Dévoilement des lauréats des bourses de la famille Weston pour la recherche nordique

Faire progresser les connaissances pour contribuer à la protection et à la restauration de la biodiversité boréale

TORONTO, ON – Le 17 juillet 2025, Nous avons l’honneur de dévoiler les lauréats des bourses de la famille Weston pour la recherche nordique 2025. Créé il y a 18 ans, le programme continue de soutenir les chercheurs en début de carrière dont les travaux permettent de mieux comprendre le Nord canadien et de préserver sa biodiversité unique. À l’issue d’un examen indépendant de plus de 90 candidatures provenant de partout au pays, 30 chercheurs ont été sélectionnés pour recevoir un financement:

  • 15 étudiants à la maîtrise (20 000 $ sur un an)
  • 11 étudiants au doctorat (120 000 $ sur trois ans)
  • 4 étudiants au postdoctorat (110 000 dollars sur deux ans et un montant annuel allant jusqu’à 10 000 $ pour couvrir les frais de déplacement et de participation à des conférences)

Depuis 2007, la Fondation de la famille Weston a soutenu plus de 400 chercheurs dans le cadre de ce programme, dont les bourses figurent parmi les plus importantes et les plus prestigieuses dans le secteur des sciences naturelles nordiques au Canada.

La cohorte de 2025 mènera des recherches innovantes dans des domaines allant de la glaciologie et de l’océanographie à l’écologie des espèces et aux changements climatiques. Voici quelques-uns des projets qui obtiendront du financement:

  • Explorer les réactions des espèces marines de l’Arctique aux variations de la glace de mer
  • Étudier la régénération des forêts boréales après un incendie et les implications sur les écosystèmes de la forêt.
  • Travailler en collaboration avec les communautés autochtones pour tresser les savoirs autochtones avec la science.
  • Pleins des autres projects!

Dans le cadre du programme, les lauréats des bourses pour la recherche nordique sont encouragés à travailler en partenariat avec les communautés nordiques et autochtones – une approche qui se reflète dans la conception et la mise en œuvre de nombreux projets choisis pour 2025.

Nous remercions sincèrement les évaluateurs, les établissements de recherche et les collectivités qui continuent à soutenir et à guider ces chercheurs.

Faites la connaissance des lauréats des bourses de la famille Weston pour la recherche nordique 2025 et apprenez-en plus sur leurs projets de recherche ici.

Announcing the 2025 Weston Family Awards in Northern Research Scholars 

Advancing knowledge to help protect and restore northern biodiversity

TORONTO, ON – July 17, 2025, We are honoured to share the recipients of the 2025 Weston Family Awards in Northern Research. Now in its 18th year, this program continues to support early-career researchers whose work deepens our understanding of Northern Canada and safeguards its unique biodiversity. 

Following a competitive, arms-length review of over 90 applications from across the country, 30 scholars have been selected to receive funding: 

  • 15 Master’s students ($20,000 over one year) 
  • 11 PhD students ($120,000 over three years) 
  • 4 Postdoctoral Fellows ($110,000 over two years, with up to $10,000/year for travel and conference expenses) 

Since 2007, the Weston Family Foundation has supported more than 400 researchers through this program—one of the most substantial and prestigious awards for northern natural sciences in Canada. 

The 2025 cohort will lead innovative research in fields ranging from glaciology and oceanography to species ecology and climate change. Funded projects include:

  • Exploring Arctic marine species’ responses to shifting sea ice patterns. 
  • Studying post-fire recovery of boreal forests and implications for forest ecosystems.
  • Working with Indigenous communities and braiding Indigenous Knowledge with science.
  • And more!

As part of the program, Northern Scholars are encouraged to work in partnership with northern and Indigenous communities—an approach reflected in the design and implementation of many 2025 projects. 

We extend our sincere thanks to the reviewers, research institutions, and communities that continue to support and guide these scholars. 

Meet the 2025 Weston Family Northern Scholars and learn more about their research here.

Sarah Cook

Sarah Cook joined the Weston Family Foundation in January 2022 as a Grants Coordinator. She is responsible for supporting the operational needs of programs related to the Weston Family Microbiome Initiative and Northern Science and Knowledge.

Prior to joining the Foundation, Sarah worked on the Operations and Finance teams for a number of Canadian and international non-profit organizations including the Stephen Lewis Foundation and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Foundation.

Sarah holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Development Studies and a Postgraduate Certificate in International Development Management.

