Caring for future generations

“So, the intention is to monitor waterways that are in their jurisdictions. And so, we have several community partners around the Prairies North region. And those partners will be leaders in helping us guide the research. So it’ll be particularly impactful for them because it’s designed that way.”, says Eric Collins, principal investigator of the project.

Collins is an assistant professor at the Clayton H. Riddell Faculty of Environment, Earth, and Resources and holds a Canada Research Chair in Arctic Marine Microbial Ecosystem Services at the Centre for Earth Observation Science, Environment and Geography.

“My own research is very much tied to the research theme one to this project, focused on the biodiversity exploration and understanding what the different microbial communities look like and how they change over time. Where we’re basically trying to uncover any microbial novelty and at the same time trying to see how those microbial communities differ over time and trying to figure out if we actually need active conservation efforts for the biodiversity captured in those environments”, says Palmer, who is involved with theme one, exploring the microbial community diversity in natural waterways.

Theme two focuses on monitoring invasive species in rehabilitated lakes and is in collaboration with the Experimental Lakes Area.

“We are interested in antibiotic resistance, which is considered a silent pandemic. Globally, antibiotic-resistant infections kill about 1.3 million people every year. So, looking at the prevalence of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria in the environment is very, very critical when it comes to how to address the problem. And one way of doing that is by looking at the present in the environment that may encode for various antibiotic resistance. The aspects that we are involved in this project can help coming up with ways where we can improve the safety of the water and spread of antibiotic resistance”, says Kumar.

Uyaguari’s research focuses on antimicrobial-resistance genes that could be present in water and wastewater treatment facilities in Indigenous communities.
“My involvement is to look at antimicrobial-resistance genes that could be present in water antimicrobial-resistance genes that could be present in water and wastewater treatment facilities in Indigenous communities to evaluate the discharges from, wastewater facilities and oxidation lagoons in these communities, as well as evaluate the water cycle in general from a microbiological perspective.”, says Uyaguari.

The grant also creates opportunities for graduate students to get involved in the project through the various principal investigators.

To learn more, please watch the full interview on the Faculty of Science’s YouTube channel and visit the Genome Canada website.