Congratulations to Mount Royal’s 2025–2026 Tri-Agency Grant recipients

Tri-Agency is an umbrella term used to describe the three Government of Canada research funding agencies:

• Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
• Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC)
• Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)

On this page

• NSERC Discovery Grants
• NSERC Discovery Development Grant
• SSHRC Insight Grant
• SSHRC Insight Development Grants

 

NSERC Discovery — 2025

Jared Fletcher, PhD
Faculty of Health, Community and Education
“Mechanical joint work contributions to economical locomotion across the life.”
Grant Amount: $195,000

Note: Fletcher’s five-year NSERC program is an extension of his previous Discovery Grant and existing Canada Research Chair in Integrative Physiology and Biomechanics of Locomotion.

This research aims to understand how human muscles and tendons work together to allow humans to move with the lowest possible energy cost, and why this energy cost increases with age, fatigue or inactivity. Human locomotion requires both muscles and tendons to work in co-ordination: muscles generate force, shorten and consume energy, while tendons act like elastic springs that store and release energy. For many years, scientists believed tendons primarily served as springs to return energy and reduce the energy cost to move. However, Fletcher’s recent research has shown that this view is incomplete. Instead, tendons help muscles work more economically by allowing them to shorten less, contract more slowly and consume less energy overall.

This research program will study how the energy cost of movement changes during prolonged exercise and across the lifespan, focusing on how tendons and muscles share mechanical work at different joints, with particular foci at the ankle and knee. During fatigue or aging, individuals perform less work at the ankle, in favour of performing work at the knee. This strategy is thought to raise the energy cost of locomotion. The causes of this shift are not fully understood. Using advanced imaging and modelling tools, including ultrasound, motion capture, and a new non-invasive technique to measure tendon forces, this research will measure how muscle and tendon function change with age and fatigue, in men and in women.

Understanding how and why locomotion becomes more costly has broad benefits. For healthy adults and athletes, these findings can help improve endurance, reduce fatigue and optimize training or footwear design. For older adults or those recovering from injury, the insights can inform better rehabilitation and fall-prevention programs by identifying movement strategies that minimize energy cost. This research program will also train the next generation of scientists through hands-on research experience with cutting-edge tools, international collaborations and mentorship. Overall, this work will provide new understanding of how human locomotor energy cost is maintained or lost with age and fatigue, helping Canadians stay active, healthy and mobile throughout life.

Michelle DeWolfe, PhD
Faculty of Science and Technology
“Understanding the Archean to the present, the macroscale to the microscale: Controls on volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits with special emphasis on critical metals”
Grant Amount: $200,000

Critical minerals are defined as those of importance to Canada’s economy and security; many are needed for the transition to a low-carbon economy. DeWolfe’s research focuses on volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) mineral deposits, which are important sources of copper, zinc and numerous other critical minerals (e.g., Bi, Cu, Ce, Co, Ga, In, Sb, Sn, Te). Volcanic sequences in the Northwest Territories have high VMS deposit potential and therefore are of particular importance to Canada’s energy transition.

DeWolfe aims to determine why a specific volcanic succession contains VMS-type mineralization. She will do this through detailed studies on various volcanic sequences in the Northwest Territories that show potential for significant VMS mineralization.

This research will advance understanding of VMS deposits and bring multiple benefits, including:

1. Facilitating the training of students, thereby providing the Canadian mining and mineral exploration industry with highly skilled geoscientists;
2. Generating new knowledge that will directly impact the Canadian mining and mineral exploration industry responsible for VMS deposit exploration (which historically accounts for considerable Canadian critical metal (~30% Cu, ~50% Zn) production); and
3. Aid in sustaining northern communities, whose economies are largely dependent on mineral exploration and mining.

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Discovery Development Grant — 2025

Aresh Dadlani, PhD
Faculty of Science and Technology
“Modeling and Optimization of Information Freshness in Next-Generation Networks”
Grant Amount: $44,000

Timely information is essential for technologies such as connected vehicles, remote health monitoring and industrial automation. However, wireless networks can deliver information that is already outdated, particularly when many devices compete to send updates or failed transmissions must be repeated. These challenges become more pronounced when updates pass through several devices before reaching their destination. While faster connections can reduce delays, speed alone does not ensure that the information available for decision-making reflects current conditions. Keeping information fresh also requires deciding when updates should be sent and which devices should receive priority.

In this research project, Dadlani and his research team aim to:

1. Understand how transmission failures, network congestion and relaying affect information freshness;
2. Develop methods that prioritize updates while accounting for limited energy and incomplete knowledge of network conditions; and
3. Explore how machine learning can help networks adapt to changing conditions while maintaining reliable operation.

Using mathematical models and computer simulations, the team will evaluate these methods in scenarios representing emerging wireless applications. The goal is to establish practical design principles for networks that, unlike latency and throughput, support timely decisions while using communication resources and energy efficiently.

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SSHRC Insight — 2025

Rob Currie-Wood, PhD
Faculty of Arts
"Money In, Money Out: Exploring the Pathologies of Popular Political Financing in Canada"
Grant Amount: $173,250

Dr. Scott Pruysers, PhD (Dalhousie University) is a co-investigator on this grant.

Political parties once depended on big donations from corporations and trade unions to fund their election campaigns. However, concerns about political corruption led to a series of regulatory overhauls in Canada. The new rules prevent parties from receiving more than $1,775 from any one person per year, and in practice the average donation is less than $200. While the new rules may reduce corruption, many studies theorize that negative appeals and extreme positions are the most effective way to raise the millions of dollars needed to contest elections from the tens of thousands of people who actually donate money. Put differently, parties may be “rage baiting” their supporters to build their campaign war chests.

