Lakehead U Announces Two New Canada Research Chairs

(Thunder Bay - November 10, 2005) Lakehead University is pleased to announce two new Canada Research Chairs - one in Aboriginal education and the other in analytical chemistry.

Dr. Judy Iseke-Barnes is Lakehead University's Canada Research Chair of Indigenous Education.

Dr. Aicheng Chen is Lakehead University's Canada Research Chair in Material and Environmental Chemistry.

"The Canada Research Chairs program is designed to position Canada as one of the world's top five countries for research and development, and our researchers will address this strategy," says Dr. Fred Gilbert, President, Lakehead University. "Dr. Iseke-Barnes and Dr. Chen represent the latest additions to our fine team of Canada Research Chairs. They are leading researchers in their fields and will further build the growing research activities of Lakehead University."

In June, 2001, the University announced that Dr. Ellie Prepas had been named a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Sustainable Water Management and the Boreal Forest. In December 2001, Dr. Lionel Catalan was announced as Chair in Industrial Waste Management and Site Remediation, and Dr. Heidi Schraft was announced as Chair in Molecular Food Microbiology. In April 2002, Dr. Gary Genosko was named Chair in Technoculture Studies, and in 2003, Dr. Michel Bédard became Canada Research Chair in Health and Aging.

"Lakehead University aims to be in the top 25 research universities in Canada in the next five to ten years, and our new Canada Research Chairs will help us get there," says Dr. Rui Wang, Vice President (Research), Lakehead University. "Our researchers are working on leading-edge topics, and Dr. Iseke-Barnes and Dr. Chen work in unique areas which need and deserve investigation. I am excited to see the developments our Research Chairs will make."

The Canada Research Chair Tier 2 award is valued at $100,000 each year for five years, with the possibility of renewal. In addition, each Chair will receive research infrastructure grants from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), the Ontario Research Fund (ORF), and other partners.

The research of Dr. Judy Iseke-Barnes seeks understanding of complex responsibilities of Indigenous knowledge, the way education is undertaken through storytelling, and the way research is organized by scholars, Elders, and communities. This research will respond to the need for educational resources and Indigenous interpretations of culture, history, pedagogy, and curriculum as well as produce a research hub for Indigenous educational research. It will promote a better understanding of Indigenous research and the ways it can be organized by scholars, Elders, and communities.

Dr. Aicheng Chen's research focuses on the development of new electrochemical technologies for environmental analysis, pollutant treatment, metal electrolytic production, and biomass conversion. The Canadian economy relies heavily on the mining and pulp and paper industries and electrochemical technology is widely used in the electrolytic production of metal, chemical pulping process, and pollution control. Dr. Chen's research addresses the integrated management of energy and the environment, encompassing some of the major issues in green chemistry that are critical to the mining and pulp and paper industries and to the sustainable development of natural resources in Canada. This research will have significant benefit for Canadian mining and pulp & paper industries, improving their production processes and reducing their environmental impacts.

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Media Contact: Marla Tomlinson, Office of Communications, 807-343-8177 or 807-472-9113.