Simon Fraser University’s Dr. Erik Kjeang is leading a four-year collaboration with Greenlight Innovation, the global leader and manufacturer of fuel cell and electrolyzer test stations, to help scale up the technology needed to lead the transition to a hydrogen economy.

COVID-19’s unbalanced toll has highlighted the need for removing barriers to entry and increasing opportunities for all Canadians to participate in and strengthen the economy. To address this need, Mitacs and Scotiabank collaboratively launched the Scotiabank Economic Resilience Research Fund (SERRF) through ScotiaRISE, the Bank’s 10-year, $500 million community investment initiative to promote economic resilience among disadvantaged groups.

The innovative work of the not-for-profit Arctic Research Foundation (ARF) facilitates community-led solutions for some of the biggest problems facing Northern communities, such as the need for green energy, standardizing and better disseminating data from Arctic research, addressing disruptions in food supply from the land, and responding to rapid changes in lake and ocean water and the impact on fisheries and marine mammals.

For the past several years, University of Toronto researcher Courtney Toth has been keeping a close eye on fermenters. But instead of brewing beverages like beer or wine, she’s growing a cocktail of microbes that ‘eat’ some of the world’s most widespread contaminants. 

A wildlife ecologist is supporting Splatsin in their dedicated and long-term work to recover endangered caribou populations within their traditional territory. 

Dagoberto Torres García, a biotechnology student at Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey in Mexico, is spending the summer in Quebec putting his knowledge and expertise in DNA extraction and PCR testing to help identify which insects are carrying a bacterium responsible for spreading a new, harmful disease affecting strawberry fields in Quebec, in Canada, and around the world.

As more and more species are placed at serious risk of extinction, wildlife conservation’s critical importance is growing. The study of animal behaviour is essential in helping us create optimal species-specific environments where animals, especially those that are endangered, can live happy and healthy lives while also shedding a light on human behaviour. As zoos and other conservation spaces work to create habitats that enrich animal welfare, monitoring the health and well-being of their animal residents is imperative in being able to achieve this.  

As the nation with the longest coastline in the world, Canada’s environment, economy, and overall health are deeply influenced by the ocean — perhaps more than many Canadians realize. This idea led Dr. Glithero and her team to measure Canadians’ understanding of the impact of the ocean on their lives, and in turn the impact their daily activities have on marine ecosystems.

Former Mitacs postdoctoral researcher Dr. Ulrich Legrand understands that the world is facing major challenges due to climate change. He also knows that decision-makers are looking for solutions to the global crisis while driving economic growth

“Governments and businesses agree that reducing emissions is the right thing to do to protect the environment, but at the same time, they want to see a financial benefit,” Dr. Legrand says. And he has developed a first-of-its-kind technology that does just that.

With the goal of reducing the risk of arsenic contamination in drinking water, American chemical engineering student Andrea Green is helping a University of Victoria (UVic) lab create a rapid, low-cost, and reliable detection test using a cellphone — all from the comfort of her home in Atlanta, Georgia.