2025 Weston Family Awards in Northern Research | Bourses de la famille Weston pour la recherche nordique 2025

Program Overview

Deadline: January 16, 2025

Since 2007, the Weston Family Awards in Northern Research have provided unparalleled support to early career scientists in Canada pursuing research in Canada’s North. These annual awards are some of the most prestigious in the country for students pursuing a master’s degree, a doctoral degree or postdoctoral fellowship. Over 350 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows have been selected to receive an award since the program’s inception, forming a community of Weston Family Northern Scientists who are at the forefront of northern scholarship and who are helping shape a better future for Canada and the world.

Weston Family Awards in Northern Research winners undertake projects across a broad spectrum of fields and disciplines in the natural sciences, including studies of northern ecosystems, biodiversity, flora and fauna, meteorology, oceanography, glaciology, geography and environmental studies.

In the 2025 program year, the Weston Family Foundation will aim to support the following awards:

  • Up to 15 awards for master’s level students. Each award is valued at $20,000 over one year.
  • Up to 10 awards for doctoral students. Each award is valued at $40,000 each year for three years.
  • Up to 5 awards for postdoctoral fellows. Each award is valued at $55,000 each year for two years plus up to $10,000 per year for travel and conference expenses.

Master’s and Doctoral students are also welcome to apply for the program’s Extended Stay Program. The Extended Stay Program supports students with projects that take them into communities to engage and share the results and impact of their research.” Learn more about the Extended Stay Program here.

Important dates:

Information Webinar: November 28, 2024 1 – 2 p.m. ET

Application deadline: January 16, 2025 at 5 p.m. ET

Award announcement: May 2025

For further information about this exciting new program, including project details, applicant eligibility, and scientific or geographic scope, please review the documents below.

Please do not hesitate to contact Universities Canada, which administers the program, with any inquiries related to the program. You are welcome to send questions to Daphne Wellman, Program Specialist with Scholarship Partners Canada, at westonawards@univcan.ca.

Relevant English documents:

Photo credit: Esther Frei

L’Aperçu du programme 

Date limite : 16 janvier 2025

Depuis 2007, les bourses de la famille Weston pour la recherche nordique apportent un soutien inégalé aux scientifiques en début de carrière qui poursuivent des recherches dans le Nord canadien. Ces bourses annuelles figurent parmi les plus prestigieuses au pays pour les étudiants qui font une maîtrise ou un doctorat ou souhaitent obtenir une bourse postdoctorale. Depuis sa création, le programme a fait plus de 350 lauréats parmi les étudiants diplômés et les boursiers postdoctoraux. Ces scientifiques du Nord forment une communauté à l’avant-garde de la recherche nordique et contribuent à façonner un avenir meilleur pour le Canada et le monde.

Les lauréats des prix de la famille Weston pour la recherche nordique entreprennent des projets dans un large éventail de domaines et de disciplines touchant les sciences naturelles, dont l’étude des écosystèmes nordiques, la biodiversité, la flore et la faune, la météorologie, l’océanographie, la glaciologie, la géographie et l’environnement.

Au cours de l’année 2025, la Fondation de la famille Weston financera les bourses suivantes :

  • Jusqu’à quinze bourses de maîtrise. Chaque bourse est d’une valeur de 20 000 $ sur un an.
  • Jusqu’à dix bourses doctorales. Chaque bourse est d’une valeur de 40 000 $ par année pour trois ans.
  • Jusqu’à cinq bourses postdoctorales. Chaque bourse est d’une valeur de 55 000 $ par année pour deux ans, plus un montant annuel allant jusqu’à 10 000 $ pour couvrir les frais de déplacement et de participation à des conférences.

Les étudiants à la maîtrise et au doctorat peuvent aussi faire une demande au titre du programme de séjour prolongé. Chaque année, ce programme soutient des étudiants dans le cadre de projets qui les amènent à se rendre dans des collectivités afin de partager les résultats et les retombées de leurs recherches. Pour en savoir plus sur le programme de séjour prolongé, cliquez ici.

Dates importantes :

Webinaire d’information : 28 novembre 2024, de 13 h à 14 h (HE)

Date limite pour le dépôt des candidatures : 16 janvier 2025, 17 h (HE)

Annonce des lauréats : Mai 2025

Pour obtenir de plus amples renseignements sur ce nouveau programme passionnant, y compris de l’information sur les projets, les critères d’admissibilité des candidats et la portée scientifique ou géographique, veuillez consulter les documents ci-dessous.

N’hésitez pas à communiquer avec Universités Canada, qui administre le programme, pour toute question relative au programme. Vous pouvez envoyer vos questions à Daphne Wellman, spécialiste des programmes, Partenaires en bourses d’études Canada, à l’adresse westonawards@univcan.ca.

