Canada makes $150M commitment to polar year

Gatineau, QC – A total of 44 Canadian science and research projects have been chosen to receive International Polar Year funding from the federal government. All of the selected projects are aligned with either climate change impacts or adaptation and the health and well-being of Northern communities.

With nearly 25% of the entire Arctic located within its boundaries, Canada is set to be a major centre of activity for International Polar Year 2007-2008, and the federal government has announced $150 million in funding to support the effort.

“Canada was instrumental in ensuring that for the first time a human dimension will be included in the international focus of International Polar Year, which will see Northerners benefit directly from the research taking place,” says Ian Church, chair of the Canada’s National International Polar Year Committee.

The 44 projects selected for funding are as follows (in alphabetical order):

Title: Arctic Freshwater Systems
Leader: Environment Canada

Title: Arctic Resiliency and Diversity
Leader: Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami with universities and Northern organizations

Title: Arctic Weather and Environmental Prediction Initiative
Leader: Gilbert Brunet, Environment Canada

Title: Beluga Tagging in the Arctic
Leader: Mike Hammill, Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Title: C3O – Canada’s Three Oceans
Leader: Eddy Carmack, Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Title: The Carbon Cycle in the Canadian Arctic and Sub-Arctic Continental Margin
Leader: Charles Gobeil, Universit du Qubec

Title: Carbon, Microbial and Plant Community Dynamics in Low-Arctic Tundra
Leader: Suzanne Simard, University of British Columbia

Title: Changing Forests and Peatlands along the Mackenzie Valley, Northwest Territories
Leader: Jagtar Bhatti, Natural Resources Canada

Title: The Circumpolar Flaw Lead System Study
Leader: David Barber, University of Manitoba

Title: Climate Change Impacts on Canadian Arctic Tundra
Leader: Greg Henry, University of British Columbia

Title: Climate Variability and Change Effects on Chars in the Arctic
Leader: James Reist, Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Title: Communities in the Changing Arctic
Leader: Barry Smit, University of Guelph

Title: Constructed Wetlands for Treatment of Wastewater in Arctic Communities
Leader: Mark Williamson, Fleming College

Title: Coordinated Effort to Clear Hepatitis Viruses from the Canadian North
Leader: Gerald Minuk, University of Manitoba

Title: Determining the Diet of the Greenland Shark in a Changing Arctic
Leader: Aaron Fisk, University of Windsor

Title: Dynamic Inuit Societies in Arctic History
Leader: Trevor Friesen, University of Toronto

Title: Effects of Global Warming on Polar Bears, Seals and Whales
Leader: Steven Ferguson, Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Title: Engaging Communities in the Monitoring of Country Food Safety
Leader: Manon Simard, Makivik Corporation

Title: Environmental Change and Traditional Use in the Old Crow Flats in Northern Canada
Leader: Shel Graupe, Vuntut Gwitch’in First Nation

Title: Environmental Change in the High Arctic from Snow and Ice Cores
Leader: Jocelyne Bourgeois, Natural Resources Canada

Title: Evaluating the Effectiveness of Vaccination against Respiratory Infections for Young Children of the Nunavik Region

Leader: Philippe DeWals, Centre de Recherche du Centre hospitalier de l’Universit Laval

Title: How Seabirds Can Help Detect Ecosystem Change in the Arctic
Leader: William Montevecchi, Memorial University

Title: Human Papillomavirus (HPV) and Cervical Disease in the Northwest Territories
Leader: Judy Niles, Public Health Agency of Canada

Title: Impacts of a Changing Arctic Tree Line
Leader: Karen Harper, Dalhousie University

Title: The Impact of Climate Change on Tundra Wildlife
Leader: Gilles Gauthier, Universit Laval

Title: The Impacts of Oil and Gas Activity on Peoples in the Arctic
Leader: Dawn Bazely, York University

Title: Impacts of Severe Arctic Storms and Climate Change on Coastal Areas
Leader: William Perrie, Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Title: An Integrated Research Program on Arctic Marine Fat and Lipids
Leader: ric Dewailly, Centre de Recherche du Centre hospitalier de l’Universit Laval

Title: Inuit Health Survey: Inuit Health in Transition and Resiliency
Leader: Grace Egeland, McGill University

International Polar Year 2007-2008 is the first initiative of its kind in 50 years and is only the fourth such undertaking in history. The last similar endeavour, International Geophysical Year held in 1957-1958, helped pave the way for the space age with the launch of the world’s first satellites, and ultimately resulted in the ratification of the Antarctic Treaty in 1961.