Celebration of Excellence in Research, Scholarship & Creative Activity

Postdoctoral Fellowships

The following individuals have been awarded Postdoctoral Fellowships conferred by external agencies in 2021:

Genome Canada-Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research Postdoctoral Fellowship

Under the supervision of Dr. Daniel Heath from the Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, Dr. Matthew Yates was awarded a Genome Canada-Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research Postdoctoral Fellowship for his project entitled, Environmental DNA Applications in Diet/Trophic Analyses for Key Great Lakes Fishes.

Leveraging Genome Canada and Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research (CIGLR) funds, this initiative will address key trophic interaction knowledge gaps affecting the management of fish resources in the Great Lakes. Dr. Yates’ research will address CIGLS’s research objectives to advanced warning systems and promote healthy communities, and through use of genomic tools and trophic interaction data generated, it will also contribute to a weather ready nation and support coastal resilience.

This initiative will also advance the “NOAA ‘Omics Strategy” to enhance expertise in genomics applications, develop specific genomics tools, and transition genomics technologies to end users and stakeholders within the American Blue Economy portfolio. Unltimately, Dr. Yates’ research help to build effective and long-lasting eDNA-based research and development collaborations between Canadian and US academic, government, and NGO researchers and professionals.Matthew Yates at Hector Lake

SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellowship

Supervised by Dr. Tricia Carmichael from the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Dr. Michael Godfrey was awarded a SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellowship for his project entitled, Campus climate and persistence of LGBTQ+ students in STEM.

Individuals who belong to minority groups including women, visible minorities, persons with disabilities, Indigenous peoples, and individuals with minoritized identities of sexuality and/or gender (e.g., lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, plus other gender identities and sexual orientations; LGBTQ+) have long been underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) occupations. Dr. Godfrey’s research seeks to understand how the climate for LGBTQ+ people impacts their experiences and intentions to persist within STEM fields.