Backgrounder

November 6, 2009

Projects Funded In North Bay

Today, through the Ontario Research Fund–Research Infrastructure program, Ontario is investing $13,953 at Nipissing University to support one research project and 10 researchers. This investment is part of a broader $268-million province-wide investment that will support 214 projects and more than 3,300 researchers in 14 cities, and help to create and preserve more than 1,300 construction jobs over the next four years across the province.

An Examination of the History and Consequences of Managerial Interventions into Natural and Human Resources, Environments and Systems in Ontario’s Near North
Finding more effective environmental management policies and practices
Lead Researcher: Bavington, Dean
Provincial Funding: $13,953
Researchers Affected: 10

Northeastern Ontario’s natural resources sector, like other regions of Canada, has suffered and continues to suffer from a number of major catastrophic collapses (e.g., the Lake Nipissing pickerel fishery), all associated with a lack of management or mismanagement of the resource and leading to significant job losses and economic hardship. Dr. Dean Bavington will analyze these problems from an environmental history perspective (one that embraces knowledge of how Canada’s First Peoples and settlers interacted with the land and sea before industrialization) to discover how to have more effective management policies and practices. The research findings, which will be widely and innovatively communicated, will contribute to Ontario’s and Canada’s capacity for sustainable development of precious natural resources.

The Ontario Innovation Agenda

Research at Nipissing University is an example of Ontario leading the world in the quest for knowledge and discovery. Support for this kind of work is part of Ontario’s Innovation Agenda, the province’s $3.2-billion strategy to make innovation a driving force of Ontario’s economy.  By targeting investments toward areas where Ontario already is, or is poised to become a global leader, and by building on our greatest strength – the talent and ingenuity of our people – Ontario is harnessing innovation to ensure ours is one of the winning economies of the 21st century. 

Support from the Ontario Research Fund–Research Infrastructure program

Part of Ontario’s Innovation Agenda, the Ontario Research Fund (ORF) is key to the province’s plan to move world-class research from the lab to the global marketplace. The role of the ORF is to help ensure that Ontario researchers have the tools they need to lead the world, or lead international collaborations, in their respective fields.