Leading Edge Endowment Fund
Announcement of the BC Leadership Chair in Marine Ecosystems and Global Change

Minister of Advanced Education Murray Coell
Sidney , B.C.
Wednesday, October 18, 2006

It is very nice to be out here in such a lovely setting even if it is raining.

I want to thank the Institute of Ocean Sciences for lending us their beautiful atrium for our announcement this morning.

We are here today to celebrate the announcement of the sixth leadership chair awarded by the Leading Edge Endowment Fund. The Chair in Marine Ecosystems and Global Change has been awarded to Dr. Kim Juniper.

Dr. Juniper is internationally recognized for his work that brings together biology, geology and marine chemistry. I congratulate Dr. Juniper and I am particularly pleased that one of our best researchers will be staying in British Columbia to continue his work in our coastal waters.

His research will reinforce collaborations among University of Victoria researchers with nearby federal government laboratories and industry, and on the broader national and international stages. The chair’s research will focus on what happens on the bottom of the ocean when the sea’s surface interacts with the climate above.

Sunlight, carbon dioxide, contaminants in rainwater, and other materials that naturally or unnaturally enter the ocean all exert a major influence on ocean life. Dr Juniper will examine these influences while making extensive use of the VENUS and NEPTUNE undersea observatories.

VENUS works 24/7 generating valuable data for on-shore scientists. But while the project is providing an unprecedented look at ocean life, managing all that information is a challenge scientists haven’t had to face before. So Dr. Juniper will also help develop a tool kit to assist researchers in applying all that data towards a better understanding of how our climate is changing the ocean.

The Leading Edge Endowment Fund will contribute over $56 million for 20 B.C. Leadership Chairs and nine Regional Innovation Chairs.

I would like to acknowledge the LEEF Board of Directors whose expertise, so ably led by their chair, Dr. Martha Salcudeen, oversees the external review process to select the very best researchers.

These research chairs support our post-secondary institutions’ ability to recruit and retain world-class researchers. By doing so it will further innovations in environmental stewardship, health care and other public services that will enhance not only the lives of British Columbians, but people around the world.

We know our public post-secondary institutions are key players in helping British Columbia, and indeed Canada, take our place on the world stage for research and innovation.

Government is committed to investing in research and development because we believe that it’s essential for the growth of a knowledge based economy and society. The 20 leadership research chairs will each receive a total endowment of up to $4.5 million, which is cost-shared between the government and the private sector – each contributing half.

We are building the kind of world-class research community this province wants and needs, as today’s announcement so aptly demonstrates.