Two StFX faculty members, biology professor Dr. Jennifer Perry and earth and environmental sciences professor Dr. Celeste Cunningham, are among top Canadian talent to receive funding from the Government of Canada.
The Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of National Revenue, announced nearly $86 million through the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) to support 316 research infrastructure projects at 47 institutions across the country. This contribution, made through the CFI’s John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF), will help institutions in Canada attract and retain the very best of today’s researchers.
Minister Bibeau made the announcement at the Université de Sherbrooke, on behalf of the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry and the Honourable Mark Holland, Minister of Health.
Dr. Perry is receiving $74,875 from CFI towards a $187,189 total investment in research equipment and lab space to support ‘The ecology and genomics of sexual conflict: Research through the StFX Centre for Insect Evolution and Ecology.’
Dr. Cunningham is receiving $23,121 from CFI towards a $57,809 total investment in research equipment for her work on the ‘Reconstruction of ancient climate trends and ocean chemistry.’
“StFX is thrilled to have been able to attract such high quality researchers to our campus. Dr. Perry and Dr. Cunningham are just two examples of the exciting young researchers who are mentoring StFX students, offering them opportunities that many undergraduate students in particular don't often have to gain hands-on experience and become part of a research team. This investment by CFI is recognition of the quality and importance of Dr. Perry's and Dr Cunningham's research programs and will provide vital support for them to continue to have an impact on the research community in Canada and internationally,” says Dr. Karen Brebner, Associate VP Research, Graduate and Professional Studies (interim).
The ecology and genomics of sexual conflict: Research through the StFX Centre for Insect Evolution and Ecology: Dr. Perry says conflicts of interest, where two agents disagree about the best outcome from their interaction, are widespread in human society and the natural world. A key example of widespread conflict occurs between males and females. Sexual conflict arises because males and females typically achieve fitness in distinct ways. “We now know that sexual conflict can profoundly impact biological processes, including adaptation, diversification, speciation and extinction. However, major outstanding questions remain, and, in many ways, we have only scratched the surface of the potential influence of sexual conflict.” Dr. Perry’s research aims to understand the pervasive reach of sexual conflict in animal life. To address the outstanding questions about sexual conflict, she uses insect systems that have been the source of many advances in this field. Her research program will work to determine how sexual co-evolution driven by sexual conflict unfolds in nature, discover the genetic basis of male and female traits that mediate sexual conflict, and test the potential for sexual conflict in new traits that go beyond those directly related to mating. “Because sexual conflict is a universal feature of life, these studies have strong potential to change how we think about adaptation, co-evolution and biological diversity. Moreover, the research will improve understanding of insect reproduction and adaptation, a key priority in an era of declining insect abundance and diversity in Canada and globally.” The grant will enable Dr. Perry to upgrade her lab space, refurbish an existing incubator system and purchase needed equipment such as a portable water assessment system, a cooling incubator system, a drosophila food media preparation system, video recording and processing system, a microscope imaging system, molecular ‘omics preparation suite for processing DNA samples, and a freezer storage system
Reconstruction of ancient climate trends and ocean chemistry: The main objective of Dr. Cunningham’s research is to reconstruct ancient environmental conditions and oceanic chemistry during pivotal intervals in Earth's history to better understand the relationships between geological processes, the evolution of life and environment, and the distribution of geological resources. “Intervals of interest include periods of rapid climate change, biodiversification, and intense plate tectonic activity, such as the Neoproterozoic to Palaeozoic transition (635 - 485 million years ago), during which there was profound and irreversible global change in Earth systems,” she says. “These changes include three global glaciations, widespread oxygenation of the oceans, the evolution of metazoans, and large shifts in ocean chemistry and the carbon cycle.” The ancient sedimentary record during this period provides an archive of long-term climatic trends, sea level fluctuations, tectonic cycles, biogeochemical cycling processes, carbon capture and burial, glaciations, and the evolution of life. The research seeks to answer longstanding questions regarding how Earth's climate, oceans, and carbon cycle have evolved over geological time, and how changes in Earth processes and environments create and concentrate geological resources. “This will be accomplished by studying the ancient sedimentary rock record in Yukon and Nova Scotia, Canada, where there are several excellently preserved and exposed deep-ocean outcrops that span the Neoproterozoic-Palaeozoic transition.” The grant allows Dr. Cunningham to purchase equipment including a portable X-Ray Fluorescence Analyzer (pXRF), a handheld device that can take unlimited accurate, high-precision measurements directly from outcrops exposed in the field in under 60 seconds/measurement, as well as computer and 3D mapping software, and GPSs (global positioning systems) and satellite communicators.
