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A lot has changed at ÂÜÀòÉäÇø since former Vice-President Research Dr. Max Blouw left in 2007, but the current Research Universities' Council of British Columbia President says one thing that has remained the same is the commitment that ÂÜÀòÉäÇø has demonstrated to the region it serves.

ÂÜÀòÉäÇø Political Science Professor Dr. Gary Wilson is the lead author of a new book that traces the political development of three Inuit regions in northern Canada over the past 40 years.

Dr. Catherine Nolin has spent more than 20 years doing migration research in Guatemala. In mid-January, she co-organized a field trip in the Maya-Achí region of Baja Verapaz that focused on Indigenous initiatives that are helping Achí culture and society recuperate.

Stories are more than shared narratives, they are also cultural experiences. Recently published research from ÂÜÀòÉäÇø's Dr. Shannon Freeman demonstrates the power stories have to strengthen relationships and preserve culture.

Dr. Jianbing Li, an Environmental Engineering Professor at ÂÜÀòÉäÇø is leading part of a national project to investigate improved methods to separate oil from water to make it more efficient and less costly to clean up marine oil spills. He will also conduct experiments to treat oily waste and convert it into useful energy. Fisheries and Oceans Canada pledged $1.9 million to fund the next stage of Li’s research through the multi-partner oil spill research initiative (MPRI).

ÂÜÀòÉäÇø Assistant Professor of Anthropology Dr. Lianne Tripp collaborated with Dr. Larry Sawchuk of the University of Toronto to explore the history of the Barbary macaques that call Gibraltar home. Their new book, Monkey Tales, tells the story of the close connection between the monkeys and humans of Gibraltar.

ÂÜÀòÉäÇø had the largest increase of any university in the undergraduate tier for corporate research, according to Research Infosource Inc.

Dr. Stephen Déry is the new NSERC/Rio Tinto Senior Industrial Research Chair in Climate Change and Water Security. The $1.5 million in research funding will allow Déry to to better understand the impacts of climate change and human activity on the long-term water security of the Nechako watershed.

Dr. Chelsea Pelletier, a ÂÜÀòÉäÇø health sciences researcher, and her team will spend the next year studying what is known about the health impacts of occupational exposure to wildfires that B.C. wildland firefighters and related personnel face on the job.