Monchka, who holds a computer science degree from the University of Manitoba, is also a data analyst at the George and Fay Yee Centre for Healthcare Innovation (CHI) — a UM/Shared Health research unit. 

He completed a master’s degree with the department of community health sciences (now CCGH) at the Max Rady College of Medicine and recently received a prestigious 2025 Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship to fund his PhD. 

We spoke with Monchka about his path to health sciences and his research. 

What inspired you to pursue a career in health research and drew you to community and global health?  

I worked as a software developer in industry for a few years before pursuing a joint role at UM with CHI and the Vaccine and Drug Evaluation Centre. That exposure to population health research sparked my passion for the field, and I’ve now been with CHI for 10 years. 

I find it extremely satisfying to contribute to our understanding of human health and produce findings that inform health-care policy and planning. I also enjoy improving the methods we use to ensure research findings are reliable.  

Can you tell us about your research and how it could impact health care in Canada? 

Barret Monchka presents his research in a meeting room at the University of Manitoba’s Bannatyne campus.

My research focuses on improving how we link data from multiple sources such as education and health records, using datasets securely accessed from the Manitoba Population Research Data Repository at Rady Faculty’s Manitoba Centre for Health Policy and Statistics Canada’s Research Data Centre. Better linkage helps us understand how social factors like education, income and living conditions influence health.  

Linking data across systems is challenging. For example, schools and health-care systems use different identifiers, so we rely on non-unique information like names and birthdates, which can lead to mismatches. If these mistakes disproportionately affect certain groups — by gender or age, for instance — they can distort study results and worsen health inequities.  

The development of AI models can improve these datasets to more accurately and equitably predict health outcomes. I’m also evaluating privacy-protecting techniques that encrypt personal information before linking, and assessing whether using AI to accelerate linkage increases errors or introduces bias.  
 

How does your role at CHI complement your research at CCGH? 

At CHI, our focus is on the patient’s perspective. Patients, caregivers and their families are involved in every step of the research process. 

Patients are increasingly concerned about data privacy — how their personal information is used and who has access to it. Participants may be reluctant to join health studies if they feel their data isn’t secure.   

In response to these concerns, I’ve spent the past few years at CHI investigating current data linkage practices and identifying key areas for improvement — work that laid the foundation for my PhD research. 
 

Who has mentored you in your research?  

CCGH faculty are experts in their fields, and I’ve been fortunate to learn from many of them. Dr. Lisa Lix, professor at CCGH and Canada Research Chair in methods for electronic health data quality, has been instrumental in guiding me. She’s helped me hone my research skills, especially in developing improved statistical and machine learning methods. 

Dr. William Leslie, professor at the Max Rady College of Medicine and director of the Manitoba Bone Mineral Density Program, is a leading osteoporosis researcher. He mentored me in using AI for medical image analysis. We’ve worked on novel research projects to assess how AI can automatically identify vertebral fractures — fractures in the spine — in bone mineral density scans. 

How has CCGH supported your learning? 

CCGH has a strong reputation for producing outstanding graduates skilled in community health research — both qualitative and quantitative. The program gave me a solid foundation in applied biostatistics and quantitative epidemiology through high-quality courses and mentorship. 

The college is very supportive of graduate students applying for competitive funding. The recommendations and advice I received from CCGH faculty were instrumental in helping me secure awards, including the Vanier Scholarship.

Since establishment in 1985, researchers at the Centre for Defence and Security Studies, have been helping Canada meet these challenges. Over nearly four decades the Centre has advised the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) as the go to think tank for Arctic defence research, especially on protecting Canada’s vast northern frontier for NORAD and NATO operations.

The Canadian Arctic landscape

Dr. Andrea Charron, Director of the Centre and Professor in the UM Department of Political Science, is one of the country’s leading voices on Arctic security. She has co-authored numerous reports for the Department of Defence, advising on the challenges military personnel will face in Arctic.

She and senior scholar James Fergusson also lead conferences, write op-eds and books, appear in documentaries, as well as providing guests lectures and courses to prepare CAF members for deployment in the North.

“The Arctic is the world’s smallest ocean, the fasted avenue of attack and a rapidly changing landscape due to climate change,” says Charron.

Dr. Andrea Charron, Director of the UM Centre for Defence and Security Studies.

“Many people imagine that climate warming means less sea ice, however this melting ice actually breaks up and chokes Canada’s Northwest Passage making it even more difficult to navigate. At the same time advances in technology and growing geopolitical competition are making modernization of NORAD more critical than ever.”

