Three FASS Researchers Awarded NSERC Discovery Grants
Congratulations to the following FASS researchers, who were awarded National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Discovery Grants in the November 2023 competition!
Dipto Sarkar (DGES) was funded for the research program, “Integrating Long-term Monitoring and Predictive Modeling for Biodiversity Conservation,” which develops computational techniques integrating long-term ecological monitoring and predictive modeling to support biodiversity conservation in Kibale National Park, Uganda. The park is an ecologically significant tropical forest managed under a “parks and neighbours” strategy. The research program will focus on developing algorithms to forecast crop-raiding events by elephants, and on enhancing species distribution models that can account for the sharp ecosystem edges of the park and incorporate environmental DNA data.
Murray Richardson (DGES) received funding for “Landscape analysis and hydrologic modelling for northern water security,” a research program that aims to enhance northern water security in Canada through field observation, geomatics (GIS and remote sensing), hydrologic modelling, and collaboration with Inuit and First Nation community partners. The research focuses on two main themes: northern water supply, and northern water quality and watershed cumulative effects assessment.
With “Modelling glacier and ice sheet response to climate change,” Shawn Marshall (DGES) aims to study seasonal and interannual albedo variability, the chemical composition and concentrations of impurities in supraglacial snow, firn, and ice, and processes of impurity loading and flushing at glacier sites in western and Artic Canada. The long-term objective of the research program is to embed the glacier system model in high-resolution Earth system models for improved weather, climate, and hydrological predictions that better account for albedo feedbacks that are known to accelerate glacier and ice sheet melt – crucial research given the accelerated decline of glaciers and ice sheets due to climate change, and the impact of this on global sea level rise and freshwater security.
NSERC Discovery Grants supports ongoing programs of research with long-term goals rather than a single short-term project or collection of projects. These grants recognize the creativity and innovation that are at the heart of all research advances.