Ten Vancouver Island University are among Canada’s top student researchers.

The students earned a total of $71,000 in federal research grants from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council.

The recipients – 6,059 in total across Canada, sharing $138 million –were selected through independent peer-reviewed evaluations.

“These recipients represent some of Canada’s finest [student] researchers,” said Dr. Suzanne Fortier, president of NSERC. “They are advancing our understanding of the universe around us. They are uncovering and exploring new areas of knowledge. They are our trailblazers, driving the innovations of tomorrow. NSERC is proud to support their work and we look forward to their future achievements.”

VIU graduates Michelle Lamarche (Biology and Chemistry) and Erin Rechsteiner (Biology and Geography) each received awards valued at $17,500 to pursue their master’s degrees.

Eight VIU students received Undergraduate Student Research Awards valued at $4,500 each (topped up by an additional $2,000 from VIU).

The awards enable the students to work on various research projects for 16 weeks during the summer in VIU laboratories. They are supervised and mentored by VIU science and technology faculty who have received their own NSERC funding grants, including professors Erik Krogh and Chris Gill (chemistry), Chris Pearce (Fisheries and Aquaculture), Darren Hannesson (psychology) and Dr. Andy Spencer (Biology).

Carol Bob, a recent grad of VIU’s Fisheries and Aquaculture program, received her third USRA in chemistry. She will spend the summer studying the influence of freshwater chemistry on an invasive algai species.

As part of her research, she’s collecting water samples from Vancouver Island rivers, including the Nanaimo River, Puntledge River (near Courtenay), Englishman River and Little Qualicum River.

Bob is working with friend and VIU Biology graduate Jake Etzkorn, who is now a technician for Environment Canada researcher Max Bothwell at the Pacific Biological Station. They are investigating the relationship between water chemistry and Didymo, a strange form of algae chocking several fresh water rivers.

“The problem with Didymo is that it smothers invertebrates,” said Bob. “Fish and bugs lay their eggs on the bedrock, but Didymo prevents the eggs from hatching. The algae could also alter the flow of the river. We don’t know much about the factors causing these invasions, but that’s what we hope to discover.”

Other USRA student recipients at VIU for 2009 are Megan Willis (chemistry and mathematics), Katherine Rolheiser (fisheries and qquaculture), Cameron Newhook (chemistry), Erin McCauley (biology and chemistry), Gwen Lightly (psychology), Riley Glew (biology and psychology), and Daniel McNeill (fisheries and aquaculture).