Documents pertinents en français:

Crédit photo: Esther Frei

Northern Conservation Program

Program Overview

Letter of Intent Submission Deadline: November 26, 2024, 3:00pm ET

The Weston Family Foundation is open to new and innovative ways to significantly advance conservation and stewardship in northern Canada.

The Northern Conservation Program aims to support projects that will deliver tangible, realistic results for biodiversity conservation, and demonstrate how ongoing stewardship of conserved lands will be accomplished. The Foundation recognizes that Indigenous communities are critical planners and stewards of northern ecosystems, and as such we welcome and encourage projects that are Indigenous-led or Indigenous-partnered. 

The outcomes of the Northern Conservation Program are:

  • Protect/Conserve: An increase in conserved northern land and ocean areas that are of high value for biodiversity or for resisting or adapting to climate change
  • Manage/Steward: An increase in northern land and ocean areas that are governed and stewarded with ecologically and culturally sustainable policies and practices that support nature conservation and the protection of biodiversity.

Successful projects will focus on:

  • the establishment of land and ocean protected and conserved areas
  • stewardship measures that maintain conservation of northern biodiversity in protected or conserved areas.

Projects must demonstrate that they take place in one or both of the “Areas of High Value for Biodiversity,” being:

  • areas of significantly high value for northern biodiversity; or
  • areas that are of high value for resisting or mitigating the impacts of climate change and/or providing options for wildlife and ecosystems to adapt to climate change.

Please refer to the Program Details for more information.

Funding available per project: a minimum of $450,000 to a maximum of $1,500,000 CAD per project. We are aiming for average grant sizes of $750,000.

Important dates:

Information Webinars:

  • October 16 at 2:30 – 3:30 p.m. ET
  • October 23 at 2:30 – 3:30 p.m. ET

Letter of Intent deadline:  November 26, 2024 at 3:00 p.m.

Proposal deadline: February 18, 2025 3:00 p.m. ET (estimated)

Award announcement: Spring 2025

For more information about this new program, including project details, applicant eligibility, and scientific or geographic scope, please review the documents below.

Please do not hesitate to contact us with any inquiries related to the program. You are welcome to send questions to the Northern inbox, northern@westonfoundation.ca.

Relevant documents:

Watch the Northern Conservation Program webinar here:

Announcing the 2024 Weston Family Awards in Northern Research Scholars

Continuing 17 years of funding to scholars committed to science research in the North

TORONTO, ON – July 29, 2024, Today, we have the honour of sharing the winners of the 2024 Weston Family Awards in Northern Research. After receiving over 80 applications from across the country, a total of 28 were selected following a rigorous arms-length review process – 15 Master’s Students, 11 PhD students and 2 Postdoctoral Fellows. All will receive funding to study biodiversity, among other priorities, across northern Canada. This year, each academic level received the highest amount we’ve ever offered, meaning:

  • Master’s students received awards valued at $20,000 over one year
  • Doctoral students received awards valued at $120,000 over three years
  • Postdoctoral fellows received awards valued at $110,000 over two years, with up to $10,000 per year for travel and conference expenses

Since launching in 2007, the Weston Family Awards in Northern Research have supported 350+ early career northern scientists focusing on research in natural sciences. Of the 28 projects funded this year, studies include:

  • Exploration of how continual permafrost thaw and rapid but extensive fires affect the storage and flux of water within boreal peatland
  • Identifying and comparing marine movement patterns and spawning locations of Arctic char
  • Studying the drivers and management of cyanobacteria blooms, including addressing knowledge gaps that exist between climate change and bloom formation across lake trophic scale and latitudes
  • Understanding the tundra’s vulnerability to climate-exacerbated changes in fire regimes and refining estimates of tundra carbon recycling

As part of the Weston Family Awards in Northern Research, Northern Scholars were encouraged to co-design their research with northern communities. This can be seen in the number of students who are working directly with Indigenous communities and working to braid Indigenous knowledge with academic scientific methodology.

To learn more about the 2024 Weston Family Awards in Northern Research Scholars and their projects, click here.

David Bysouth, PhD

David Bysouth (he/him) joined the Weston Family Foundation in December 2023. He is responsible for managing the programming related to Northern Science and Knowledge.

Prior to joining the foundation, David worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Guelph, where, as a soil and ecosystem science researcher, he collaborated with communities in the Northwest Territories to understand the environmental impact of converting boreal forest to agriculture as a means of improving food security. He has also spent time understanding historical environmental conditions of peatlands in the Hudson Bay Lowlands region of Northern Ontario.

