Four Lakehead Orillia Education faculty members are chairing panels at the UNESCO International Symposium on Democracy, Global Citizenship and Transformative Education (DCMÉT), October 25 to 27.

Dr. Gary Pluim, Dr. Ellen Field, Dr. Sharla Mskokii Peltier, and Dr. Michael Hoechsmann will be guiding discussions on global citizenship, climate communication, Indigenous knowledge and Indigenous data governance.

The symposium sessions will be free of charge. Register at www.dcmetsymposium.com.

Dr. Mohammad Nasir Uddin

December 19, 2023 – Barrie, Ont.   

A professor of Computer and Electrical Engineering and coordinator of the Electrical Engineering program offered by the Lakehead-Georgian Partnership has received the most prestigious teaching award bestowed by Lakehead University. 

Dr. Mohammad Nasir Uddin, who is at the Georgian College campus in Barrie, is this year’s recipient of the Distinguished Instructor Award.

This award recognizes an outstanding individual who has made a significant contribution to teaching excellence, educational innovation, and leadership at the University over a number of years. 

“I feel truly honoured and humbled to be recognized with this award,” Dr. Uddin said. 

“It reflects my strong commitment to teaching undergraduate students in our Electrical Engineering program and preparing them for professional careers in the field.” 

Upon conferring the award to Dr. Uddin, Lakehead University’s Senate Teaching and Learning Committee noted his impressive and distinguished list of accomplishments, and his reputation among students and colleagues as a gifted and compassionate educator. 

The committee also acknowledged Dr. Uddin’s outstanding contribution to developing new undergraduate and graduate programs, and establishing the Renewable Energy, Power Systems & Drives Research Lab in Barrie that has cemented his legacy as a remarkable educator and researcher. 

“Dr. Uddin is a tremendous teacher and academic leader who always puts his students first,” said Dr. Janusz Koziński, Dean of Engineering at Lakehead University. 

“He thoroughly deserves this recognition for his work with undergraduate and graduate students, and the important role he plays as mentor and role model for our team of professors in Barrie.”

-30-

Media: For more information or interviews, please contact Brandon Walker, Media, Communications and Marketing Associate, at (807) 343-8110 ext. 8372 or mediarelations@lakeheadu.ca.

Lakehead University is a fully comprehensive university with approximately 9,700 full-time equivalent students and over 2,000 faculty and staff at two campuses in Orillia and Thunder Bay, Ontario. Lakehead has nine faculties, including Business Administration, Education, Engineering, Graduate Studies, Health & Behavioural Sciences, Law, Natural Resources Management, Science & Environmental Studies, and Social Sciences & Humanities. Lakehead University’s achievements have been recognized nationally and internationally, including being ranked in the top half of Times Higher Education's 2023 World Universities Rankings for the fourth consecutive year, and the number one university in the world with fewer than 9,000 students in THE’s 2023 Impact Rankings (which assesses institutions against the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals). Visit www.lakeheadu.ca.

December 7, 2023 – Thunder Bay and Orillia, Ont.

Research Infosource has named Lakehead the number three university in Canada in the undergraduate category of its annual Research University of the Year assessment. 

Lakehead was ranked in the top spot from 2015 to 2019 — the first time an institution in Research Infosource's undergraduate category was ever ranked Research University of the Year five years in a row. 

Lakehead President and Vice-Chancellor Dr. Gillian Siddall said she is proud that the university has returned to the podium. 

“Thank you to our researchers and their partners for an exceptional year,” Dr. Siddall said. 

“Kudos must also go to the hard work and dedication of our offices of Research Services and Innovation, Partnerships and Economic Development, which have helped put Lakehead University among the highest-ranked universities in Canada and around the world.” 

Lakehead’s placement with the top of the country’s undergraduate universities category is based on the university standing out on a balanced scorecard of research inputs and outputs, according to the annual ranking of Canada’s Top 50 Research Universities by Research Infosource, Canada’s source of research and development intelligence. 