The Canadian Arctic makes up 40% of the country’s land mass and 72% of its coastline but is sparsely populated with only about 150,000 residents — less than 0.5% of Canada’s total population. This means that available infrastructure is few and far between, with military operations often creating deficits in energy and other critical resources for those who call the Arctic home.

Canadian Coastguard vessel in the Arctic.

In Defence of the North

Despite Arctic climate change having unpredictable impacts on day-to-day life for Northern residents, it is events outside of the Arctic that are drawing southern Canadian public attention north. The ongoing war in Ukraine continues to threaten expanding conflict between Russia and NATO allies, with the Arctic as Canada’s frontline.

“The Center approaches these challenges holistically, recognizing that we face threats across many domains, from the ocean subfloor to space, and we’re now at a stage where a whole-of society effort is needed,” says Charron.

Canada’s eyes and ears in the Arctic are the Canadian Rangers, an Army Reserve of local residents with deep understanding of the land who are the frequent first responders in search and rescue operations and other unusual events.
The Canadian Coast Guard is planning to expand operations as climate change lengthens the shipping season.

Partnership with Northern communities

Arctic residents have limited access to the fuel, medicine, schools, Internet and communication often taken for granted in southern Canada. Increased operations like training exercises or installation of new military hardware puts a strain on hamlets and residents, who have no way to replenish their supplies.

“With the recent Federal announcements that 5% of Canada’s GDP will now be spent on defence and defence related infrastructure, especially in the Arctic, my greatest hope is for this investment to directly and continuously benefit northern communities,” says Charron.

Royal Canadian Air Force CF-18 Hornet in flight.

Military operations like training exercises can interrupt caribou migrations and have other unintended consequences for Indigenous residents. Having adopted the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Canada has a duty to consult and work with Indigenous Peoples as rights holders to adapt the approach to defense and security in the Arctic.

Every time the military surges presence in the Arctic for exercises like the five-times yearly Op NANOOK, stockpiles of resources like fuel require heated storage facilities creating logistical challenges. Thankfully, the Rangers are on hand to guide CAF members on the land and, aside from increased resources and infrastructure, Arctic security would also benefit from expanded access for residents to first responder training and tools.

“Investing in local hamlets and organizations like the Canadian Rangers strengthens both sovereignty and quality of life,” says Charron. “What is truly needed for Canadian Arctic security are healthy, active, growing Arctic communities with lots of economic potential.”

National recognition

Andrea Charron and James Fergusson were honoured with the King Charles the Third Coronation Medal in June 2025 in recognition of their contributions to security and defence policy development in Canada, especially NORAD.

“Sovereignty in the Arctic cannot be imposed from afar but must rather be led by the people and communities who live there,” says Dr. Mario Pinto, Vice-President (Research and International). “Building on longstanding relationships based on principles of respect, trust and shared goals with Arctic communities in Churchill, Chesterfield Inlet and Rankin Inlet, UM is uniquely positioned to drive the national effort for Arctic defence and security.”

“The URA provided me with the amazing opportunity to actually do engineering work and learn alongside the best,” says Hartry. “I was on the fence about whether I wanted to study electrical or mechanical engineering and this gave me the direction I needed… I now know I want to focus on mechanical engineering.”  

Hartry spent the summer working with researcher Dr. Phil Ferguson and the team at UM’s Space Technology and Advanced Researcher (STAR) Lab in the Price Faculty of Engineering on some very special projects that will have big impact for northern communities.  

Designing airships to provide connectivity in the North 

One of Hartry’s tasks was helping to design a unmanned helium airship capable of carrying communication equipment to help connect remote communities. This technology will replace the patchwork of telecommunications systems that currently underserve communities in the North.  

Creating the reaction wheel in the lab

Using computer-aided design, Hartry learned how to account for all the factors that would affect the loft, speed and the ability of the blimp to work in arctic conditions. Through trial and error, and many iterations of the design, Hartry learned how to improve and alter the blimp to make it fit design constraints.  

His mantra for the summer was ‘Learn New Things’, because every day was filled with so many new questions and challenges.  

“It was a steep learning curve, but everyone in the lab collaborates to solve the smallest design issues,” says Hartry. “I was able to learn through an iterative process of trial and error where failure meant I just had something to build on to make it work.”  