While this theory is instructive, we don’t actually know how Canadian parties are raising money under new election finance laws. The SSHRC Insight Grant allows us to examine the communications techniques that parties employ when soliciting donations. Over the life of the grant, we will examine what parties actually say to their supporters and how this influences the policy positions they adopt. This way we can test whether new fundraising rules are, in fact, a source of negativity and ideological polarization in Canada.

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SSHRC Insight Development — 2026

Esra Ari Erol, PhD
Faculty of Arts

"Decolonizing Immigration in Canada: Indigenous Sovereignty, Land-Based Governance, and Racialized Migration"
Grant Amount: $99,050

Historically, Canadian immigration policies have been developed without input from or collaboration with Indigenous peoples. This collaborative project aims to critically reframe Canadian immigration governance by centring Indigenous perspectives, stories, and sovereignty while fostering relational dialogue between Indigenous Peoples and racialized immigrant communities. Grounded in Treaty 7 territory in Calgary, the project examines how Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers understand immigration and newcomers. Ultimately, it explores how these insights can inform just, accountable and decolonial migration policy in Canada, alongside what racialized immigrants need to learn about Indigenous communities directly from Indigenous peoples.

Ultimately, we hope to contribute to the reconciliation process and advance the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC)’s calls related to immigration by strengthening relationships between Indigenous Peoples and racialized immigrants, centring Indigenous authority in governance, and advancing critical scholarship on migration, colonialism, and decolonial futures rooted in place, responsibility and relational accountability.

Lauren Dwyer, PhD
Faculty of Business, Communication Studies, and Aviation
"In chat we trust? Evaluating the Canadian trust-use paradox of generative artificial intelligence"
Grant Amount: $59,069

Chat-based generative artificial intelligence (AI) is now widely used in Canada, despite public skepticism about the reliability of its outputs. National data show that Canadians both express concern about the accuracy of generative AI and at the same time rely on these systems in everyday decision-making. While existing models of technology adoption assume that trust is a necessary condition for use, the evidence now suggests that this assumption may no longer hold. This project addresses that gap by examining the trust-use paradox in generative AI. The primary goal of the project is to develop a post-trust framework for understanding the adoption and continued use of chat-based generative AI. Rather than treating trust as the central explanation for adoption and use, the research examines how reliance on technology exists in spite of skepticism. It focuses on the communicative dynamics of human-AI interaction, the design and interface features that signal authority or credibility, and the broader epistemic context associated with post-truth environments.

The project asks three questions: Why do Canadian users continue to use generative AI while reporting low confidence in its reliability? Which communication and design features increase acceptance of AI output despite skepticism? Is trust still a valid construct for explaining adoption and use among general audiences?

Elaine Ori, PhD
Faculty of Health, Community and Education
"Humans or Machines: A multiple methods approach to understanding user preferences for human- and AI-generated physical activity messages"
Grant Amount: $62,003

Artificial intelligence (AI) has become ubiquitous in recent years, though it remains unclear whether AI-integrated technology helps or hinders health behaviour such as physical activity. Our research is testing AI language models to determine whether AI may be an effective tool for increasing physical activity among sedentary groups. Groups such as mid-life adults often experience declines in physical activity due to overlapping responsibilities. In particular, among digital exercise tools such as workout apps, we hope to learn whether AI is capable of connecting with users in a way that improves physical activity among primarily sedentary adults.

Eunah Kim, PhD
Faculty of Business, Communication Studies and Aviation: "The Impact of Human-AI Relationships on the Effectiveness of AI-driven Marketing: How Relational AI Use Influences Acceptance of AI-generated Recommendations"
Grant Amount: $81,634

Generative AI and chatbots have quickly become part of everyday life. Many people first used them for practical tasks, but a growing number now turn to AI for emotional support and companionship. At the same time, marketers increasingly use AI to create promotional content and recommend products based on people's media use data.

The purpose of this research project is to examine whether people who use AI for relational purposes are more likely to accept AI-generated product and brand recommendations than those who use it for functional purposes. Guided by social response theory and source credibility research, this project combines a survey of AI users with three experiments to investigate how relational AI use affects consumers' acceptance of AI-generated recommendations.

The findings will help marketers build trustworthy AI interactions, support consumers' informed purchase decisions, and inform AI literacy programs and consumer protection policies.

Karen Ho
Faculty of Science and Technology
"Learning Through Storytelling: A Mixed-Methods Study of Student Engagement"
Grant Amount: $62,000

Can storytelling help students see themselves in science? This project explores how connecting chemistry to personal, cultural and professional experiences can make learning more meaningful and help students feel that they belong.

Across four Canadian universities, undergraduate students will write stories linking chemistry concepts to everyday experiences, such as brewing tea, family traditions or environmental observations. They will exchange feedback with students at other universities and reflect on what they have learned from one another.

The research team will examine students’ stories, peer discussions, reflections, surveys and course performance to understand how these activities relate to learning, confidence, motivation and belonging. The project will pay particular attention to science students from groups that have historically faced barriers to participation and belonging in STEM.

The project aims to discover how storytelling supports learning, whose experiences it serves and how its effects vary across courses and universities. Findings will offer practical guidance for instructors seeking to make science education more inclusive, engaging and connected to students’ lives, with potential applications beyond chemistry.