Climate change research enhanced with $350,000 in new funding

Winnipeg, MN – June 21, 2004 – Climate change research in Manitoba is going to be bolstered by the addition of a climate change research professor supported by both the provincial government and Manitoba Hydro.

Manitoba Hydro says it will provide a research grant of $250,000 over three years for the creation of a climate change research professor at the University of Winnipeg and a second position at the University of Regina. The provincial government has committed up to $100,000 for additional Manitoba-based climate change research projects, and has extended the climate change co-ordinator position at the University of Winnipeg.

“I congratulate the University of Winnipeg and Manitoba Hydro on the establishment of a climate change research professor,” says Tim Sale, the province’s minister of energy, science and technology. “This clear focus on research into climate change will assist in studying its impacts and how our environment adapts to change."

Dr Danny Blair, currently chair of the department of geography at the University of Winnipeg, will be the research professor at the University of Winnipeg. His research will focus on the causes and characteristics of climatic variability affecting the interior plains, the ways in which the climate is expected to change in the coming decades and how these changes are likely to affect the region’s hydrological resources.

Dr Dave Sauchyn, professor and research co-ordinator at the Prairie Adaptation Research Collaborative at the University of Regina, will be part of the research. He is a specialist in paleo-environmental techniques, analyzing tree ring data to develop records of past climate extremes.

The province’s funding is being provided through the Prairie Adaptation Research Collaborative (PARC). PARC is an interdisciplinary research network established to help understand the potential impacts of climate change on the Canadian prairie provinces and conduct research to develop appropriate adaptation strategies. PARC was established in March 2000 through funding from the federal government’s climate change action fund.