-rich teaching and learning environment, Acadia offers
students an experience that includes academic achievement combined
with personal growth and development. For more information about
Acadia, visit our website at
www.acadiau.ca
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