The project is one of 18 university initiatives that received a $3 million grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.
news release
Brock University
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For more than 3 billion years, cyanobacteria, the blue-green algae found in some lakes, have been converting sunlight into chemical energy through photosynthesis. Most of this process uses visible light, which humans can see. But Divya Kaur Matta, assistant professor of chemistry at Brock University, is intrigued by one particular species that uses a nearly invisible part of the color spectrum to convert light and store energy. This knowledge could have big implications for agriculture.
Matta was one of 18 Bloch College researchers to receive funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), announced on Friday, June 14. The college received more than $3 million from the Discovery Research Program grants for 2024. Among them is the research of Alonso Zavafer, who is interested in light and crops, specifically the colors plants emit during photosynthesis. The assistant professor of biological sciences and engineering is developing tools that use plant colors to continuously monitor their health, nutrition and metabolism, another potential boon for the agricultural industry.
“As these funding successes demonstrate, Brock University researchers continue to expand their strengths in agricultural research,” said Michelle McGinn, acting vice-chancellor for research. “We are grateful for NSERC's support in this area and in the wide range of other topics funded this year.”
Matta's project is the study of a particular type of marine cyanobacterium called Acaryochloris marina (A. marina), a species that contains a pigment molecule called chlorophyll d that allows it to draw energy from far-red light, which is at the reddest end of the visible spectrum – one step closer to infrared light, which is invisible to the human eye.
Matta's research group, the Institute of Computational Biophysics, aims to better understand how A. marina and other species harvest and store energy under very low light conditions. Matta says such information could help improve agriculture and food security around the world.
“This remarkable adaptability could potentially be harnessed to engineer crops to grow in the shade, potentially leading to sustainable energy innovations,” Matta said. Improving food security is also the aim of Zavafer's research in the field of “biophotonics.”
Photons, the smallest particles of light, emit visible and near-visible light. Biophotonics involves the study of photons in biological systems to determine whether cells and tissues are healthy, and they play a key role in medical imaging and therapeutic procedures. Zavafer's research group, the Biophotonic Engineering Institute, aims to improve food security by providing farmers with cost-effective tools to monitor plant stress in crops.
“One way to improve agriculture is to monitor and control crop health, nutritional and metabolic content in real time,” Zavafer said. “The aim of this project is to identify, develop and improve photonic tools for monitoring plant growth to support the agricultural, horticultural and forestry sectors.”
Zavafer and Matta's research is funded by an NSERC Discovery Grant, which supports an ongoing research program with long-term goals, rather than a single short-term project or collection of projects.
Also announced June 14 was an NSERC PromoScience grant awarded to Jeff Stuart, professor of biological sciences, whose “Lab-in-a-Box” interactive outreach program provides free interactive laboratory experiences to schools and underserved youth groups. Additionally, Brock University researchers received funding from a Discovery Development Grant and a Research Tools and Instruments Grant.
“The Discovery Research Program demonstrates our government's commitment to advancing science and technology in Canada and abroad,” said Vance Badaway, Member of Parliament for Niagara Centre. “I am pleased to see Brock University researchers making active contributions in the fields of chemistry, biology, physics, mathematics, computer science, psychology and health sciences through innovative research projects.”
“As I look at the list of research projects supported by the Discovery Research Program, I am impressed with the talent in Brock University's research community,” said Chris Bittle, Member of Parliament for St. Catharines. “These projects will drive significant advancements in the areas of healthcare, agriculture and technology that are particularly relevant not only to Niagara but to other regions of the country.”
A complete list of Brock University funding recipients can be found on the university's website.
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