Three Trent University researchers, Dr. Huy Dang, Dr. Marguerite (Maggie) Xenopoulos, and Dr. Carlo Bradac, received a combined $328,351 in funding through the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI).

“We are grateful for the continued investment of the Canadian Foundation for Innovation in Trent University’s sector-leading research,” says Dr. Cathy Bruce, acting vice-president Research and Innovation at Trent. “Thanks to the generous funding support of the John R. Evans Leaders Fund and Tri-Agency federal funding, our faculty researchers are advancing new knowledge, understanding, creativity and innovation at Trent. Importantly, these research projects have tremendous impact beyond the institution.”

As part of its continuing efforts to help the next generation of researchers to thrive in their careers, the CFI, through its John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF), have awarded Professor Dang $146,553 for his project titled Unravelling the emerging environmental risks of pollution from the High-Tech Industry, and $54,257 to Professor Bradac for a project titled Quantum-enabled nano-transducers for (bio)nanotechnologies. Recently, Professor Maggie Xenopoulos, Trent’s newly appointed Canada research chair in Global Change of Freshwater Ecosystems, received $127,541 towards infrastructure associated with her new position.

The three research projects supported through the CFI are detailed below.

• Dr. Huy Dang, Trent School of the Environment and Chemistry: Gaining a deeper understanding of the environmental risks that the hi-tech industry poses to technology-critical elements, including rare earth and platinum group elements. The knowledge gained through this research will guide planning for hi-tech industries and waste recycling and disposal facilities.
• Dr. Maggie Xenopoulos, Biology: Investigating the effects of human activities on the biogeochemistry and function of aquatic ecosystems by exploring the pressures of climate change, floods, land use effects, nutrient pollution and other stressors on lakes and rivers with a particular focus on carbon. Through new collaborative research projects, many involving students at both the undergraduate and graduate level, Prof. Xenopoulos aims to explore how carbon composition affects the health of aquatic ecosystems, including the amount of CO2 that is outgassed from the water.
• Dr. Carlo Bradac, Physics & Astronomy: Developing a new class of quantum-enabled nanosensors for high-resolution sensing and imaging applications. This research program will expand national expertise in quantum-based sensing that will be used for fundamental and practical studies in biomedicine, environmental science and quantum optics.

The CFI, through the John R. Evans Leaders Fund will support 332 new research projects at 50 institutions across Canada. It also supported 29 Canada research chairs at 19 universities through its infrastructure support funding. The funding aims to help universities attract and retain top research talent from around the world and provide the highly specialized infrastructure they need to excel as leaders in their field.

“Our researchers have always thought big. Now, more than ever, they need state-of-the-art labs and equipment to turn their visions into reality,” said the Honourable Francois-Philippe Champagne, minister of Innovation, Science and Industry. “Investing in our university research infrastructure is key to our continuing role as an innovation leader in wide-ranging fields, from Indigenous research to quantum computing, from neurobiology to advanced robotics. These investments will not only support our ground-breaking contributions to science and research but also improve our economy, environment and quality of life.”