As part of another project, Hartry worked to design a new kind of reaction wheel for satellites. With this reaction wheel, magnetic liquid could be used to spin the satellite instead of using a larger, heavier motor to spin a solid disk. This mechanism could be used for small satellite projects, such as those run by universities.   

Black magnetic liquid rotating inside the reaction wheel designed by Aidan Hartry

The cage specifications included having enough copper wiring to run a strong electrical current and enough space for the reaction wheel. With one design leading to another, the cage design continues to get smaller with a stronger magnetic field. He plans to continue this work as a volunteer in Ferguson’s lab throughout the academic year.  

Whale blubber and the tracker tag

A particularly fun and intriguing challenge for Hartry was working on the Aerial Tagging System for Beluga Whales project. Learning alongside Ferguson and the team, his challenge was to determine what velocity a dart would need to tag a whale with a tracker.  

While researchers currently tag belugas from boats in the water, this is stressful for both the researchers and whales, who are spooked by the chaos of boat noise and human interaction.   

The team is designing a system where aerial drones can be used to locate whale pods and shoot a tracker dart with enough velocity to penetrate the whale’s thick skin without causing harm or simply bouncing off.  

“I never pictured myself learning about the ballistic properties of whale blubber, but we needed to determine the surface resistance in order to create a strong enough delivery mechanism from a drone to the whale,” says Hartry. “It was a really fun and unique problem and opened my eyes to how engineering is key to pretty much every human activity” 

About Undergraduate Research Awards (URA) 

The URAs are funded through the Office of Vice-President (Research & International) and the University of Manitoba Students’ Union (UMSU), along with support from faculties. These awards provide undergraduate students with access to exciting research opportunities. 

The application period for Summer 2026 starts in mid-January.  Find more information here. 

For Churchill, Manitoba, this shift brings both unprecedented opportunities and enormous challenges. Warming could open the door to development that makes the town a hub for regional connectivity and global trade, but that same development could also threaten Arctic ecosystems already under stress.

We asked Feiyue Wang, Canada Research Chair in Arctic Environmental Chemistry at UM: What are the risks and opportunities of a changing Arctic?

The risks

Hudson Bay is opening up faster than anyone expected.

“Hudson Bay’s sea ice condition has changed dramatically over the last several decades,” Wang says. “From the 1980s, every year we gained on average one more day of open water. At this very moment, on average, the Bay is ice-free for about five months.”

A longer season of open water means more ships and greater potential for risks such as oil spills.

“Whenever you have shipping, there’s always a risk of an oil spill. And that’s just a given. If somebody says there’s absolutely no risk, that’s absolutely not true,” Wang says.

UM’s Churchill Marine Observatory was built to prepare for that potential reality. Its outdoor seawater pools recreate Arctic conditions so scientists can track how oil behaves in cold waters or under ice, and test technologies designed to find and mitigate spills.

In warmer waters, oil floats to the surface and spreads. When sea ice is present, oil can become trapped beneath it or encapsulated in it, hidden from view and harder to clean up.

“First of all, if there’s an oil spill in ice-covered water, do we even know whether there’s a spill?” Wang asks. “And then we want to study the impact of that oil spill and how to clean it up. We are developing new technologies that are specifically adapted to cold and icy waters so that if there is a spill, technologies are in place to mitigate.”

Oil isn’t the only concern. Climate change and increased shipping can also affect Arctic wildlife through disruptive underwater noise and the introduction of invasive species. UM researchers are studying beluga behaviour in Hudson Bay to better understand how ship traffic impacts the whales and to help shape safer routes.

Feiyue Wang, a Tier-1 Canada Research Chair in Arctic Environmental Chemistry at UM

The opportunities

Shipping through Churchill has historically been constrained to a narrow three-and-a-half-month window. That short season kept the port from reaching its potential and left northern communities with some of the highest costs of living in the country.

Now Wang and his partners are embarking on a bold initiative, exploring how a longer open-water season could change that. Working alongside Indigenous knowledge keepers and northern leaders, the goal is to improve accessibility for northern communities, strengthen food security and better connect Manitoba to global trade.

“The initiative from the very beginning was driven by community folks,” Wang says. “They wanted to see development on their terms. They recognized both the challenges and opportunities.”

The potential reaches far beyond Churchill and other Hudson Bay communities. A reimagined third seaway—east, west and now north—could link Prairie grain, minerals and other resources to markets in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas.

