For the town of Churchill, in northern Manitoba, this brings a lot of opportunity but there are fears it could also have environmental consequences. “We’re not just observant based, we’re actually doing studies to address challenges, issues associated with a rapidly opening Hudson Bay,” said Dr. Feiyue Wang, Professor and Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) Department of Environment and Geography 
and Centre for Earth Observation Science and Director of the CMO. “With increasing shipping and development in the region, you have an increasing risk of oil spills.”

To read the full article, please visit CTV News.

To listen to the full interview, please head to CJOB.

“I congratulate these researchers on their success in expanding the scope and impacts of their research programs,” said Dr. Mario Pinto, Vice-President (Research and International). “Through this funding, UM will continue to attract and support outstanding researchers equipped with the cutting-edge tools and facilities they need to tackle society’s most pressing challenges.”

JELF is a funding initiative by CFI that supports universities, colleges, research hospitals and non-profit research institutions across Canada. The program provides infrastructure funding to enhance the research capacity of institutions by assisting in acquiring state-of-the-art equipment and facilities necessary for world-leading research and innovation.

The UM recipients include:

Dr. Karen Alley

Dr. Karen Alley, assistant professor, Centre for Earth Observation Science, Environment and Geography: Imaging Inaccessible Ice: Glacier Monitoring at the Ice-Ocean Interface

Funding: $158,883

Predicting sea-level rise is difficult due to risks in observing ice crevasses and calving events where glaciers meet ocean waters. Alley seeks to use new automated vehicles and sonar imaging to close this gap. The project will train students and provide open data to support global climate science research.

Dr. Miguel Uyaguari-Diaz

Dr. Miguel Uyaguari-Diaz, assistant professor / Indigenous scholar, Microbiology: Promoting equitable access to safe water in First Nations and urban communities by assessing water safety and security

Funding: $114,578

Uyaguari seeks to identify pathogens and antimicrobial resistance in water facilities and aquatic environments surrounding First Nation communities of Manitoba. This infrastructure will provide new experimental tools enabling comparison with urban counterparts. Uyaguari’s long-term goal is to develop diagnostic tools to identify health risks and facilitate rapid pollution prevention.

Dr. Xiaopeng Gao

Dr. Xiaopeng Gao, assistant professor, Soil Science: Optimizing Soil Fertility Management for Better Grain Nutritional Quality

Funding: $160,000

Intensification of high-yield crops has resulted in depletion of micronutrients in cereal crops. Gao seeks to use this newly funded infrastructure to simulate climate change scenarios and provide multi-disciplinary training for highly qualified personnel. This research supports improved production of value-added grain products, bringing economic benefits to producers across Canada.

Dr. Cristina M. Rosell

Dr. Cristina M. Rosell, professor and department head, Food and Human Nutritional Sciences: Platform maximizing the value of co-products from plant-protein processing

Funding: $157,258

The production of high-purity protein concentrates also creates wasted nonprotein co-products. The Rosell lab seeks sustainably transform these co-products into a new generation of healthy cereal-based foods. This research will help to alleviate environmental and economic impacts and improve the circular economy of the plant protein industry in Canada.

Dr. Paul Marcogliese

Dr. Robert Beattie

Dr. Paul Marcogliese and Dr. Robert Beattie, assistant professors, Biochemistry and Medical Genetics, Max Rady College of Medicine: Functional Integration of Neurogenetics in Development & Disease.

Funding: $345,000

More effective treatments are needed for nervous system disorders affecting movement. The Marcogliese and Beattie labs have found synergies with fly and mouse models to explore new diagnostic and treatment measures. To translate their findings, this funding provides high-resolution imaging tools that will directly benefit patients in Canada and beyond.

