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(Wolfville,
NS) - Acadia University has welcomed a $142,474
investment from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) in
support of research led by assistant chemistry professor Dr. John
Murimboh.
“These awards
represent a strategic boost to the research capacities of Acadia
University,” said Dr. Eliot Phillipson, President and CEO of the
CFI. “It’s investments like these that have transformed Canada’s
research landscape over the past decade and made the country a
destination of choice for the world’s best researchers.”
Dr. Murimboh’s funding
from CFI will enable a $356,186 project entitled “Infrastructure for
investigating the biogeochemistry of trace metals in the
environment.” With acquired state-of-the-art research equipment, Dr.
Murimboh will identify and characterize metal exposure in aquatic
and terrestrial environments.
In Canada, many lakes,
rivers and other natural waters have been identified as toxic sites,
many contaminated by toxic metals. Chronic, low-level exposure to
these contaminants can result in risks to the ecosystem, and to
human health—including greater incidences of cancer, neurotoxicity,
and birth defects.
“Environmental
chemists like Dr. John Murimboh are providing unique insights into
the contamination of our natural waters,” said Dr. Gail
Dinter-Gottlieb, Acadia University President and Vice-Chancellor.
“The investment in this infrastructure project will serve to build
Acadia’s growing environmental research capacity and will enable Dr.
Murimboh and his colleagues at Acadia, and in the region, to address
this growing environmental problem.”
This week, CFI
announced a total of $23.6 million in new funds for 35 institutions
across the country. Their announcement marks the inauguration of the
CFI’s new Leaders Opportunity Fund (LOF). This new program, created
to reflect Canada’s fast-evolving research environment, was designed
to give Canadian universities the added flexibility they need to
both attract and retain the very best of today’s and tomorrow’s
researchers at a time of intense international competition for
leading faculty.
The CFI’s Board of
Directors approved this investment under two funds: $19.7 million
under the Leaders Opportunity Fund, and $3.9 million under the
Infrastructure Operating Fund, an accompanying program which assists
universities with the incremental operating and maintenance costs
associated with new infrastructure projects.
“I applaud Acadia and
its success in securing CFI funding for this research,” said the
Honourable Peter MacKay, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister
for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency. “It is a shining
example of the first class work being done at the University – and
it is symbolic of the leading-edge research being pursued throughout
Atlantic Canada.”
A complete list of LOF
projects, by university, can be found at:
www.innovation.ca
The Canada Foundation
for Innovation (CFI) is an independent corporation created by the
Government of Canada to fund research infrastructure. The CFI’s
mandate is to strengthen the capacity of Canadian universities,
colleges, research hospitals, and non-profit research institutions
to carry out world-class research and technology development that
benefits Canadians.
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
http://www.acadiau.ca
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