The latest Seed Fund recipients have been selected, with three new academic institutions joining the call for the first time.
Of the 61 applications received, 20 projects will be provided funding. Projects range from the development of safer marine coatings to new ocean outreach led by black, Indigenous and people of color.
Recipients range from PhD candidates to full professors from the following universities:
- Dalhousie University (8)
- Memorial University (8)
- Université du Québec à Rimouski (2)
- University of Prince Edward Island (1)
- University of Victoria (1)
Click here for a full list of recipients and their project titles.
The Ocean Frontier Institute provided $185,419 for this round of funding, with the remaining $216,000 in funding provided by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), Innovacorp, and NetZero Atlantic.
Since 2018, the Seed Fund has provided financial support to more than 100 projects to advance innovative ideas in research, commercial and social concepts relating to the ocean in such areas as engineering, biology, aquaculture, environment and earth sciences.
Quotes
“With participation from five universities and many scientific and many industry partners, this round of Seed funding will allow researchers to advance and commercialize their work like never before. I’m very confident that these innovative ideas will help us bring new value from ocean research to a broader range of stakeholders than ever before, bringing economic and social benefits to the ocean sector in Atlantic Canada and beyond."
- Dr. Anya Waite, Chief Executive Officer and Scientific Director at the Ocean Frontier Institute.
“These early-stage investments are critical to developing the solutions that we’ll need to address climate change and to create opportunities for exporting local ideas around the world. Net Zero Atlantic is delighted to participate in this round.”
- Kathleen Mifflin, project manager with Net Zero Atlantic, a Seed Fund sponsor.
"Safer alternative coatings for marine vessels protect biodiversity by maintaining the water quality of our marine environments and preventing the introduction of invasive species into the fragile ecosystems of the Canadian coastline."
- Dr. Heather Buckley, a Seed Fund recipient, who is designing safer marine coatings for biofouling prevention.
We’re building the instruments that will enable future carbon sequestration markets to thrive. This work is greatly helped by the OFI seed fund, accelerating development of prototypes and unit testing.”
- Dr. Colin Sonnichsen, a Seed Fund recipient, who is developing a submersible, autonomous total alkalinity sensor for evaluating oceanic carbon uptake.