Dr. Asher Mendelson

Dr. Asher Mendelson, assistant professor, Internal Medicine, Max Rady College of Medicine: Microvascular Physiology, Exercise, and Muscle Research Facility for Studying Critical Illness

Funding: $156,670

Patients that survive ICU admission often have weakness in their muscles, which may be related to inadequate oxygen delivery by small blood vessels. To prevent long-term disability and improve our ability to monitor the microcirculation, Mendelson seeks to establish a new exercise research facility dedicated to recovery after critical illness.

For more information on the CFI-JELF fund, please visit Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI).

What you should know about Feiyue Wang and his research:

• As Tier-1 Canada Research Chair in Arctic Environmental Chemistry, he looks at current and emerging contaminants in the Arctic and global environments and how they interact with climate change.
• Wang is a researcher at the Centre for Earth Observation Science and leads the Churchill Marine Observatory and Sea-Ice Environmental Research Facility.
• Building upon his pioneering research on mercury in sea ice, his research team is studying how oil spills and other emerging contaminants associated with Arctic development can affect the Arctic ecosystem and human health. Ultimately, his research will provide critical knowledge and tools to improve policies and practices for sustainable development in the Arctic.

Recent honours and honourable mentions:

• Holds an Honorary Professorship at Aarhus University (Denmark)
• Serves as a national expert for Canada on mercury assessment for the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program and the United Nations Environment Program
• In 2021, The Chemical Institute of Canada recognized him with the Dima Award for distinguished contributions to research and developments in the field of environmental chemistry or environmental chemical engineering
• Winnipeg Free Press: U of M receives research awards

Must-read or Must-see:

Conversation Canada: How we solved an Arctic mercury mystery 

UM Knowledge Exchange-Now You Sea Ice

What’s next:

• The Grand Opening of the Churchill Marine Observatory (summer 2024)
• A new major research initiative, “Reimagining Arctic and Central Canada Accessibility through Hudson Bay (REACH)”

UM Faces & Spaces is a monthly feature showcasing the people and places across UM that are transforming the student experience, advancing innovation in research, driving change and creating a lasting impact here in Manitoba and globally. For more stories go to our YouTube playlist.

“Congratulations to Dr. Dahl-Jensen on receiving this international award for her invaluable research into climate change and its impacts around the globe,” said Dr. Mario Pinto, Vice-President (Research and International) at UM. “The University of Manitoba is proud to advance research excellence to increase scientific understanding of society’s most pressing issues while providing solutions for the betterment of future generations.”

Dahl-Jensen, along with French scientists Jean Jouzel and Valérie Masson-Delmotte and Swiss scientists Jakob Schwander and Thomas Stocker have received this award discovering of the link between greenhouse gases and rising global temperatures enclosed within the polar ice through their analysis of ice cores in Greenland and Antarctica.

“It is an honour to receive this award for research that is fundamentally significant to the sustainability of our global climate,” said Dahl-Jensen.

Dahl-Jensen and her colleagues’ research involved examining concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) trapped within layers of polar ice over time. Their research on the natural variability of the earth’s climate contextualizes current GHG concentrations in the midst of human-induced global warming.

“My research has been primarily concerned with reconstructing past climates by studying polar ice cores in Greenland,” said Dahl-Jensen. “These ice cores can tell us what temperatures were like when they were formed, as well as CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere at the time. I found that, even though we had warm periods over the last 800,000 years, CO2 concentrations were never as high as they are today. These findings signify the potential impacts of escalading temperatures and rising sea levels if measures are not taken to further reduce GHG emissions.”

This year is the sixteenth edition of the BBVA Foundation Awards, which has honoured the likes of Noam Chomsky, Philip Glass, and Stephen Hawking.

In 2023, University of Manitoba experts, students and staff were featured in stories that covered a number of issues that were top-of-mind for Canadians—from our finances to Truth and Reconciliation, the climate crisis and breaking international research news. 

Here are the top 10 UM Today stories that had us scrolling to the bottom of the article.

