UNB News
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Researchers at the University of New Brunswick (UNB) are engaged in tackling pressing issues in our local communities and the world at large. We’ve seen many examples of this in the past year, including work that sheds light on water quality, housing, energy, health and senior care.

Research Celebration Week, happening from Oct. 7 to 11, is our chance to highlight the great work being done and to facilitate discussions through the week’s various events.

There will be several events open to students, faculty, staff and community partners. On Oct. 8 in Fredericton and Oct. 10 in Saint John, there will be presentations by UNB's new faculty members and early career researchers.

The week will also include the Institute of Biomedical Engineering Research Showcase and open houses at places like the Centre for Research in Integrated Care on the Saint John campus.

“We have much to be proud of at UNB. The events of Research Celebration Week provide us with opportunities to share our incredible stories,” said Paul Mazerolle, president and vice chancellor of UNB. “I look forward to honouring our researchers and learning more about their extraordinary work.”

David MaGee, vice president research at UNB, launched the week of celebration three years ago to highlight the impact of the university’s research community.

“We have so many impactful stories we can point to as evidence of these contributions–and so many more that we have not been able to shout out as loudly as we would like,” he writes in his introductory piece on the week’s events.

This year alone, we profiled many of the projects and initiatives in the UNB newsroom:

• Dr. Allen Curry, a professor at the Canadian Rivers Institute and in the faculties of forestry and environmental management and science, spent the last year traveling by boat gathering stories on the waterways of eastern North America. Curry plans to document the current state of waterways using science combined with the local knowledge he gathered on his trip of nearly 5,000 nautical miles.
  
  
• Our students also make important contributions to research initiatives and public advocacy to highlight them. Megan Fraser, a PhD student in biology, is doing research on species of tapeworm, formally known as Ligula intestinalis. She was recognized for her efforts to increase awareness of the tapeworm when she won the 2024 Public Awareness Award from the Canadian Society of Zoologists.
  
  
• Earlier this year, UNB and Shannex RLC Ltd. signed a $1 million partnership agreement to expand education and research in the field of life transitions and older adult care. Half of Shannex’s strategic investment–$500,000–will be used to establish the Shannex Research Chair in Aging Transitions as part of UNB’s Integrated Health Initiative (IHI). A further $100,000 will be dedicated to the construction of a Shannex Aging Transitions Lab in the soon to be completed Health and Social Innovation Centre (HSIC).
  
  
• In early January, UNB signed a memorandum of understanding with Kinectrics Inc, a global provider of nuclear lifecycle management services, to help drive innovation in the nuclear energy sector. This collaboration creates a framework for engagement in several innovation areas, including cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, small modular reactors and advanced reactors, as well as hydrogen applications and smart grid technologies.
  
  
• UNB was involved in many research initiatives connected to last April’s solar eclipse that captured the imagination of people across the province. One was a unique project that engaged the public school system in the province. The UNB Radio and Space Physics Laboratory (RSPL) helped 15 schools across the province install specialized Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) receivers that collected atmospheric data during the eclipse. The data was then relayed back to RSPL servers for analysis.

Learn more about the range of ongoing research projects and partnerships at UNB.