David has a PhD in Integrative Biology from the University of Guelph, a MSc in Earth Science from the University of Toronto, and a BSc in Life Sciences from McMaster University.

Northern Biodiversity Research Program

Program Overview

Letter of Intent Submission Deadline: June 21, 2024

The Weston Family Foundation is pleased to launch a new program focused on protecting and restoring biodiversity in Northern Canada.

The Northern Biodiversity Research Program is seeking to fund applied research projects that have a demonstrated opportunity to influence conservation policy or practice in order to improve outcomes for northern ecosystems and biodiversity.

The goal of the Northern Biodiversity Research Program is to:

  • Produce high-quality research findings on northern biodiversity in Canada; and
  • Utilize the generated findings and knowledge at conservation decision-making processes in support of improved northern biodiversity outcomes.

Six projects were awarded in the Northern Biodiversity Research Program, to learn more about these projects, click here.

Successful Projects will focus on:

  • Population dynamics, ecology, health, disease, contaminants, or management studies of species of importance for northern ecosystems
  • The response of ecosystems to the impacts of climate change
  • The impact of anthropogenic activities on species or ecosystems

Please refer to the Program Details for more information.

Funding available per project: A minimum of $600,000 and a maximum of $3,000,000 CAD per research project will be given out for projects. Projects can extend up to three years.

Important dates:

Letter of Intent deadline:  June 21, 2024 at 5:00pm ET

Proposal deadline: September 11, 2024 at 5:00pm ET

Award announcement: November 2024

For further information about this exciting new program, including project details, applicant eligibility, and scientific or geographic scope, please review the documents below.

Please do not hesitate to contact us with any inquiries related to the program. You are welcome to send questions to David Bysouth, Program Manager for the Northern Science and Research Committee at david.bysouth@westonfoundation.ca

Relevant documents:

Watch the webinar about this grant call:

Community Partnerships in Research Grants

Overview

The Community Partnerships in Research Grants is a pilot that supports northern biodiversity and natural science knowledge creation through building Indigenous community-researcher relationships and facilitating research project co-design.

The opportunity showcases participating Indigenous community research priorities and then provides grants to Principal Investigators (P.I.s), and their graduate students or postdoctoral fellows based at CRA qualified donee institutions, to visit these communities and co-design a research project. The opportunity also provides resources for the participating community to develop their research priorities and host the P.I. and their students.

This pilot will support up to six P.I.s in two participating Indigenous communities at up to $28,000 per P.I.

Basic Structure

  1. Participating Indigenous communities will share their research challenges with the Canadian academic research community through webinars and written summaries. Participating Indigenous communities are the Forest Authority, Cree First Nation of Waswanipi, studying the impact of wildfire on fish, American martens, and moose, and the Chisasibi Eeyou Resource and Research Institute (CERRI) of the Cree Nation of Chisasibi, studying coastal vegetation in Canada geese stop-over sites and James Bay eelgrass.
  2. P.I.s will apply to the Weston Family Foundation for funding to travel to the participating Indigenous community for the purpose of meeting with and beginning to co-design a research project. P.I.s must have graduate student(s) or postdoctoral fellow(s) accompanying them. Fill out the application form.
  3. A selection committee made up of Foundation and participating Indigenous community representatives will review and select successful P.I.s based on research experience and commitment to co-production of research.
  4. P.I.s will receive up to $28,000 for them and their students/fellows to travel to the participating Indigenous community to co-design the research project over the summer/fall of 2024.
Read the Program Guidelines


To apply for a Community Partnerships in Research Grant, please email your completed application form to Northern@westonfoundation.ca

The deadline to apply for a Community Partnerships in Research Grant is May 15th, 2024 at 5 p.m. ET.

Current Participating Indigenous Community Research Priorities

Forest Authority of Cree First Nation of Waswanipi, Québec

The Forest Authority Department (FAD) is part of the Natural Resources Department of the Cree First Nation of Waswanipi. We have the mandate to promote the Cree way of life and Cree traditional knowledge in land and land use management. We have the mandate to implement capacity building principles in all of our projects including human resources development objectives and best science & technology practices for the benefit of all.

Marten monitoring.

The aim of the project would be to monitor the presence of marten in sites that have good quality habitat for this species. In areas where there were forest fires, and by integrating climate change analyses and data, the research should determine if the marten continues to utilize the habitat or if it will recolonize. Learn more.

Fish monitoring at Théodat Lake.