That’s why Wang has been calling Manitoba a maritime province, an idea once met with laughter but now gaining traction in policy circles.

Wang is clear that development in the North is no longer a question of if, but how.

“It has to be economically viable, but it has to be culturally sensitive and appropriate and environmentally sustainable,” he says.

That balance means learning from past mistakes. Canada has seen major projects that sidelined Indigenous voices or put short-term gains ahead of long-term well-being. This partnership is designed to be different: co-led by community members, grounded in human rights and guided by the principle of One Health—the idea that the health of people, the land and the water are inseparable.

“We recognize Indigenous people have their rights to development,” Wang says. “To Indigenous people, health is not just the lack of disease, not being sick, but it’s the well-being of people. And that well-being of people includes the well-being of the land, of the water.”

In his view, that’s what makes this moment so significant. Climate change is rewriting the map of the North, forcing hard choices. But it’s also creating a chance to reimagine nation building in a way that centres Indigenous and northern communities from the very beginning.

Ottawa and the Prairies back Churchill

Prime Minister Mark Carney has placed the Port of Churchill at the centre of his government’s new nation-building agenda. In August 2025, he announced that Ottawa will invest in modernizing the port. The project was singled out as one of the top candidates for fast-track approval under Bill C-5, Canada’s new infrastructure law. The move positions Churchill not only as a hub for Prairie exports like grain and minerals but also as part of Canada’s strategy to strengthen supply chains and assert its role as an Arctic nation.

Momentum is also building provincially. At the Council of the Federation’s summer meeting in July 2025, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew and Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe signed an agreement with Arctic Gateway Group to expand rail and port infrastructure, lengthen the shipping season and unlock new trade opportunities for Prairie producers.

Where most people see problems, Bisons see solutions. Explore and meet UM researchers—like Feiyue Wang —who are changing lives in Manitoba and beyond.

Feiyue (Fei) Wang is a professor at the University of Manitoba and a Tier-1 Canada Research Chair in Arctic Environmental Chemistry. Wang directs the Churchill Marine Observatory and studies sea ice, northern contaminants and oil spill response in Arctic waters. Widely regarded as one of Canada’s foremost experts on Arctic environmental chemistry, he also leads major national and international research partnerships. Check out his discussion with UM President Michael Benarroch on the What’s the Big Idea podcast.

Security and defence in a changing Arctic

Nation building needs research — not just infrastructuree

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But climate change is reshaping the ice—it freezes later, breaks earlier and is far less predictable. One wrong move can be deadly. And when accidents happen, survival depends on getting help fast. Yet in most northern communities, there is no cell service and satellite connections are unreliable.

Search-and-rescue crews near Hudson Bay head out about 10 to 12 times per week, says Phil Ferguson, Associate Professor of Aerospace Engineering at UM. “And many times they don’t have a good ending.”

Ferguson leads UM’s Space Technology and Advanced Research (STAR) Lab, where he works with northern communities to co-develop aerospace solutions—from satellites to drones—to keep people connected.

We asked him: How will connectivity change life in the North?

Reading the ice, locally

Ferguson’s team and the community of Chesterfield Inlet are co-developing ArcticSat, a satellite that tracks how sea ice forms and breaks up across Hudson Bay.

“The ice is changing rapidly,” Ferguson says.

ArcticSat’s sensors will beam data straight back to Chesterfield Inlet, where locals—not distant agencies—will be the first to see it. There, it can be combined with generations of Indigenous knowledge, turning streams of numbers into practical guidance for hunters heading onto the ice.

“It’s not about communities coming, hat in hand, asking for data about their own land,” Ferguson says. “They own it. They operate the system. And they decide what to do with it.”

Where once-reliable patterns of freeze and thaw are no longer certain, that kind of immediate, local control over information will save lives.

Phil Ferguson, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at UM

Lifelines of communication

On a visit to Chesterfield Inlet, Ferguson learned how central the local radio station is to daily life. When its transmitter broke, the community went weeks without it. Teachers, doctors and parents all told him the same thing: without the radio, basic coordination became difficult.

“The community absolutely relied on that radio because it was the only way for them to talk to each other,” Ferguson says.

That’s why the ACCESS project (Arctic Community Connectivity for Equity, Sustainability, and Service) is so important. Ferguson’s team is working with northern partners to develop drone airships carrying satellite ground stations that can deliver Wi-Fi to communities. Instead of fragile, patchwork systems, people would have a dependable way to connect, and all they’d need is a smartphone.

