{"id":103133,"date":"2025-07-09T14:58:29","date_gmt":"2025-07-09T18:58:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=103133"},"modified":"2025-07-29T15:44:39","modified_gmt":"2025-07-29T19:44:39","slug":"ontario-wetland-research-among-brock-projects-given-nserc-boost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2025\/07\/ontario-wetland-research-among-brock-projects-given-nserc-boost\/","title":{"rendered":"Ontario wetland research among Brock projects given NSERC boost"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Wetlands save the economy billions of dollars by controlling floods, improving water quality and storing carbon that would otherwise go into the atmosphere, says Brock University hydrologist Kelly Biagi.<\/p>\n<p>Ontario is among jurisdictions around the world striving to reclaim wetlands lost to agricultural development and expanding cities. But largely missing from bylaws and plans guiding that process are ways to determine whether restoration efforts have been effective, she says.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe current metrics are mostly based on the net gain of a wetland area rather than how the wetlands are functioning and providing ecosystem services,\u201d says the Assistant Professor of Earth Sciences.<\/p>\n<p>With her Discovery Grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), Biagi is studying biogeochemical and hydrological systems in pristine and human-impacted wetlands.<\/p>\n<p>Biagi is one of 16 Brock University faculty researchers awarded NSERC funding, totalling $1.9 million, that was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.canada.ca\/en\/innovation-science-economic-development\/news\/2025\/07\/government-of-canada-announces-support-for-over-9700-leading-researchers-and-projects-nationwide.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">announced Wednesday, July 9<\/a> by M\u00e9lanie Joly, Minister of Industry and Minister Responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions.<\/p>\n<p>In addition, 36 Brock students and postdoctoral researchers were awarded more than $2.4 million in Canadian Graduate Scholarships (CGS) and Doctoral and Postdoctoral Fellowships.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_103148\" style=\"width: 358px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-103148\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-103148\" src=\"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/20240820_133634-copy-788x1050.jpg\" alt=\"A woman (left) and a man (right) crouch next to a metal contraption and look at a metal box attached to the bottom of the contraption.\" width=\"348\" height=\"464\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-103148\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">University of Waterloo postdoctoral fellow Natasa Popovic (left) and third-year student Jack Comerford (right) conduct research in a wetland.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\u201cAdvancing science and technology in Canada and beyond is a key priority of the Canadian government,\u201d says Chris Bittle, Member of Parliament for St. Catharines. \u201cI\u2019m pleased to see this funding support the vibrant contributions Brock University researchers are making in the fields of mathematics, earth sciences, chemistry, psychology, health and biology.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong>Biagi and her team are examining how reclaimed wetlands in southern Ontario store, transport and release water and nutrients, which provides insight into the ability to perform wetland services.<\/p>\n<p>Climate change complicates this issue, as warmer temperatures with more intense rain and snowmelt events \u201care undoubtedly impacting the hydrology and biogeochemistry within these reclaimed wetlands,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<p>Biogeochemistry refers to how nitrogen, phosphorous and other elements essential to supporting life circulate throughout the ecosystem.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe need for effective wetland reclamation that can mimic the function of undisturbed wetlands is crucial to preserving the ecological integrity of the Canadian landscape,\u201d says Biagi. \u201cUnderstanding how the hydrology in reclaimed wetlands differs from undisturbed wetlands will help establish scientific metrics to evaluate reclamation success and will highlight how remedial effects need to be changed, which can also impact current provincial policies regarding standards for wetlands reclamation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Acting Vice-President Research Michelle McGinn says Biagi\u2019s work is one of many Brock projects making a big impact.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBrock researchers will continue to make outstanding contributions, from fundamental science to applied problem solving while supporting and mentoring the next generation of experts in their fields,\u201d she says. \u201cWe truly appreciate the support from NSERC in advancing research and research careers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Leads for this year\u2019s NSERC Discovery Grants are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Stephen Anco, Professor of Mathematics, Faculty of Mathematics and Science: \u201cSymmetries conserved integrals, integrability, and nonlinear evolution equations\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Kelly Biagi, Assistant Professor of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Mathematics and Science: \u201cBuilding metrics of success for reclaimed wetlands by investigating the hydrological and biogeochemical behaviour among different reclamation strategies\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Travis Dudding, Professor of Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematics and Science: \u201cDiscovery of novel hydrogen\u2013halogen bond catalysts and receptors\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Dustin Duncan, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematics and Science: \u201cDevelopment of methodologies for the synthesis and evaluation of antimicrobial compounds\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Stephen Emrich, Professor of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences: \u201cRepresentation in visual working memory and visual imagery\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Paul LeBlanc, Professor of Health Sciences, Faculty of Applied Health Sciences: \u201cCharacterizing the physiological role of cardiolipin, and its synthesis and remodeling, in murine skeletal muscle structure and function\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Aleksandar Necakov, Associate Professor of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Mathematics and Science: \u201cInvestigation of the molecular and genetic mechanisms involved in regulation of the Notch signalling pathway\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Recipients of this year\u2019s NSERC Discovery Development Grants are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Allan Adkin, Professor of Kinesiology, Faculty of Applied Health Sciences: \u201cEmotional and cognitive contributions to balance control\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Jeffrey Atkinson, Professor of Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematics and Science: \u201cBolalipids as probes and disrupters of biological membranes\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Glaucio Silva de Carvalho, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, Faculty of Mathematics and Science: \u201cAI-empowered cybersecurity for 6G\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Robson De Grande, Associate Professor of Computer Science, Faculty of Mathematics and Science: \u201cLearning-based connectivity modelling in highly dynamic ultra-dense vehicular edge networks\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Henryk Fuks, Professor of Mathematics, Faculty of Mathematics and Science: \u201cDevelopment and applications of methods for characterizing orbits of Bernoulli measures in spatially extended discrete dynamical systems\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Alexandre Odesski, Professor of Mathematics, Faculty of Mathematics and Science: \u201cAlgebraic and geometric structures in mathematical physics\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Gary Pickering, Professor of Biological Sciences and Psychology, Faculty of Mathematics and Science and Faculty of Social Sciences: \u201cCharacterization and implications of the thermal tasting phenotype\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Recipients of this year\u2019s NSERC Research Tools and Instruments grants are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Kiyoko Gotanda, Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Mathematics and Science: \u201cUrgently needed flow-through fish racks to assess the ecological consequences of introduced domestic and wild guppies\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Wendy Ward, Professor of Kinesiology, Faculty of Applied Health Sciences: \u201cX-ray source for a microcomputed tomography system\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Wetlands save the economy billions of dollars by controlling floods, improving water quality and storing carbon that would otherwise go into the atmosphere, says Brock University hydrologist Kelly Biagi.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":103135,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[36,7484,3319,4052,41,1,5,38],"tags":[7176,14707,14705,8907,7437,567,885,1696,996,356,546,13755,7488,348,522,3457,14706,6093,6717,12850,10769,2195,12887,3325,8739,14703,14704,3580,1516],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103133"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103133"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103133\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":103584,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103133\/revisions\/103584"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/103135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}