The Alliance welcomes five new Researcher Council Members
The Researcher Council is a critical component of the Digital Research Alliance of Canada’s (the Alliance’s) commitment to involve the research community as it designs and delivers a new service delivery model to support Canada’s national digital research infrastructure (DRI) strategy. Representing a range of cultures, languages, identities, expertise, and regions, as well as a broad array of academic disciplines and institutions, the Researcher Council provides advice to the Alliance Management and Board of Directors.
The Board of Directors, management, and staff of the Alliance welcome five new Researcher Council members bringing the number of Researcher Council members to 24. The new members include:
Dr. Wahab Almuhtadi, PEng, PhD, is Professor and Coordinator of the Optical Systems and Sensors Program at Algonquin College and Carleton University. He is also Research & Development Coordinator at the School of Advanced Technology, Algonquin College, and serves as IEEE President of IEEE Consumer Technology Society (CTSoc). His research and industry expertise are in photonics, optical systems and sensors, and optical communications and wireless.
Dr. Emmanuel Château-Dutier, PhD, is Assistant Professor in digital museology at the Université de Montréal. He is a member of the Centre de recherche interuniversitaire sur les humanités numériques (CRIHN), a part of the Coordinating Committee of the Humanistica association, and the French-speaking Vice-President of the Canadian Society for Digital Humanities (CSDH/SCHN). His research focuses on the administration of public architecture in France in the nineteenth century, the architectural profession, and architectural publishing.
Dr. Catherine Lovekin, PhD, is Associate Professor in the Department of Physics at Mount Allison University. She is also currently the chair of the Canadian Astronomical Society’s Computation and Data Committee. Her research focuses on understanding stellar interiors, particularly using asteroseismology to probe the behaviour of convection. She uses a combination of stellar models, convection simulations, and analysis of observational data to probe the deep interiors of stars, improving our understanding of stellar structure and evolution.
Dr. Terry Peckham, PhD, is the Director and Research Chair for the Digital Integration Centre of Excellence (DICE), an NSERC funded Technology Access Centre that specializes in data stewardship. He also currently serves on the College and Institutes Canada IT & Security Advisory committee. His areas of expertise include the application of AI and machine learning to solve industrial problems.
Dr. Michele Piercey-Normore, PhD, is Professor and Dean of the School of Science and the Environment at Memorial University of Newfoundland, Grenfell campus. As the inaugural Dean, she has established the School of Science and the Environment by bringing together several broad disciplines and developing new interdisciplinary programs. Her research currently focuses on lichen-forming fungal transcriptomes to explore expression profiles of secondary metabolite gene clusters.
The new members began their terms on November 10, 2021 and will serve up to three years. The Researcher Council welcomes their expertise and unique perspectives towards evolving the DRI ecosystem in Canada.
Announcing new Researcher Council Vice Chairs
The Alliance is also delighted to announce two new Vice Chairs of the Researcher Council: Dr. Amol Verma and Dr. Marie-Jean Meurs.
Dr. Amol Verma, MD, MPhil, BSc (Hon), FRCPC, is a physician, scientist and Assistant Professor in General Internal Medicine at St. Michael’s Hospital and the University of Toronto. His extensive experience in using and developing digital research infrastructure (DRI) for clinical and health services research, along with his participation in the foundational Researcher Council working groups and the seminal Researcher Council Priorities, have demonstrated his leadership and commitment in supporting and developing the Researcher Council mandate and DRI in Canada.
Dr. Marie-Jean Meurs, PhD, is Professor of Computer Science at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM). Her research in artificial intelligence focuses on machine learning and natural language processing, with applications to risk detection in mental health and resilience of urban forests facing climate change. Over the past year as a Researcher Council member, Dr. Meurs has demonstrated commitment and leadership in activities focused on equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility of DRI services; in particular, her commitment to ensuring accurate and meaningful French language materials for the Alliance and Canadian researchers has been essential.
Dr. Verma and Dr. Meurs assumed their roles as Vice Chair on November 10, 2021 for a two-year term.
For more information, please contact communications@alliancecan.ca.