Dr. Andrew P. Dean, Lakehead’s Vice-President, Research and Innovation, said he was very pleased to rank in the top three universities in Canada in the undergraduate category. 

“This ranking reflects the impact and importance of the research that is happening at Lakehead University. We continually place among the top universities in the country for citations and research funding. In Northern Ontario, we are the trusted expert for knowledge transfer that leads to innovation and economic development,” Dr. Dean said.

One of the research outputs being measured is Not-for-Profit Research Income. Within this category, Lakehead University is number one in Canada for three years in a row

“This ranking reflects our commitment to working with numerous partners across our regions as we address such current challenges as health-care inequities, food insecurity, housing access, and climate change. 

He added that Lakehead’s recently extended Research Plan, 2024 - 2026, is built around five key priorities and it reflects areas of importance and future growth within the regions the university serves. 

“Lakehead University continues to be a research-intensive university and views research and innovation as an important economic driver for our regions,” Dr. Dean said.

Research Infosource’s calculation of its Research Universities of the Year involves examining several factors, including the total amount of sponsored research funding received by each university, research intensity per faculty (total research income per faculty member), research intensity per graduate student (total research income per graduate student), total number of publications, publication intensity, and publication impact. 

“Excellent scholarly research combined with research leadership have put Lakehead among the research leaders in its tier,” said Ron Freedman, CEO of Research Infosource Inc. 

“Especially notable is the high level of research income coming from partnerships and collaborations from 2018-2022, which is a strong indicator of research relevance.” 

Click here to visit the Research Infosource website for more information. 

-30-

Media: For more information or interviews, please contact Brandon Walker, Media, Communications and Marketing Associate, at (807) 343-8110 ext. 8372 or mediarelations@lakeheadu.ca.

Lakehead University is a fully comprehensive university with approximately 9,700 full-time equivalent students and over 2,000 faculty and staff at two campuses in Orillia and Thunder Bay, Ontario. Lakehead has nine faculties, including Business Administration, Education, Engineering, Graduate Studies, Health & Behavioural Sciences, Law, Natural Resources Management, Science & Environmental Studies, and Social Sciences & Humanities. Lakehead University’s achievements have been recognized nationally and internationally, including being ranked in the top half of Times Higher Education's 2023 World Universities Rankings for the fourth consecutive year, and the number one university in the world with fewer than 9,000 students in THE’s 2023 Impact Rankings (which assesses institutions against the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals). Visit www.lakeheadu.ca.

December 1, 2023 – Thunder Bay and Orillia, Ont.

A whopping $367,900 was donated to Lakehead University on Giving Tuesday on November 28 – the eighth time Lakehead participated in the annual day of giving. 

Lakehead’s goal was to raise $147,000, which is why Mark Tilbury, Lakehead’s Director of Alumni and Annual Giving, is very excited after raising more than double that amount.   

“When we look at last year, the Lakehead community gave an additional 40 per cent,” Tilbury said. 

This set a new high-water mark for the amount of single-day donations that Lakehead University has ever received.   

“It demonstrates the collective impact that is achievable when individuals and organizations unite,” Tilbury said. 

“I’m thrilled that alumni and friends all over the world actively contributed to advancing student financial aid at Lakehead University by paying it forward. A huge thank you to everyone who supported Lakehead students.” 

Donors created 10 new student awards and supplemented an additional 40 existing awards with donations received from across the country and throughout the world.  

“This generosity demonstrates that Lakehead University alumni and friends understand and value accessible, high-quality education,” said Michael den Haan, Vice-President of External Relations at Lakehead University. 

“Despite the challenges faced by many, this global day-of-kindness offered alumni and friends a chance to forge stronger connections with Lakehead University by collectively focusing on this important initiative in support of students,” den Haan added. 

