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:

• LOI Template
• RFA
• Program Details
• FAQs

Watch the Northern Conservation Program webinar here:

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.

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:

• RFA
• Program Details
• FAQs

Watch the webinar about this grant call:

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.

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.

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

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

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