Second from Trent receives Research Excellence Award

Dr. James D.A. Parker of the Psychology Department and Director of the Applications of Modelling in the Natural and Social Sciences (AMINSS) graduate program has received a Premier's Research Excellence Award (PREA).

Dr. Parker will receive $100,000 from the province and $50,000 from corporate sponsor Multi-Health Systems, inc. (MHS) over the next four years. MHS, located in Toronto, is the largest publisher of psychological tests and assessment materials in Canada, and is a world leader in the development and marketing of emotional intelligence assessment tools.

Dr. Parker, educated at Simon Fraser University and York University, joined Trent's Psychology Department in July 1994. He applied for the PREA to create an emotional Intelligence research Laboratory at Trent. The funds will be used to support research staff (primarily graduate students in the AMINSS program) at Trent who will work on a variety of research projects related to emotional intelligence and mental and physical health. Emotional intelligence refers to the ability to accurately express and regulate emotions.

The Premier's Research Excellence Awards were announced in the May 1998 budget to improve Ontario's ability to keep highly talented young researchers in the province. Trent professor Dr. Holger Hintelmann of Chemistry and Environmental and Resource Studies department received one of the first PREAs earlier this year.