Trent University is pleased to announce that Dr. Dennis Murray, an associate professor in the Biology Department, has been granted a second term as Canada Research Chair (CRC) in Terrestrial Ecology.

Prof. Murray is among 100 new and renewed Canada Research Chairs announced on November 29 in Montreal by the federal government, a $104 million investment in the intellectual capital of Canada’s researchers. As a Tier 2 Chair, Prof. Murray will receive $100,000 annually for five years in recognition of being an exceptional emerging researcher with the potential to be a leader in his field.

“Today’s announcement continues a trend of success in research funding for Trent,” said Dr. James Parker, associate vice-president of research at the University. “Having Prof. Murray’s Canada Research Chair position renewed for a second term is testimony to the strength of his leading-edge research and ensures that it will continue to make an impact here at Trent, in the wider research community and the world. It also affirms Trent's solid reputation for research in the environmental and biological sciences – and as an important research centre for wildlife ecology and conservation.”

Prof. Murray came to Trent from the University of Idaho in 2002. His program as Canada Research Chair in Terrestrial Ecology aims to bridge the gap between the ecology of individual animals and that of their populations, with an emphasis on wildlife conservation. Working in a variety of systems in Canada and beyond, Prof. Murray studies the role of predator-prey relationships on the behavioural ecology and population dynamics of animals. He is also evaluating the determinants of southern range limits in mammals and amphibians, including the role of climate change, habitat loss, and disease; and patterns of density dependence and population regulation in animals, towards developing more effective population projection models and tools for conservation and management.

“I am honoured to be named a Canada Research Chair in Terrestrial Ecology for a second term,” Prof. Murray said. “The CRC not only allows me to continue training excellent graduate students in the fields of ecology and conservation but also to pursue basic questions related to animal population limitation and to contribute significantly to issues of wildlife management and conservation in Ontario, Canada, and abroad.”

The Canada Research Chairs Program aims to enable Canadian universities, together with their affiliated research institutes and hospitals, to achieve the highest levels of research excellence and to become world class research centres in the global, knowledge based-economy. Chairholders work to advance the frontiers of knowledge in their fields, not only through their own work, but also by teaching and supervising students and coordinating the work of other researchers. Trent University is home to ten Canada Research Chairs.

“As demonstrated in Mobilizing Science and Technology to Canada’s Advantage, the Government of Canada is committed to improving Canada’s international reputation for research excellence,” said the Honourable Jim Prentice, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for the Canada Research Chairs Program. “By investing in the Canada Research Chairs Program, we are helping universities recruit and retain the most brilliant and promising researchers, and contributing to enable these institutions to become leaders in the fields of advanced science and technology.”

Canada Research Chairs at Trent

• Professor Julian Aherne, Canada Research Chair in Environmental Engineering
• Professor James Conolly, Canada Research Chair in Archaeological Studies
• Professor Céline Guéguen, Canada Research Chair in Aquatic Sciences and Biogeochemistry
• Professor Marrie Mumford, Canada Research Chair in Aboriginal Arts and Literature
• Professor Dennis Murray, Canada Research Chair in Terrestrial Ecology
• Professor Bryan Palmer, Canada Research Chair in Canadian Studies
• Professor Davide Panagia, Canada Research Chair in Cultural Studies
• Professor Jim Parker, Canada Research Chair in Emotion and Health
• Professor Bradley White, Canada Research Chair in Conservation Genetics and Biodiversity
• Professor Paul Wilson, DNA Profiling, Forensics and Functional Genomics

Posted November 29, 2007