A record-breaking number of alumni and friends gave from both Canada and elsewhere, including the United States, Finland, and Mexico. 

Since Lakehead began participating in Giving Tuesday in 2016, the fundraiser has soared to increasing heights, raising more than $1.17 million in support of student financial aid at Lakehead University. 

“The 2023 campaign stands as a testament to the unwavering commitment and global impact of the Lakehead community,” den Haan said. 

-30-

Media: For more information or interviews, please contact Brandon Walker, Media, Communications and Marketing Associate, at (807) 343-8110 ext. 8372 or mediarelations@lakeheadu.ca.

Lakehead University is a fully comprehensive university with approximately 9,700 full-time equivalent students and over 2,000 faculty and staff at two campuses in Orillia and Thunder Bay, Ontario. Lakehead has nine faculties, including Business Administration, Education, Engineering, Graduate Studies, Health & Behavioural Sciences, Law, Natural Resources Management, Science & Environmental Studies, and Social Sciences & Humanities. Lakehead University’s achievements have been recognized nationally and internationally, including being ranked in the top half of Times Higher Education's 2023 World Universities Rankings for the fourth consecutive year, and the number one university in the world with fewer than 9,000 students in THE’s 2023 Impact Rankings (which assesses institutions against the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals). Visit www.lakeheadu.ca.

Students and faculty installing equipment to measure wetland greenhouse gas emissions at Cawthra Mulock, a newly constructed wetland near Newmarket.

November 29, 2023 – Orillia, Ont.

Researchers from Lakehead University have found that freshwater wetlands are important nature-based solutions for the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions.

In a recent study published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, Dr. Florin Pendea and co-authors Dr. Nanda Kanavillil and Dr. Sree Kurissery from Lakehead, and Dr. Gail Chmura of McGill University, found that wetlands within the Lake Simcoe watershed were 50 percent more effective in storing carbon than other wetland ecosystems, second only to salt marshes that form along the shores of temperate seas.

“Wetlands are important ecosystems because they have an enhanced capacity to extract carbon dioxide – a greenhouse gas – from the atmosphere and store it in the ground,” says Dr. Florin Pendea, lead researcher and associate professor in the departments of sustainability sciences and geography and the environment at Lakehead University. “This ground storage is vital because it keeps carbon dioxide from increasing in the atmosphere where it causes global warming.”

Pendea says that this research comes at an important time as countries around the world are looking at ways to mitigate climate change, including the federal government’s commitment to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

“The research is telling us that if freshwater marshes and swamps are protected, they can be important natural solutions in the mitigation of carbon dioxide emitted by human activity.”

Pendea’s team, which included several undergraduate students from Lakehead, spent three years collecting and examining soil properties and carbon accumulation rates over the last 100 years in swamps and marshes in the Lake Simcoe watershed. These wetland areas – Beaver River Wetlands, Black River-Zephyr Creek Wetlands, and the East Holland River Wetlands – are under increasing pressure from farming and urban development, a trend impacting much of Southern Ontario.

“We found that wetlands flooded more regularly are 60 percent more efficient in storing carbon long-term” explains Pendea. “This means that wetland conservation, particularly preventing drainage of wetlands, is critical in maintaining vital ecosystem services they provide, such as carbon storage.”

For Pendea, it also lends support to the case for wetland restoration through re-wetting as an important nature-based climate solution for mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions in areas where they were already drained for agriculture and other purposes.

While this research already has important policy implications, the work is far from over. This summer, Pendea started a new project in collaboration with Chmura and the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority, which explores the value of constructed wetlands – wetlands purposefully created in areas not suitable for other uses – as a way to increase the Lake Simcoe region’s capacity to mitigate future greenhouse gas emissions for generations to come. In addition to evaluating soil carbon storage capacity, this project will directly document the greenhouse gas balance in these novel ecosystems.

