Canadian University Press Releases/Newswire

Source: Brandon University
http://www.brandonu.ca/news/article.asp?A_ID=1151

Dr. Jason Levy awarded Brandon University's first Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council grant

November 7, 2006

BRANDON, MB – Dr. Jason Levy, a researcher and professor in Brandon University's Applied Disaster and Emergency Studies department, has been awarded a Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada (NSERC) Strategic Project Grant, the first to be awarded to a Brandon University faculty member. The grant was awarded under the council's target area of Safety and Security, and will provide $133,000 per year over three years for Dr. Levy's research, which seeks to reduce the vulnerability of society to natural and technologic hazards using advances in geomatics (a science that uses mathematical methods to evaluate data about the Earth's surface) and decision analysis, thereby promoting disaster-resilient communities. Three industrial partners (MRF Geosystems, LDI3, and Crisys Ltd.) have also contributed over one million dollars in support over the three-year period. This project brings together leading emergency management, geomatics, and hazards experts from industry and academia in order to establish real-time and cost-effective oil spill disaster prevention system.

According to Dr. Levy, "this research seeks to develop a next-generation oil spill mitigation system that prevents and monitors damage to Canada's oil and gas infrastructure by integrating real-time Laser-Induced Fluorescence LIDAR, temporal-GIS, natural hazard simulations, and Mobile Emergency Asset Management. Research has shown that oil spill mitigation techniques are cost-effective in the long run, since they reduce the vulnerability of Canada’s energy infrastructure, communities, and environment."

The goal of NSERC's Strategic Project Grants program is to increase research and training in targeted areas that could strongly enhance Canada’s economy, society and/or environment within the next ten years. It is expected that this program will generate new knowledge/technology with the strong potential to strengthen Canada’s industrial base, generate wealth, create employment, and/or influence Canadian public policy; increase the number of highly qualified personnel in the areas targeted by the program; foster the increased participation of Canadian-based companies and/or government organizations in academic research; and enable the transfer of knowledge/technology and expertise to Canadian-based companies that are well positioned to apply the results for economic gain or to government organizations to strengthen public policy.

For more information on the NSERC Strategic Project Grants program, please visit: http://www.nserc.gc.ca.

"The Strategic Grant received by Dr. Jason Levy is a singular achievement for him and an event without precedent at Brandon University," said Dr. Austin Gulliver, Dean of Science. "This success is indicative of the energy and recognition that new researchers bring to the Faculty of Science."

Dr. Jason K. Levy is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Applied Disaster and Emergency Studies at Brandon University. A University of Waterloo Alumni Gold Medallist and Teaching Award recipient, he is also an affiliate faculty member with the Water Resources Research Centre (University of Hawaii at Manoa), and an adjunct research professor in the Department of Geomatics Engineering at the University of Calgary and the Conflict Analysis Group at the University of Waterloo. Dr. Levy has over fifteen years of academic and professional experience in the principles, methods, and application of hazard mitigation and emergency management. He currently serves as Director of the Geospatial Technology and Hazard Mitigation Group.

Dr. Levy's service to the emergency management profession involves not only assisting with disaster and emergency organizations and conferences, but also empowering communities to develop effective plans and policies for Sustainable Hazards Mitigation.

A celebration of research excellence in honour of Dr. Levy will be held on Friday, November 17 at 10:30 a.m. in Brandon University's Alumni Gathering Space (located in the John E. Robbins Library on the BU Campus) and will include a formal program followed by a reception. Media and the public are encouraged to attend, and anyone who is planning to attend is asked to RSVP to Shannon Sparrow (Phone: 204-727-9712; Email: sparrows@brandonu.ca) no later than Tuesday, November 14.

For more information, please contact:

Kelly Stifora Communications Officer Brandon University Phone: (204) 727-9762 Email: communications@brandonu.ca

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