Today we congratulate Dr. Karen Kidd and Dr. Scott Pavey, Canadian Rivers Institute scientists who were awarded Canada Research Chair appointments, announced today by Honourable Kirsty Duncan, Minister of Science.
Dr. Karen Kidd was named the Tier 1 CRC in Chemical Contamination of Food Webs.
Dr. Kidd’s research advances our understanding of how human activities are changing aquatic ecosystems and the effects chemicals have on aquatic life. Dr. Kidd uses novel approaches to examine contaminants in aquatic ecosystems from the Arctic to South America. Contamination from municipal and industrial discharges, resource development and food production continue to threaten the health and productivity of waterways across Canada and abroad, and her program identifies the aquatic systems and species at greatest risk. Consumption of contaminated fish is a serious issue, and fish contamination with mercury is a key concern across Canada and globally. It is the leading cause of fish-consumption advisories issued for thousands of lakes across North America. Dr. Kidd’s research is tracking mercury and othet contaminants across our lakes and rivers, assessing impacts and advising governments.
As the CRC in Chemical Contamination of Food Webs in the Canadian Rivers Institute and biology department at UNB, Dr. Kidd’s program is providing much-needed information to ensure that our waters are healthy and sustained. She will continue to conduct high impact, internationally recognized research on aquatic food webs with the goal to generate new knowledge to better understand the relative sensitivities of ecosystems to contaminants, and to ultimately manage the risks to the aquatic environment.
"The CRC award means that our group at CRI and UNB Saint john can continue to address key water issues within and outside the region. We will be able to generate new knowledge on contaminants in waters and their impacts on fish, and provide information needed by decision makers to ensure healthy waters and wildlife." - Dr. Karen Kidd, CRI Science Director
Dr. Scott Pavey was named the Tier 2 CRC in Aquatic Molecular Ecology and Ecological Genomics.
Dr. Pavey’s research involves understanding how the genetic diversity in fish populations and species results in traits important to both adaption in nature and human user groups. Dr. Pavey uses state-of-the-art technologies and techniques to address questions in conservation, fisheries management, evolution and ecology with the aim of conserving the natural diversity. By using the latest sequencing technology to consider entire genomes of fish species, Dr. Pavey can determine the key genes for traits important to adaptation in nature and to human stakeholders like fishermen, aquaculture workers and those concerned about fish conservation. In so doing, Dr. Pavey can make recommendations about how to protect the most important populations of species and help make aquaculture more sustainable.
"It means quite a bit for my work, because it allows me to hit the ground running with equipment, staff, and students. My state-of-the-art genomics lab is now fully operational only 7 months after my position began. This would have taken years without the help of the CRC program." - Dr. Scott Pavey, CRI Associate
The full Government of Canada announcement can be seen here