Dr. Heather Price

KAMLOOPS—Two Thompson Rivers University (TRU) faculty members have been renewed as Tier 2 Canada Research Chairs (CRC) for another five years. Created in 2000, the prestigious CRC program promotes research and development excellence in Canadian post-secondary institutions.

Dr. Heather Price’s Chair in Culture and Communities: Children and the Law, in the Faculty of Arts, centres on memory and children as witnesses within the legal system. Her research serves to ensure the integrity of the legal system as it relates to the role of children and their participation in it.

As Canada Research Chair in Applied Mathematics and Optimization, in the Faculty of Science, Dr. Yana Nec focuses on the development of mathematical tools to explain complex natural phenomena. Her research involves solving differential equations which help describe how a certain entity— such as gas pressure in a landfill, water velocity in a river or the concentration of a chemical in a reactor—changes in time or space, or both.

Drs. Price and Nec join fellow CRCs at TRU: Dr. Shelly Johnson (Mukwa Musayett), CRC in Indigenizing Higher Education, Dr. Courtney Mason, CRC in Rural Livelihoods and Sustainable Communities and Dr. Jill Harvey, CRC in Fire Ecology.

Dr. Yana Nec

The Government of Canada announced more than 188 new and renewed Canada Research Chairs at 43 academic institutions for the 2020-2022 cycle, which represents approximately $151 million nationally. Of the chairholders announced, 39.1 per cent are women, 22.1 per cent are members of visible minorities, 5.7 per cent are persons with disabilities and 3.4 per cent are Indigenous Peoples, which marks an increase in representation for all groups from previous announcements.

Quotes:

“The important work these researchers are conducting is going to improve people’s lives and have significant implications for our society as a whole. We are proud of their valuable research and to have them with us at TRU.” — Brett Fairbairn, President

“The renewal of these two Canada Research Chairs reflects a vigorous national peer review process, and confirms the outstanding research accomplishments achieved by both Dr. Price and Dr. Nec. Their work, along with that of their fellow CRCs at TRU, provides world class research training opportunities for our students and has a direct impact on the communities we serve.” — Dr. Will Garrett-Petts, Associate Vice-President, Research and Graduate Studies

“Dr. Price’s cutting-edge work on children and law is vital for societal well-being. She is operating at a global level with her work already impacting in many sectors and with every indication it will continue to do so. Her forward looking research program and her solid grounding in the need to move that work into the public realm is of most importance, and I applaud her for her continued dedication and leadership on research initiatives here at TRU.” — Dr. Richard McCutcheon, Dean, Faculty of Arts

“Dr. Nec is working in a complex mathematical field that is producing results that have real and applied applications to industry and government having direct implications to the Canadian economy, yet she is making her research readily accessible to industry through industry collaboration and user-specific software development.  She is conducting an original, innovative, high-quality research program that is producing important results that are making a significant impact in the field. I am excited to hear of her CRC renewal and expect she will continue to make a significant contribution in the future.” — Dr. Gregory Anderson, Dean, Faculty of Science

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Contact:

Will Garrett-Petts, Associate Vice-President
Research and Graduate Studies, Thompson Rivers University
250-828-5410 | petts@tru.ca 

Quick facts

• Over 1,890 Canada Research Chair holders are working at 78 post-secondary institutions across the country in a wide range of fields. More than 230 of these chairs are in British Columbia.
• According to the Government of Canada, the CRC Program invests approximately $295 million per year to attract and retain some of the world’s most accomplished and promising research leaders.
• Universities Canada’s 97 member institutions have adopted Indigenous education as a priority. In the spirit of advancing opportunities for Indigenous students, the leaders of Canada’s universities committed to principles—developed in close consultation with Indigenous communities—that acknowledge the unique needs of Indigenous communities across Canada and their goals of autonomy and self-determination.