10. Hitting a nerve

We started 2023 with big news for people who suffer with nerve damage. In January, new research aimed at helping people who suffer from chronic numbness or pain and tingling in their extremities, caused by diabetes or other conditions might soon see relief. This study by an international team led by Dr. Paul Fernyhough of the University of Manitoba and St. Boniface Hospital Albrechtsen Research Centre  found that a class of drugs prescribed for other medical issues such as nearsightedness, incontinence or peptic ulcers may also prevent numbness and pain in fingers, arms and legs.

9. Standing out in the crowd

Who me? Yes, UM! We were all full of bison pride this November when the influential annual list by ShanghaiRanking listed five UM subjects/programs on the top 10 list in Canada. UM ranked fourth in Canada in dentistry and oral sciences — its top ranking nationally, and in the top 101-150 globally. Read the full list here.

8. Prime time politics comes to campus

The Prime Minister visited campus in April to speak to students, faculty, and President and Vice-Chancellor Michael Benarroch about UM’s role in addressing Canada’s clean technology needs, and advancing Truth and Reconciliation. During the roughly three-hour visit, engineering students eagerly showed Trudeau the electric Formula 1 car they were building for an upcoming competition and no matter their political stripe, people couldn’t help but click on the full story to read more.

7. Billions back in Manitoba

In October, you were invested in reading the UM  Economic Impact Study. It showed how the University of Manitoba contributed an estimated $7.3 billion to Manitoba’s economy in 2022-23, greater than 9 per cent of Manitoba’s recent GDP. For every dollar of funding the Province of Manitoba invests in UM, it receives a return of $4.10, and that doesn’t include the larger impacts associated with alumni and research contributions. You read all about how UM trains the talent Manitoba needs.

6. Farwell to a founder

In the early days of August, UM lost a faculty member who was instrumental in discussing human rights  and social justice on campus. Arthur V. Mauro passed away on August 5th, 2023 at the age of 96 years old. He was a philanthropist, human rights visionary, past Chancellor of UM and a renowned business leader. Today, his legacy extends throughout UM, in the student residence, research chair and research institute that all bear his family’s name. Read more about his legacy here.

5. Beware of those creepy crawlies

Have you seen this tick? That was the question we were all asking in September after a Winnipeg man sounded the alarm about a rare tick that can cause an allergy to red meat, after one was found embedded in his dog’s skin. Kateryn Rochon, an associate professor and acting head of the University of Manitoba’s entomology department was ready to field all the questions in this Winnipeg Free Press article that spread across North America faster than a woodtick on a hound dogs tail.

4. The Truthteller

This powerful UM Today The Magazine piece features UM Alum Murray Sinclair, who’s listened to thousands of personal stories of suffering and survival, and he shared his own. As the former chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission he discusses why he chooses joy over anger. Sinclair figures he sat down with roughly 5,000 Survivors of residential schools, listening in-person to each of their stories of abuse. The details were harder to absorb than he anticipated. Take the time to read this article again and share it among your friends. 

3. White coats

The next generation of doctors and the white coat ceremony on 2023 drew a lot of readers. The largest medical class in University of Manitoba history – the Class of 2027 – were cloaked in their first white coats as part of Inaugural Day Exercises for the Max Rady College of Medicine on Aug. 23. The college increased its enrolment to 125 incoming medical students, up from 110 students in recent years. It was a great day for UM and future patients in Manitoba, relive the moment again.

2. The Big (Tiny) Problem

Microplastics in our waters may threaten ecosystems and accelerate the melting of Arctic sea ice. But are we ignoring the greater danger at the heart of this climate conundrum? You made it a priority to read about the important work of Feiyue Wang, Canada Research Chair in Arctic Environmental Chemistry and it had you clicking on this article.

1. And in top spot…food prices and funding

1. The price of groceries and the federal rebate were top-of-mind for everyone this year. People are struggling to get food on the table and pay their bills, but federal relief was promised and one of UM’s experts explained how it was all going to roll out. Wayne Simpson, Professor, Department of Economics wrote a piece for The Conversation in April about one of the most anticipated measures of the 2023 Canadian federal budget, the grocery rebate. The rebate was designed to provide relief to millions of Canadians who are struggling with rising grocery prices and food insecurity. 

