Media UpdateJune 2013
$6.4 million funding infusion supports critical and groundbreaking research into water and environment
One of the world’s premier facilities for environmental contamination research, Trent University’s Water Quality Centre (WQC) in Peterborough, Ontario is receiving $6.4 million to reach new horizons for research using high resolution mass spectrometry.
The WQC will receive new investments from the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation through the Ontario Research Fund-Research Infrastructure program, and the Government of Canada through the Canada Foundation for Innovation. The Water Quality Centre is also receiving additional support from 14 partner organizations and 20 per cent of the project funding is being provided through private industry support.
The new investments will allow for upgrades and expansions at Trent’s WQC that will facilitate many internal and external research projects, resulting in environmental pollution reduction and a better understanding of the fate and impact of aquatic pollutants. It will also provide specialized training for environmental scientists.
New WQC projects enabled by the funding include fingerprinting materials via their trace element composition; generating forensic evidence of the sources and fate of contaminants in the environment; and measuring radioactive elements in the environment quickly and accurately. The new equipment will be also used to determine emerging contaminants and identify their degradation products, and to measure the response of organisms to chemical stress by analyzing changes in the distribution of their proteins and other biomolecules.
In partnership with the Centre for Alternative Wastewater Treatment (CAWT) at Fleming College in Cobourg, Ontario, wastewater treatment procedures for the resource and mining sectors will be developed and optimized, in order to reduce environmental contamination arising from these industrial processes effectively and cost-effectively. Similarly, treatment technologies developed through the WQC/CAWT collaboration will help protect the drinking water of rural and remote communities.
In addition to the improved environmental quality and the reduced cost of wastewater treatment and environmental clean-up, the proposed research and infrastructure will also benefit Ontario and Canada by training a large number of highly qualified personnel. These new professionals will strengthen the workforce in industry, government and academia with their specialized knowledge and experience in instrumental analysis and aquatic sciences after their graduation.
Dedicated to the development and application of innovative new techniques for the analysis of organic and inorganic contaminants at the isotopic, elemental and molecular scale, Trent University’s Water Quality Centre is a multidisciplinary facility that utilizes state-of-the-art instrumentation. The focus of the Centre is the determination of trace quantities of inorganic and organic substances in aquatic environments.
QUOTES
“Trent University prides itself on a strong commitment to environmental research, understanding, and protection at a regional, national and global scale. Grants such as these allow Trent faculty and students to continue their critical and groundbreaking research into water and our environment. Trent’s Water Quality Centre is an example of the successful regional partnerships that Trent University and Fleming College have forged with our community partners and agencies, putting the Peterborough, Ontario and the Kawartha, Ontario regions on the map as leaders in water quality research and education.”
- Dr. Steven E. Franklin, president and vice-chancellor, Trent University
“The research at Trent’s Water Quality Centre would not be possible without strong support from the Governments of Canada and Ontario, alongside our industry and community partners. With this new funding, the Water Quality Centre is expanding its role as a world leader in water research and innovation by applying existing water analytical expertise with the new equipment capabilities to support innovation developments in the health sciences, agriculture and food industries.”
- Dr. Holger Hintelmann, lead researcher, professor and dean of Arts & Science - Science, Trent University
LEARN MORE
- Ontario Research Fund: Research Infrastructure
- Trent University’s Water Quality Centre
- Ontario’s clean water industry
For further information please contact:
Patricia Pytel
International Public Relations
(416) 314-8704