“We hope to provide a baseline for Southern Ontario and ascertain whether constructing new wetlands is a good idea from a climate perspective, particularly with respect to methane and nitrous oxide emissions” explains Pendea. “These greenhouse gases have a much higher global warming potential than carbon dioxide”.

“We’ve always known that wetlands are really important for biodiversity and for water quality,” explains Bill Thompson, Manager, Watershed Plans and Strategies, Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority. “This research demonstrates that they’re also really important in addressing greenhouse gas emissions, even in an area like the Lake Simcoe watershed, which is undergoing rapid land use change. We’re hoping to use this information to assist municipalities in our watershed, and across the GTA, in incorporating ‘nature-based climate solutions’ in their climate change strategies.”

This research was funded in part by the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority.

- 30 –

Media: For more information or interviews, please contact Jaclyn Bucik, Media, Communications and Marketing Associate, at 705-330-4010 ext. 2014 or mediarelations@lakeheadu.ca.

Lakehead University is a fully comprehensive university with approximately 9,700 full-time equivalent students and over 2,000 faculty and staff at two campuses in Orillia and Thunder Bay, Ontario. Lakehead has nine faculties, including Business Administration, Education, Engineering, Graduate Studies, Health & Behavioural Sciences, Law, Natural Resources Management, Science & Environmental Studies, and Social Sciences & Humanities. Lakehead University’s achievements have been recognized nationally and internationally, including being ranked in the top half of Times Higher Education's 2023 World Universities Rankings for the fourth consecutive year, and the number one university in the world with fewer than 9,000 students in THE’s 2023 Impact Rankings (which assesses institutions against the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals). Visit www.lakeheadu.ca.

The Research and Innovation Bulletin is distributed weekly every Tuesday by the Office of Research Services and includes information on research funding opportunities, events and workshops and updates from our funding partners.

Checkout the latest version of our Bulletin, by clicking here.

From left, Tracy Beaulieu, Acting Director of the Public Schools Branch; with Dr. David Tranter; Jane Hastelow, Manager Professional Learning and Assessment, Department of Education & Early Years Government of Prince Edward Island; and Tammy Hubley-Little, Director of English Education, Programs and Services, Department of Education & Early Years Government of Prince Edward Island.

Dr. David Tranter’s framework for supporting both student well-being and achievement from kindergarten to Grade 12 has been officially adopted by the Prince Edward Island government to be used in schools province-wide.

While his “Third Path” framework is used by educators all across Canada, PEI is the first province to implement it at a government level. The framework, as outlined in Dr. Tranter’s book, “The Third Path: A Relationship-Based Approach to Student Well-Being and Achievement,” emphasizes the role that educators play in supporting student mental health, promoting equity, and practicing in a trauma-sensitive manner.

Says Dr. Tranter, “I’m thrilled to be working closely with educators all across PEI and look forward to being an ongoing part of outstanding work already underway”. For more information about Dr. Tranter’s work, visit www.thirdpath.ca.

December 18, 2023 – Thunder Bay, Ont.

A Lakehead University professor and a professor from Villanova University are studying how fish use navigation and propulsion to help them create underwater robots, thanks to funding from NSERC.

Dr. Muhammad Khalid, Assistant Professor in Mechanical Engineering, received a $25,000 Alliance International Catalyst Grant from the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada for his project to build an international research partnership with Dr. Chengyu Li from Villanova University, and jointly investigate fluid-structure-chemical interactions in marine environments.

Over one year, they will study the “mysterious but very effective techniques adopted by fish in natural aquatic conditions,” Dr. Khalid said.

“These fish will provide us with lessons to design and develop efficient, agile, stealth, and highly maneuverable underwater robots.”

“We will study how fish sense the presence of predators, prey, food, and mating partners through fluctuations in velocity and pressure in the surrounding water. We want to learn how odour signatures and chemical cues help fish navigate in complex underwater environments,” he said.

