UNBC researchers have received $453,000 in Discovery Grants from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).
Dr. Che Elkin is one of those recipients. He studies the way forest ecosystems are responding to changing environmental conditions and what this will mean for forestry services and industry.
Elkin says the funding will be a boon to UNBC students.
“The funding is essential because it allows me to, first and foremost, bring on students that will be participating in this research, driving the research forward and also learning about how we look at forests and how we develop our research onto the forest.”
But the funding is also essential support for research, which is often costly and time-consuming.
“It also just provides the basic funding levels to do our research. It’s great that we can bring on the students – that’s where most of the funding actually goes towards. But it also goes towards providing the basic infrastructure funding that is needed to go and measure forests and understand how they develop.”
Elkin says programs like NSERC’s Discovery Grants are critical for research institutions like UNBC.
“It’s really essential for UNBC as an institution because we have researchers that are doing great research, that are attracting really high level funding and it keeps the university, particularly from the research side, operating. That is essential for creating a good environment for both our graduate and undergraduate students.”
UNBC applicants had a 57% success rate for receiving Discovery Grants, compared with 43% for similarly sized institutions.
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