With that kind of coverage, hunters stranded on thinning ice could reach rescue teams instantly. Patients could see doctors through telehealth appointments. And neighbours could better share the everyday messages that keep a community running.

Beyond the signal

On another visit to Chesterfield Inlet, a councillor pointed to a ship anchored in the bay and asked why her community didn’t know where it had come from, how long it would stay or what it was carrying.

Canada tracks ships from space, Ferguson says, but the information rarely reaches the people who live beside the harbour.

That gap is what drives his approach to connectivity. In projects like ArcticSat and ACCESS, local residents are collaborators, shaping how information is gathered and shared.

“They may not have the PhDs and masters,” Ferguson says, “but they’re researchers. They research the land, they research the climate, they research the wildlife.”

“Connectivity is the foundation for everything,” he adds. “We need to connect people to learn from one another. We need to connect people to stay secure in an increasingly uncertain geopolitical world. And we need to connect people to be resilient to climate change.”

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR THE REST OF MANITOBA

Wildfires

Ferguson’s drone airships could also sweep across the boreal forest, scanning for heat before a spark grows into disaster. The drones would carry sensors tuned to pick up faint signatures of fire and, unlike lookout towers or flyovers, they can stay in the sky for days at a time. UM researchers are already exploring how such systems could guide firefighting quadcopters and support water bombers.

Precision farming

On the Prairies, farming is becoming increasingly data-driven. Drones equipped with cameras and sensors can map soil moisture, monitor plant health and track pest pressure from the air. A drone can capture the images, but connectivity is what turns those snapshots into action. With fast, dependable Wi-Fi, farmers can upload data in real time, sync equipment across the field and apply seed or fertilizer exactly where it is needed.

Where most people see problems, Bisons see solutions. Explore and meet UM researchers—like Phil Ferguson —who are changing lives in Manitoba and beyond.

Philip Ferguson is an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Manitoba and the founding Director of STARLab (Space Technology and Advanced Research Laboratory). He holds the NSERC / Magellan Aerospace Industrial Research Chair in Satellite Engineering. Ferguson’s work spans drone navigation, airships, CubeSats and remote sensing, with a focus on making aerospace technology accessible to northern and Indigenous communities. Check out his discussion with UM President Michael Benarroch on the What’s the Big Idea podcast.

Undergraduate researcher explores Arctic engineering innovation

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WE’RE NEEDED. 

As an Arctic province and gateway for the North. As the innovators in sustainable agriculture. As the home of the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation. We’re needed, just as Manitobans have always been. 

Manitobans see what others miss and we act upon it. Bold ideas have always been born here, and this culture became the foundation of our university. We’re celebrating this and how the University for Manitoba sees the world differently; how Bisons look past the surface, defy convention, and think big.  

It’s why UM receives more funding from the Gates Foundation than any other Canadian university for our extraordinary work in global public health. It’s why UM researchers once looked at a tobacco leaf and saw a cure for Ebola and why we are now building a state-of-the-art biomanufacturing lab. It’s why UM researchers looked at a drone as a new way to expand internet access across the North. It’s why we looked at microgreens and saw a defense against diabetes.  

Bisons see solutions no one imagined.  

We have a history of excellence and unstoppable momentum. And we’re showcasing not only what we have done, but what we will do next. Last year, you may have seen our alumni “Bisons at the Centre” campaign. Starting soon, you will see our newest campaign highlighting the impact of UM research and how seeing things differently matters to Manitobans and the world: “Bisons at the centre of bold ideas.”

Join us as we celebrate our place at the centre of bold ideas. Be proud of what Manitoba’s university has done, and what we are about to do together.  

Sincerely, 

Michael Benarroch 

President and Vice-Chancellor 

This letter to all Manitobans will be published on September 20 in the Free Press and Brandon Sun and has been slightly adapted for our UM community. As we prepare to launch the research portion of our reputational campaign, we want to share this with you in advance as we continue this exciting journey together.

That could change in dramatic fashion now that UM scientists are among a team spanning six continents and 10-plus countries, all looking to revitalize Indigenous crops—including wild rice, or manoomin, as it’s known in Anishinaabe culture.

Partnering with communities, they’re trying to not only preserve culturally significant foods and advance economic reconciliation but boost local food security in the decades to come, says Az Klymiuk, an Indigenous scholar in UM’s Faculty of Science.