So long 2023, thank you for the conversations. Some were exciting, some were deeply personal and some have changed us forever. But we aren’t done growing, and in the words of Arthur V. Mauro:
“…In years to come we can with pride, claim some small contribution to creating a better world.”

While it can be challenging to reach the high Arctic, it is even more difficult to access the high Arctic oceans due to almost year-round sea ice cover.

The presence of multiyear sea ice makes the area almost inaccessible for most research ships and scientists can only rely on few vessels that are equipped for the environment.

One of these vessels is Canada’s only research icebreaker, the CCGS Amundsen.

Using its capability, oceanographers at the University of Manitoba’s Center for Earth Observation Science (CEOS) are hoping to collect a unique dataset on water dynamics and ice-ocean-glacier interaction and their response to climate change.

This Fall, two CEOS employees from UM – Sergei Kirillov, research associate, and Emma Ausen, technician – took part in the 2023 Amundsen Science Expedition. Together with the Coast Guard crew, they deployed scientific moorings that will remain underwater for two years to collect a continuous record of local oceanographic conditions.

The collection of a comparative oceanographic dataset can be used for climate models and increased understanding of environmental changes in a system where icebergs, ocean currents, fjords and glaciers interact.  

How it works

Oceanographic moorings usually consist of a series of instruments that are strapped to a line of rope and anchored to the sea floor. The top of the mooring is a float or a buoy that keeps the line of instruments upright, with the float typically being ~50 m below the water line so that it is safe from icebergs and waves.

The bottom of the mooring is equipped with an acoustic release, which is an instrument that can release the mooring from the ocean floor when an acoustic signal has been received by the device. After the acoustic release has been activated, the buoys will bring the instruments to the surface where they can be recovered.

Instruments on moorings typically measure variables such as the temperature and salinity of the water, as well as water currents, sediment in the water column and ice thickness above. When a mooring is deployed, it is typically left in place for 1-2 years with sensors collecting data at regular intervals.

Diagram of a mooring including the anchor, acoustic release, ADCP sensors, CTD sensors and float (left). Deploying this mooring off the CCGS Amundsen (right, photo Emma Ausen).

The CEOS researchers participated in Leg 3 of the Amundsen Science 2023 expedition.

Deployment of the moorings

During the month of September, a total of 10 moorings were deployed by the team, with four moorings planned and designed by CEOS researchers. Two of these moorings were deployed in Lancaster Sound and will be used to compare current oceanographic conditions to those recorded over 20 years ago through moorings from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

The moorings were deployed at opposite ends of Lancaster Sound in order to record two different currents: the inflow of the warm intermediate waters from Baffin Bay along the northern coast and the southern outflow. Lancaster Sound is the site of Tallurutiup Imanga National Marine Conservation Area. 

Two other moorings were deployed off the western coast of Greenland, at sites that have unique oceanographic conditions. One mooring was deployed near Cape Jackson, which is where the northernmost sensible heat polynya in the world forms every winter.

Polynas – a biological hotspot in Arctic winter

A polynya is an area of open water surrounded by ice, that can serve as a biological hot spot during the Arctic winter. A sensible heat polynya is formed through the upward transport of heat from the deeper ocean which prevents sea ice from forming.

This polynya forms in connection with the Nares Strait Ice Bridge, which is a natural frozen pathway created by solid ice that allows for the movement of people and animals across Nares Strait during winter months.

The polynya being investigated through the Cape Jackson mooring has been suggested to impact the breakup of the Nares Strait ice bridge, which plays an essential role in the formation of Pikialasorsuaq or the North Water polynya, an area recognized for its biological activity and importance to Inuit peoples.

Deploying the Cape Jackson mooring was challenging due to the presence of multiple icebergs from the nearby Humboldt glacier, which required careful vessel navigation during mooring deployal.

