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Research Excellence Award Winners Announced

Research Excellence Award Winners Announced

Dr. Linda Ambrose and Dr. John Ashley Scott selected as 2024 recipients

June 4, 2024 - The selection committee for the 2023-2024 Research Excellence Award has completed its deliberations and selected this year’s recipients. With many exceptional researchers to choose from, the committee determined that Dr. Linda Ambrose and Dr. John Ashley Scott would be awarded the honour for 2024.

The annual award recognizes Laurentian faculty who have made outstanding and original contributions to their fields, particularly in the past five years, spanning applied, artistic, professional, and/or scientific domains. They have successfully secured external research funding, are recognized by the national or international academic community, and have notably advanced Laurentian University's research.

“We are very proud of the world-class research taking place here at Laurentian University. Drs. Scott and Ambrose are great examples of the excellence in research that is being carried out across a breadth of fields and disciplines within our institution. We congratulate them, as well as their collaborators, students, and staff who continue to support their research efforts,” said Dr. Tammy Eger, Vice-President, Research at Laurentian University.

“I am thrilled to be named as a recipient of the Laurentian Research Excellence Award! Sharing my passion for gender studies and women's history with graduate students and travelling the world to participate in academic conferences is such a privilege. To be recognized in this way by my own university is most definitely a highlight of my 30 years in Sudbury. Reading the letters of support, I feel so honoured and humbled for this recognition. It's such a joy to reflect on the colleagues, collaborators, and former students who have shaped my research career! I am deeply grateful,” said Dr. Linda Ambrose, Full Professor of History in the Faculty of Arts.

“The success of my research at Laurentian is an outcome of 12 years of tremendous support and collaborations with industry and government that have helped me obtain $4 million in research grants. I am particularly grateful to, and proud of, the over 20 PhD and Masters’ research students that have graduated, and their indispensable contributions to developing these highly collaborative programs. Programs that have also enhanced their training and personal experiences leading to very relevant and productive employment in the north. I am also grateful for my colleagues and excellent existing graduates that further support our collaborations and Canada’s economy through sustainable use of our resources,” said Dr. John Ashley Scott, Full Professor of Bioprocess Engineering in the Faculty of Science, Engineering and Architecture.

The recipients will be honoured at a convocation ceremony of their choosing (spring or fall) and will be invited to speak at the 2025 Research Week, followed by a reception in their honour.

About Dr. Ambrose’s Research

Award-winning historian Linda M. Ambrose has earned an international reputation for her explorations of rural women and women and religion. Her investigation of feminism in contexts like Women’s Institutes in Ontario and the United Kingdom, has resulted in publications including For Home and Country with its revelations about ubiquitous grassroots feminism. Her publications about North American Pentecostalism expose the gendered ambiguities women navigate within patriarchal institutions that espouse egalitarian rhetoric.

About Dr. Scott’s Research

Dr. Scott has specialized in turning the unexplored, underutilized, and even problematic into opportunities and resources that enhance sustainability. Many of the discoveries from his research have generated exciting and valuable opportunities that have in turn led to diverse and often surprising research directions in Canada and internationally. One example of his innovative research is the capture and reuse of CO2 emissions from Canada’s beer and wine fermentation industry to create a wide range of novel and effective natural disease fighting compounds.

Sudbury Researchers Awarded NSERC Grants Totaling $1.1M to Advance Mining-Related Projects

Sudbury Researchers Awarded NSERC Grants Totaling $1.1M to Advance Mining-Related Projects

May 13, 2024 - Two researchers at NOSM University and Laurentian University are celebrating major investments in their research today as their projects were successfully awarded funding from grants administered through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Alliance Missions program. One project studies how Gallium, a critical mineral, can be mined more efficiently while the second project focuses on the extraction of critical minerals from tailings ponds.

“Investing in research is directly supporting the advancement of technology, innovation, and economic prosperity. The work of both Dr.Tharmalingam and Dr. Scott are vital to ensuring Canada plays a leading role in a net-zero world, while supporting economic growth, environmental rehabilitation, and job creation. Critical minerals represent a generational opportunity for Sudbury and our net-zero future. Investing in research is the best path forward to ensuring we are seizing this opportunity.” – Viviane Lapointe, Member of Parliament Sudbury.

Extracting Gallium

Dr. Sujeenthar Tharmalingam, Assistant Professor at NOSM University, was awarded $600,000 by NSERC to support his research project, A microbial sponge to mine the critical mineral gallium.

Gallium is a vital element in the production of semiconductors, which are used in all kinds of electronic devices. Recently, a global semiconductor shortage has highlighted the need for alternative sources of gallium. China currently controls approximately 80% of the world's supply.

While gallium isn't found naturally as a mineral, it exists in trace amounts in tailings ponds—the waste products from mining processes. However, current methods for extracting gallium from these sources are expensive and inefficient.

Dr. Tharmalingam's project, conducted in collaboration with Dr. Vasu Appanna, co-founder of Biomine LTD and Professor at Laurentian University, aims to develop a new and eco-friendly solution for gallium extraction. Building off their previous work, the research team will focus on more efficiently mining gallium using microbes.

The NSERC Alliance grant will help develop a new microbial-based technology to collect gallium from tailings ponds in a clean and cost-effective manner. The project brings together Dr. Tharmalingam's expertise in molecular biology, microbiology, and gene editing with Biomine LTD's experience in developing custom-tailored eco-friendly microbial solutions.

This research has the potential to revolutionize gallium mining by developing a sustainable process that provides a steady supply of this critical mineral.

"The significance of gallium in electronics manufacturing is underscored by the recent semiconductor shortage. Our main objective is to pioneer an innovative microbial-based method to extract gallium from mining tailings, providing an environmentally friendly and economically viable solution to satisfy the increasing global need for this vital semiconductor material. We are grateful for the generous support from NSERC and Biomine LTD as we embark on this endeavor," says Dr. Suji Tharmalingam

Making the Most of Tailings Ponds

Dr. John Ashley Scott, Full Professor at Laurentian University’s Bharti School of Engineering leads the project entitled: Microalgal biosorption of critical minerals from mining related tailing ponds - recovering key metals to better protect aquatic systems and water supplies. This project will receive $530,990 from NSERC and substantial in-kind contributions from critical industry partner Glencore’s Sudbury Integrated Nickel Operations (Sudbury INO). Dr. Corey Laamanen serves as the project’s co-investigator.

The project will use naturally occurring microalgae bioprospected from mining sites in Northern Canada to remove critical minerals such as copper, nickel and cobalt from mining effluents using natural biosorption processes. It will also investigate methods for metals recovery from the biomass and beneficial uses of the remaining biomass, such as a soil ameliorant to aid in land rehabilitation.

The value to the critical minerals industry is that this low-cost approach will help with managing operational ponds and maximizing recovery of critical mineral resources. It can also act as a sustainable safeguard for protecting of water supplies for regional communities, by continuing to “mop up” metals and maintain post-closure legacy ponds to high standards to ensure long-term environmental protection, not just now, but for future generations.

“This project may open up new opportunities for industry and environmental protection that simply haven’t been developed yet. We are grateful for the contributions of both NSERC and Sudbury INO, without whom this project would not be possible,” says Dr. John Ashley Scott.