“As our population increases and we need to feed more people on planet Earth, we’re going to have to look at optimizing the production of different types of plants,” says Klymiuk. “It’s one of those things we have to do as the amount of available land decreases and our population increases. The math is pretty straightforward.”

Although wild rice is still harvested by some Indigenous people in Canada and even sold commercially, it is a dying practise, says researcher Az Klymiuk, seen here collecting wild rice with students on South Cross Lake.

Scientists also feel the urgency to facilitate more climate-friendly ways of growing this wild rice.

It’s a tall order that’s got many in Manitoba and neighbouring provinces honing in on these one-inch kernels. This nutty-flavoured rice has a lot going for it: it’s loaded with antioxidants, has a low glycemic index and is high in protein (more than double that of white rice).

“Wild rice evolved here and it has been used by Indigenous peoples across the Great Lakes region and the Plains for thousands of years,” says Klymiuk. “There’s evidence that people were harvesting wild rice at the same time as they were hunting mammoths. In fact, wild rice has been found in the gut contents of mammoths.”

“It has a long history in this land, and it would be wonderful to revitalize it and to bring it back into our diets in a really meaningful way.”

The delicate science to becoming more climate-friendly

Traditionally, in the wild in Canada, this rice is harvested by hand from its tall grasses, which grow in the shallow, hip-wader-depths of small lakes or streams, before being collected by canoe. Last summer Klymiuk, who is Cree-Métis, taught students about the cultural sweeping of these grasses using a wooden stick, knocking the rice loose and into the bottom of the boat.

An Ojibwa woman, Francis Mike, harvesting wild rice in a boat on Totogatic Lake, circa pre-1960 // Photo courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society

The problem, however, is large-scale farming of manoomin involves flooding land and these rice paddy fields release loads of methane into the atmosphere—significantly more than conventional agriculture. In fact, rice production—on a global scale—is a massive polluter, with estimated emissions on par with the aviation industry. To date, most wild rice sold in Canada is imported.

“Much of the wild rice that you see on store shelves today is paddy produced rice from the U.S.,” says Klymiuk.

A better way to farm manoomin is to use minimally saturated land—soil that’s just wet and squishy. In Manitoba, wild rice could be an excellent choice to grow in regions typically too soggy for other crops, Klymiuk insists.

“We want to reduce the amount of methane that’s being produced. We want to create economic opportunities for the Indigenous communities that engage with this process. Creating broad acreage wild rice crops in ways that minimize emissions, while ensuring a consistent supply, would be a win-win.”

Photo by Dan Gwozdz

Klymiuk sees the vast possibilities that could come with a meaningful return of wild rice to Canadian dinner tables—it’s a commodity that can be sustainably grown, culturally respected and ready to nourish the next generation. Manoomin, by its very nature, has a knack for longevity (with its surprising 20 to 30-year shelf life.)

“I made some wild rice soup last weekend with rice that I had from more than a decade ago,” says the biologist. “It was delicious.”

Market demand is something UM PhD student Ravinder Singh is helping to boost by exploring new food products made with wild rice, including a plant-protein-based, meat alternative. He’s already perfected a healthier puffed snack, with a similar crunch to the iconic Cheeto.

This plant-protein-based, meat alternative made with wild rice is still in its early stages, says Ravinder Singh, a researcher in Filiz Koksel’s lab in the Department of Food and Human Nutritional Sciences.

“We want to get the optimized formulation: where we are getting a high-quality final product using the maximum amount of Indigenous wild rice,” he explains.

Wild rice contains phenolic compounds that can help prevent diabetes and cardiovascular disease. This functional food would offer consumers and Indigenous communities healthy, protein-rich options, says Singh, who is working with Indigenous-owned business Myera Group Inc.

“I really want to see this product in the supermarkets.”

Where most people see problems, Bisons see solutions. Explore and meet UM researchers—like Az Klymiuk—who are changing lives in Manitoba and beyond.

Az Klymiuk is an Assistant Professor and Indigenous Scholar in Science and Biological Sciences at the University of Manitoba.

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Join us Thursday, March 6, 2025, for the third session of the Teaching and Learning Research Colloquium Series. Dr. Matthew Quesnel [B.A./13, M.A./15, Ph.D./20] (The Centre for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning) will share his research examining the connection between international students’ metastereotypes and seeking out peer support and support services offered by their postsecondary institutions. Quesnel will share his research findings and explore how they can inform strategies for fostering a more inclusive campus environment, promoting accessing UM support resources, and improve academic success and well-being for international students.