With this unique mooring, CEOS researchers are hoping to understand what causes the formation of the polynya during winter and understand how it may respond to further climate change.

Location of the four moorings deployed around Greenland and Devon Island. Map created by Sergei Kirillov.

Deployal of a mooring in the coastal waters near Cape Jackson, Greenland. Photo Emma Ausen.

Now that the moorings have been deployed, CEOS researchers can only wait in anticipation for next years expedition when they will return for retrieval. Datasets that are collected on these moorings will contribute to the groundbreaking research of Canada Excellence Research Chair in Arctic Ice, Freshwater Marine Coupling and Climate change led by Dr. Dorthe Dahl-Jensen from the University of Manitoba.

Watch the deployment of one mooring in the coastal waters near Cape Jackson, Greenland here: https://youtu.be/qBnD1OKTN2o

References:

Prinsenberg, S., Hamilton, J., Peterson, I., & Pettipas, R. (2009). Observing and interpreting the seasonal variability of the oceanographic fluxes passing through Lancaster Sound of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. In Influence of climate change on the changing Arctic and Sub-Arctic conditions (pp. 125-143). Springer Netherlands.

https://parks.canada.ca/amnc-nmca/cnamnc-cnnmca/tallurutiup-imanga

The role of oceanic heat flux in reducing thermodynamic ice growth in Nares Strait and promoting earlier collapse of the ice bridge 

http://pikialasorsuaq.org/en/News/Press-release-November-2017

On September 9, 2013, three dear friends and colleagues were lost when the CCGS Amundsen’s helicopter crashed into the icy waters of M’Clure Strait in the Canadian High Arctic. Mr. Marc Thibault, Commanding Officer, Mr. Daniel Dubé, helicopter pilot, and Dr. Klaus Hochheim, research scientist at CEOS, University of Manitoba, were concluding a helicopter ice survey when the tragic accident took place. These men gave their lives in the pursuit of science. Fueled by a passion to better understand the impacts of a changing climate on our environment on behalf of the peoples of Canada and the greater global community, they selflessly conducted fieldwork in spite of the inherent dangers of Arctic research. 

Klaus was a talented scientist, dear friend, and colleague to many within the tight community of Arctic researchers at the University of Manitoba. He was an expert in remote sensing; using satellites to understand changes taking place in the Canadian Arctic and regularly conducted fieldwork to validate those observations. Beyond being a scientist, Klaus was a loving husband, father, grandfather, and brother to a close-knit family. He was 55 years of age. As we commemorate the 10-year anniversary of this tragedy, it is important to remember these three, and their contributions and lasting legacy to research in the Canadian Arctic.

Dr. Klaus Hochheim on Arctic sea ice during one of his many research expeditions.

The University of Manitoba joins the Hochheim family in grieving their loss and commemorating the tenth anniversary of this tragic accident. A ceremony will be held in the Dr. Klaus Hochheim Memorial Theatre (Room 545 Wallace Building) on September 8. The ceremony will begin at 11:30 a.m. with a display of Klaus’ photography in the foyer of the Hochheim Theatre, followed by a live broadcast of a memorial ceremony jointly hosted by the Canadian Coast Guard and Transport Canada.

Dr. Klaus Hochheim’s obituary: https://passages.winnipegfreepress.com/passage-details/id-206034/Klaus_Hochheim

Dr. Klaus Hochheim’s first memorial post: https://news.umanitoba.ca/u-of-m-researchers-mourn-tragic-passing-of-colleague/

Opening of the Dr. Klaus Hochheim Memorial Theatre: https://news.umanitoba.ca/dr-klaus-hochheim-memorial-theatre-opened-at-private-ceremony/

Video presentation of the memorial event: https://youtu.be/eUd2iKg8LNc

What: 2022 Turtle Island Indigenous Science Conference
When: June 14 – 16, 2022
Where: University of Manitoba, Fort Garry Campus – the conference will be held in person (pending public health restrictions) 

Many North Americans, including Indigenous peoples, aren’t aware of the rich Indigenous scientific legacy and the value of the application of two-eyed seeing to modern science today.

