Lakehead SSHRC Researchers Receive Over a Million Dollars in Funding

Written by Lakehead University on 12 October 2011

THUNDER BAY, ON – Today, Lakehead celebrated and showcased its researchers and students who received over $1 million in research funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) in 2010-2011.

Outdoor Recreation, Parks and Tourism professor, Dr. Harvey Lemelin, is investigating the largely ignored roles of insects and the perception of insects in Canadian society – from bedbugs to butterflies. Dr. Lemelin has been granted over $100,000 in funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) to pursue a study entitled Understanding Human-Insect Interactions in Selected Regions of Canada that will help develop more effective interpretive and educational materials. Dr. Lemelin’s work is just one of Lakehead University’s many faculty and student research projects that received funding over the past year.

“Research in the social sciences and humanities is central to helping us craft solutions for challenging societal problems. Academic performance, community-based environmental management solutions, and interpersonal relationships are some of the areas that Lakehead scholars have addressed,” says Lakehead President Brian Stevenson. “The SSHRC grants help bring researchers from different disciplines together to share perspectives and new ideas that improve our collective understanding of complex issues.”

With the support of a Canada Graduate Scholarship worth $105,000 over three years, Lakehead University PhD student Danielle Ransom will examine the important area of body image in her research, Utility of Self-Affirmation Theory: Exploring Self-Esteem, Body Image and Individual Personality Characteristics.

Dr. Rui Wang, vice-president (research, economic development and innovation) emphasizes that “Lakehead’s researchers and trainees are well-known for their cutting-edge research on human thought and behaviour as well as the interaction of humans with their environment. SSHRC investments in these areas at Lakehead will help advance our understanding of complex societal and economic challenges that confront our region and the nation, which can lead to ‘Lakehead-made’ solutions for the real needs of our society.”

SSHRC grants awarded to Lakehead University’s researchers include Standard Research grants, an Aid to Small Universities grant, an Insight Development grant, Public Outreach Summer Institute grants, and grants for graduate student research.

The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) is the federal agency that promotes and supports university-based research and training in the humanities and social sciences. Through its programs and policies, SSHRC enables the highest levels of research excellence in Canada, and facilitates knowledge sharing and collaboration across research disciplines, universities and all sectors of society.

SSHRC Grants Awarded to Lakehead Faculty

AID TO SMALL UNIVERSITIES (ASU)

David Greenwood (Education)

Centre for Environmental, Sustainability, and Place Studies $90,000

INSIGHT DEVELOPMENT FUND

Edward (Keith) Brownlee (Social Work) with co-investigator Edward Rawana (Psychology)

An Examination of the Relationship between School-wide Strength-based Programming, School Climate and Academic Performance of Elementary School Children $60,090

PUBLIC OUTREACH SUMMER INSTITUTE

Margaret (Peggy) Smith (Natural Resources Management)

Building Resilient Northern Ontario Communities through Community-Based Forest Management $26,843

Robert Stewart (Geography)

Clumsy Solutions for a Complex World: Mobilizing Decisions about Lake Superior Areas of Concern and Lakewide Management $39,800

STANDARD RESEARCH GRANT

Edward (Keith) Brownlee (Social Work)

Rational and emotional decision making: Social workers serving family, friends and acquaintances $57,630

Kristin Burnett (History)

Race, Settlement, and Contagious Disease in Alberta, 1890-1940 $36,000

Monica Flegel (English)

Strange Domesticities: Animal-Human Domestic Relations in Victorian Culture $17,905

Daniel Hannah (English)

Transatlantic Erotics, 1783-1916: Gender and Desire in Narratives of Anglo-American Exchange $15,603

Raynald (Harvey) Lemelin (Outdoor Recreation, Parks and Tourism)

Understanding Human-Insect Interactions in Selected Regions of Canada $110,900

David Richards (Business) with co-investigator Aaron Schat (McMaster University)

Investigations of Attachment and Self-Determination in Organizations: Understanding Interpersonal Relationships at Work $18,981

Jennifer Roth (Women’s Studies) with co-investigator Monica Flegel (English)

Regulating Fan/Tasies: Fandom, Fan, Fiction, and Internet Policing $75,856

Margaret (Peggy) Smith (Natural Resources Management) with co-investigators David Davidson-Hunt (University of Manitoba), Robin Roth (York University), and collaborator Carol Audet (Nishnawbe Aski Nation)

Giving Voice to First Nations’ Views of Land Stewardship: Moving Beyond the Boreal Conservation vs. Development Debate $133,200

Total $682,808

SSHRC Grants Awarded to Lakehead students

Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarships – Master’s, Value: $17,500

Denise Groves (MA Social Work)

Understanding the Needs of High Risk Youth and How Advocacy Services Provide for These Youth in Need

Kaylin Kainulainen (MSc Kinesiology)
Relating Passion and Perfectionism in Varsity Ice Hockey PlayersHeather Koller (MA Social Work)
Engaging Populations at Risk – A Community Outreach Model for Thunder Bay

Holly Morgan (MA English)
Querying the closet in literature of the South Asian Diaspora

Ulysses Patola (MA History)
Racial Hegemony: Identity, Conflict and Struggle over Ice Hockey in Small Town Canada

Jaimi Penney (MA History)
Searching for a “Just Society” Max Saltsman and the Era of Social Change in Canada, 1964-79

Chantal Poirier (MA Psychology)
Experimental Exposure to Thin Women Portrayed in the Media: Self-affirmation and the Reduction of a Self-discrepant Body Image

Streven Strey (MA English)
Ecocritical Examination of the Poetry of Archibald Lampman

Heather Wark (MA Education)
The Development of Unitizing: A Longitudinal Study of the Mathematical Principles Needed and the Strategies and the Models used as Children Construct this Pivotal Mathematical Concept

Nicholina Youroukos (MES – Nature-based Recreation and Tourism)
Entrepreneurs’ Perceptions of Tourism: A Case Study of Rural Communities in Northern Ontario

Canada Graduate Scholarships – PhD

Gail Kuhl (PhD Education)
Living Well in a World with Wolves: Investigating the Value of Wolf-Focused Education
Value: $40,000 for 24 monthsDanielle Ransom (PhD Clinical Psychology)
Utility of Self-Affirmation Theory: Exploring Self-Esteem, Body Image and Individual Personality Characteristics
Value: $105,000 for 36 months