The researchers will study how different fish, for example carangiform (Jack Fish, Tuna, Salmon), and anguilliform (eels), effectively control fluid dynamics through their kinematics to send and receive chemical cues.

They will investigate how natural aquatic swimmers use chemical odours for their navigation and propulsion.

Fish use these elements as important natural sensing and detection methods, but they are still relatively misunderstood by the scientific community.

Using the basics of natural swimming to design fish-like underwater robotic platforms form the main goals of this project. The researchers will develop mathematical models and perform computational simulations to investigate and understand odour-guided propulsion of fish-like bodies.

“The findings of this project will reveal important leads for developing bio-inspired techniques and equipment for sensing, detection, navigation, and propulsion of highly interdisciplinary underwater robots,” Dr. Khalid said.

The success of this project is expected to bring the Canadian scientific community and marine engineering industry at the forefront of environment-friendly underwater engineering technologies for a variety of purposes.

These include securing the borders, subsea explorations for natural resources, rescue and search operations, and several other opportunities.

In 2022/23, Lakehead University received more than $2 million in assistance from the Research Support Fund to support the indirect costs of research, which includes costs for supporting the management of intellectual property, research and administration, ethics and regulatory compliance, research resources, research facilities, and research security.

-30-

Media: For more information or interviews, please contact Brandon Walker, Media, Communications and Marketing Associate, at (807) 343-8110 ext. 8372 or mediarelations@lakeheadu.ca.

Lakehead University is a fully comprehensive university with approximately 9,700 full-time equivalent students and over 2,000 faculty and staff at two campuses in Orillia and Thunder Bay, Ontario. Lakehead has nine faculties, including Business Administration, Education, Engineering, Graduate Studies, Health & Behavioural Sciences, Law, Natural Resources Management, Science & Environmental Studies, and Social Sciences & Humanities. Lakehead University’s achievements have been recognized nationally and internationally, including being ranked in the top half of Times Higher Education's 2023 World Universities Rankings for the fourth consecutive year, and the number one university in the world with fewer than 9,000 students in THE’s 2023 Impact Rankings (which assesses institutions against the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals). Visit www.lakeheadu.ca.

This photo explains the flow structures around Jack Fish.  

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR FACULTY AND STAFF WHO WERE PRESENTED AT SENATE WITH THE FOLLOWING AWARDS:

The Contribution to Teaching Award (CTA) is a student-nominated award that recognizes instructors who have demonstrated high levels of teaching performance at Lakehead University. Up to six awards are granted each year.

• Dr. Apparao Dekka, Electrical and Computer Engineering
• Dr. George Hutchinson, Mathematical Science
• Dr. Katherine Kortes-Miller, Social Work
• Mrs. Ainsley Miller, Nursing
• Dr. Jessica Metcalfe, Anthropology
• Dr. Gerald Walton, Education
  
  
  

The Distinguished Instructor Award (DIA) is Lakehead University’s most prestigious teaching award and recognizes an outstanding individual who has made a significant contribution to teaching excellence and educational innovation and leadership at the University over a number of years. Only one award per year is bestowed.

• Dr. Mohammad Uddin, Electrical and Computer Engineering

The Teaching Support Award recognizes the support provided for teaching by employees of the university.
One award will be given annually.

• Ms. Debra Gold, Library

The Teaching Innovation Award recognizes the development and/or implementation of innovative pedagogical practices and technologies. The award is given for the development and/or implementation of a specific pedagogical innovation, and may be awarded to an individual or a team. Up to three awards may be given annually. Recipients will also be invited to lead a workshop on their innovation.

• Dr. John Gotwals, Kinesiology
• Mr. Daniel Vasiliu, Electrical and Computer Engineering
• Mrs. Wendy St. Laurent-Coutts, Nursing, and from Seven Generations Education Institute Team: Taylor Stromness (SGEI-Fort Frances), Nicole Robertson (SGEI-Sioux Lookout), and Wendy Tseng (SGEI-Kenora)