Through interactive sessions with world-renowned speakers, cross-pollination of ideas, and approaches, the conference aims to raise the profile of Indigenous STEM science. Indigenous scientific accomplishments that rivaled those of the rest of the world will be explored among other topics.

Official Conference Website

Please visit the conference website for more details. 

Register

Online registration begins on February 1, 2022, via Eventbrite.

Registration costs:
Professor/Scientist/Business Professionals/Members of Government – $300.00
Students & Post Doctoral Fellows – $100.00.

Sponsored by

With generous support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

More than 150 middle-and-high school learners met with climate researchers on March 5 for Arctic Science Day. Students learned how new knowledge is developed from working in Arctic conditions, and how the learning process can be a lot like playing video games.

Arctic Science Day is a partnership between FortWhyte Alive and the Centre for Earth Observation Science at the University of Manitoba. It connects students from grades 6-12 with climate scientists involved in various forms of environmental research, from physics to chemistry to playing with video game joysticks.

But first, the kids had to learn the basics.

Over 100 grade 6-8 students from three schools learned about the challenges of oil spill clean-up in the Arctic. After PhD candidates introduced students to the interactions between freshwater and saltwater in the Arctic Ocean, students got engaged in an oil-spill response workshop.

Next, Postdoctoral Research Fellow Dr. Michelle McCrystall initiated the youth with climate models with a computer simulation. “Climate modelling is the process which aims to allow us to further understand important interactions in the climate system and to project these in to the future to predict potential changes in Earth’s climate,” she says.

“The predictions are based on a number of factors such as future energy sources, population size, projected socio-economic growth and land use change of varying degrees to give a range of possible future climate scenarios,” Dr. McCrystall adds.

More than 60 high school students from 15 schools spent the day visiting research stations on FortWhyte’s Lake Cargill, learning about sunlight reflection and absorption through sea ice, remote sensing of ice thickness, and how to take ice core samples.

Students also learned how to age a narwhal by counting the growth lines on its tusk, and about technology used in marine mammal research. Other topics included impacts of ocean acidification and contaminants like methylmercury.

Research Associate Maddie Harasyn showed how drone piloting is part of collecting climate data through remote sensing. Harasyn operates a drone like a real-life video game to collect land surface data.

“The students were really interested in the technology, and how cool and exciting drones are. And then they were even more excited to learn about how scientists apply the data to mapping vegetation or finding caribou in the forest,” Harasyn says.

Maddie Harasyn showing the sensors on a drone used in Arctic research

It’s not only drone pilots like Harasyn who get to operate joysticks for science. High-scoring gamers couldn’t help but hear PhD candidate Lisa Matthes compare the underwater navigation methods of her research to playing a video game.

“When we visit the North for field measurements, we no longer only drill small ice holes for single measurements. We want to study larger scales to understand what is happening to the Arctic sea ice under a climate change scenario. To do so we use underwater drones, called remotely operated vehicles, or ROVs, that are equipped with large sensor arrays and can be driven below the ice for hundreds of meters. ROVs are connected through a long tether to a computer and a joystick, sitting in a tent on top of the ice,” Matthes explains.

“My job as a researcher is now to play a three-dimensional underwater video game by driving a very expensive ROV along sampling transects without bumping into ice chunks or getting off-course.”

Students left 2020’s Arctic Science Day with a sense of some of the career opportunities in Arctic science – and not just the ones related to gaming.  In the words of some inspired high school students:

“I learned how many different branches of science are present in Arctic research –a wide variety of careers.”

“Environmental science must be studied from different angles – biology, chemistry, physics – to gain a full understanding.”

“I realized that Arctic research is going to be forever on-going and with the research we are doing today, we can use it to determine how we should be acting or supporting actions around climate change.”