{"id":103710,"date":"2025-08-06T14:21:56","date_gmt":"2025-08-06T18:21:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=103710"},"modified":"2025-08-07T10:09:22","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T14:09:22","slug":"brock-seeks-canada-excellence-research-chair-in-sustainable-agriculture-for-grape-and-wine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2025\/08\/brock-seeks-canada-excellence-research-chair-in-sustainable-agriculture-for-grape-and-wine\/","title":{"rendered":"Brock seeks Canada Excellence Research Chair in Sustainable Agriculture for Grape and Wine"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brock University is applying to the Government of Canada\u2019s Canada Excellence Research Chairs (CERC) program<\/a> with the goal of securing a CERC in Sustainable Agriculture for Grape and Wine.<\/p>\n

Launched in 2008, the program awards universities up to $8 million over a maximum of eight years to establish research programs that expand Canada\u2019s reputation as a global leader in research and innovation.<\/p>\n

Leading scholars from around the world interested in leading Brock\u2019s CERC team are encouraged to consult the University\u2019s job posting<\/a> for more information. The last full day to apply is Sunday, Sept. 7 and the posting will close at 12:01 a.m. EDT on Monday, Sept. 8.<\/p>\n

Debbie Inglis, Director of Brock\u2019s Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute<\/a> (CCOVI), is heading up the search committee for a world-leading viticulturist in sustainable agriculture who would collaborate with the local and national grape and wine industries.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are especially interested in candidates who take an integrated agriculture approach towards sustainable viticulture practices and can bridge research in applied vineyard management with innovative digital and AI (artificial intelligence) tools,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

As well as building on Brock\u2019s research strengths, Associate Vice-President, Research Michelle McGinn says a Chair in Sustainable Agriculture aligns closely with two of the CERC program\u2019s priority areas<\/a>: supporting Sustainable Food Systems and promoting a Clean, Sustainable and Prosperous Canada.<\/p>\n

These two priority areas focus on advancing environmental sustainability, well-being and economic resilience by addressing climate change impacts and the protection of ecosystems and food sources, among other actions.<\/p>\n

McGinn says the Chair would also support Brock\u2019s Strategic Plan<\/a>, particularly to \u201cengage actively in the global dialogue on environmental sustainability through academic pursuits, research initiatives and partnerships.\u201d<\/p>\n

The University\u2019s focus on sustainable agriculture<\/a> sparked the creation of a multi-institutional Brock-led research farm<\/a>, which is supported by $7 million in federal and Ontario government funding plus additional supports from industry.<\/p>\n

The farm brings together experts to carry out research in such areas as identifying virus-free grapevine material, developing production processes for clean plants, employing precision agriculture and ecological interactions to improve crop yield and resilience, and integrating sustainable agriculture development into urban areas.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis CERC competition offers Brock the opportunity to leverage new expertise, enhancing our potential by connecting soil health research with innovative AI tools to lower carbon emissions and minimize off-site impacts of grape-growing,\u201d says McGinn.\u00a0\u201cThis new expertise would serve as a catalyst for integrating researchers across multiple departments and Faculties at Brock, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration on sustainability initiatives and enhancing the impact of research on the broader community.\u201d<\/p>\n

McGinn says Brock\u2019s long-running history in agricultural research<\/a> has resulted in a strong network of renowned scientists working across CCOVI, the Departments of Biological Sciences, Engineering, Chemistry, Computer Sciences, Geography and Earth Sciences, the Environmental Sustainability Research Centre, the Brock-Niagara Validation, Prototyping and Manufacturing Institute and the Niagara Community Observatory.<\/p>\n

The CERC program complements the federal government\u2019s Canada Research Chairs (CRC) program<\/a>, which supports world-class researchers achieving research excellence in engineering and the natural sciences, health sciences, humanities and social\u202fsciences.<\/p>\n

If successful in the national competition, Brock\u2019s CERC will join the University\u2019s 12 active CRCs<\/a> in advancing Canadian expertise across disciplines to solve global challenges.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brock University is applying to the Government of Canada\u2019s Canada Excellence Research Chairs (CERC) program with the goal of securing a CERC in Sustainable Agriculture for Grape and Wine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":85202,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[41,1],"tags":[492,9065,14776,9826,794,855,14777,3746,8907,7437,7066,885,1039,732,348,522,1327,767,6614,63,1753,3325,13347,13284,14779,14778,13119,1246,11217],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103710"}],"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=103710"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103710\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":103714,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103710\/revisions\/103714"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}