The aim of this project would be to sample the walleye population at Théodat Lake in order to set the baseline or a reference level for future understanding of how forest fires, and specifically contaminants, impact the fish. Two aspects would be studied – the health status of the walleye, including contaminants, and the walleye’s population in the lake. Learn more.

Willow tree planting for wildlife habitat restoration.

The aim of the project is to restore critical wildlife habitat for moose using willow plantation. This research priority is to validate that willow can provide forage for moose population and restore their habitats quickly following large and severe wildfires. The research project would be mostly focused on the 2023 wildfires areas located close or within protected areas in the Waswanipi territory (Mishigamish—Théodat lake and Waswanipi lake). Learn more.

Webinars for Forest Authority, Cree First Nation of Waswanipi

Join the Weston Family Foundation and the Forest Authority of the Cree First Nation of Waswanipi to learn about their research priorities! This webinar is part of the Weston Family Foundation’s Community Partnerships in Research Grants.

Featuring:

  • Michel Arès, Senior Technologist, Forest Authority, Cree First Nation of Waswanipi
  • Hyldane Boucard, Biologist, Forest Authority, Cree First Nation of Waswanipi
  • Élise Rioux-Paquette, Biologist, Forest Authority, Cree First Nation of Waswanipi
  • Ian Saganash, Land Keeper, Cree First Nation of Waswanipi

Watch the webinar below, in case you missed it!

Chisasibi Eeyou Resource and Research Institute (CERRI) of the Cree Nation of Chisasibi

CERRI (Chisasibi Eeyou Resource and Research Institute) is a community-based research organization under the Cree Nation of Chisasibi. Its goal is to build community capacity through science programs, applied research, and traditional ecological knowledge. The community determines CERRI’s research priorities, which are always linked to the Eeyou way of life. More info: www.cerri.ca

Assessing the distribution and types of coastal vegetation in Canada geese stop-over sites.

A study is needed to determine the relationships between terrestrial plant productivity and goose migration patterns, offering insights that could guide efforts to restore these high-value habitats and critical components of northern biodiversity. The study involves mapping berry fields, heaths, and wetlands and measuring their levels of productivity and quality.

Microbiome of James Bay eelgrass.

Eelgrass, crucial for the marine ecosystem and migratory waterfowl, is facing a decline due to various stressors, possibly including microbial infections. A study is needed on how microbial communities might be contributing to the ongoing decline and lack of recovery of eelgrass (Zostera marina) beds in James Bay.

Learn more about the CERRI research priorities.

Webinars for Chisasibi Eeyou Resource and Research Institute (CERRI)

Join the Weston Family Foundation and the Chisasibi Eeyou Resource and Research Institute (CERRI) to learn about their research priorities! This webinar is part of the Weston Family Foundation’s Community Partnerships in Research Fund.

Featuring:

  • Dr. Dante Torio, Marine Biologist/Spatial Ecologist, Chisasibi Eeyou Resource and Research Institute, Cree Nation of Chisasibi
  • Clara Rogers, Assistant researcher, Chisasibi Eeyou Resource and Research Institute, Cree Nation of Chisasibi

Dates:

April 16th at 2:00-3:00pm (EST) – register here now!         
April 25th at 2:00-3:00pm EST – register here now!

Weston Family Awards in Northern Research 2024 Competition Now closed

Program Overview

Since 2007, the Weston Family Awards in Northern Research have provided unparalleled support to early career scientists in Canada pursuing research in Canada’s North. These annual awards are some of the most prestigious in the country for students pursuing a master’s degree, a doctoral degree or postdoctoral fellowship. Over 350 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows have been selected to receive an award since the program’s inception, forming a community of Weston Family Northern Scientists who are at the forefront of northern scholarship and who are helping shape a better future for Canada and the world.

Weston Family Awards in Northern Research winners undertake projects across a broad spectrum of fields and disciplines in the natural sciences, including studies of northern ecosystems, biodiversity, flora and fauna, meteorology, oceanography, glaciology, geography and environmental studies.

In the 2024 program year, the Weston Family Foundation will aim to support the following awards:

  • Up to 15 awards for master’s level students. Each award is valued at $20,000 over one year.
  • Up to 10 awards for doctoral students. Each award is valued at $40,000 each year for three years.
  • Up to 5 awards for postdoctoral fellows. Each award is valued at $55,000 each year for two years plus up to $10,000 per year for travel and conference expenses.

Important Dates

  • October 26th – 2024 contest opens
  • November 22nd – informational webinar (register here!)
  • January 16th, 2024 – contest closes
  • May, 2024 – Awardees will be contacted
Learn more