The Teaching and Learning Colloquium Series, hosted by The Centre for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning, supports educators in creating a learning environment that responds to the changing needs of learners and strengthens student supports. It provides a platform for UM scholars and educators to share knowledge, research, and success stories to empower learners.

The series was designed “to provide an opportunity for faculty and higher education professionals to gather and talk about students’ support needs, barriers students may face in seeking help, and effective strategies for supporting and enhancing student learning,” says Quesnel, Teaching and Learning Colloquium Series chair.

Register for Barriers to Support: Metastereotypes and Help-seeking Among International Students. 

Location: Room 325, Education Building 

Date: Thursday, March 6, 2025 

Time: 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. 

Session details: 25-minute presentation, followed by discussion and refreshments. 

Led by UM’s Dr. Robert Stamps, Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy and his team, and in the U.K. by Dr. Rair Macedo and his team at the University of Glasgow, the project builds on several years of research into excitations that are called magnon-polaritons. Some of these excitations have peculiar properties such as negative refraction that enable things such as optical cloaking, for example.

“We are excited to begin this research to better understand and control magnetic excitations in materials that can be used as practical quantum devices,” said Stamps.

The research team’s work will provide foundational knowledge for advancement of efficient, hybrid magnetic-based quantum devices that have the potential to be applied across several branches of quantum technologies; from secure communications to precision sensing and advanced computing. Such breakthroughs could pave the way for long-distance transmission of quantum information, an essential capability for the future of secure quantum communication networks.

“This project will not only contribute to cutting-edge scientific research but will also have a lasting impact on the development of practical quantum technologies that will impact the future of communication, security, and computation,” said U.K. lead Dr. Rair Macedo.

The funding for this project is from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) – through the U.K.-Canada quantum for science research collaborations. This highlights the increasing recognition of the potential of quantum science and the critical role that magnetic materials may play in its future.

The growing number of older adults will result in increased complex age-related conditions (CACs), including injuries from falls and symptoms of Parkinson’s disease and dementia, putting significant pressure on the Canadian health-care system.

To help address these challenges, Dr. Mina Nouredanesh, assistant professor of community health sciences at the Max Rady College of Medicine in the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, has been appointed a Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in artificial intelligence (AI) for complex health data.

This prestigious appointment recognizes Nouredanesh’s pioneering research to develop innovative solutions for age-related conditions and alleviate stress on populations, caregivers and the health-care system. She brings a multidisciplinary lens to this research, owing to her extensive experience in engineering, machine learning and health data analysis.

“My goal is to design innovative, AI-powered personalized tools to help understand and treat the many factors that contribute to CACs and improve the lives of older adults and their caregivers,” said Nouredanesh.

Despite many technological advancements in recent years, knowledge gaps persist, including a lack of precise tools to proactively assess individual-level risks associated with CACs. Every case is unique due to the complexity of symptoms or injury experienced by older adults.  

“There are no effective cures to many CACs, so identifying early signs, well in advance of their onset, or detecting factors that trigger them in those already affected, is crucial for developing targeted interventions to delay their progression and mitigate impact,” says Nouredanesh. “One-size-fits-all prevention and rehabilitation strategies often fall short because each individual may experience a specific interplay between various risk factors that contribute to the development of these adverse conditions,” she adds.

Nouredanesh will address the complex nature of CACs by looking at multiple types of information, bringing together physical, genetic, psychological, socioeconomic, behavioural and environmental data from a variety of sources. Her work will address critical questions, such as:

• What factors are sensitive to early signs of a CAC in an individual?
• What contexts in everyday scenarios trigger a CAC in a symptomatic individual?
• How to intervene?

To answer these questions, Nouredanesh will use questionnaires, in-lab data such as blood tests and medical imaging, and free-living data collected by wearable sensors — such as smart watches — that older adults can wear in their everyday environments.

Nouredanesh will use AI to expand personalized medicine and improve diagnostic, prognostic and treatment methods. While AI has shown promise in addressing health problems, she says, it is in the early stages of development when it comes to predicting and managing CACs, such as falling. 

The scientist hopes that this work will assist in the diagnosis and management of age-related conditions and will help to improve functioning in older adults, enhancing their independence. Ultimately, she says, personalized assistive technologies could reduce health-system burdens and contribute significantly to older adults’ quality of life.