Province of Ontario Recognizes Four Carleton Early Career Researchers

“My research will ultimately contribute to safer communities and lower the societal costs associated with sexual offences in Ontario.”

With the ERA funding, my research will address the rise of technology-facilitated sexual offences in Ontario. These offences are straining Ontario’s criminal justice system, including nonconsensual forwarding of sexts and sextortion, and the crossover from online child sexual exploitation material (CSEM) to in-person offences.

To tackle these issues, Kelly Babchishin and her Sexually Harmful Behaviour Research Lab team will identify factors linked to technology-facilitated sexual offences through surveys of 800 university students and 800 adults convicted of CSEM offences. Findings will inform the development of prevention programs and sexual education initiatives for schools and universities, with the goal of reducing the incidence of these offences. These insights will also help alleviate pressure on Ontario’s criminal justice system by guiding more effective resource allocation.

“My team will work with policymakers to guide more effective nature-based solutions that could curb biodiversity loss while delivering co-benefits for people’s health in Ontario.”

Biodiversity loss is accelerating, and rates of mental illness are simultaneously on the rise. Urban living exacerbates these intertwined crises, which are pressing in densely urbanized southern Ontario. Nature-based solutions—interventions that work with nature to provide benefits—hold the potential to tackle these challenges. Although policymakers have demonstrated interest in nature-based solutions, outcomes for biodiversity and human health remain poorly understood.

Rachel Buxton and her Biodiversity Conservation Solutions team will use ERA funding to take an interdisciplinary research approach to evaluate nature-based solutions by exploring the outcomes of reducing traffic in urban parks, tree planting in urban areas, and determining locations to scale up urban nature-based solutions in Ontario cities.

“My research investigates technologies that could significantly reduce the carbon footprint and cost of manufacturing processes by heavy industries in Ontario.”

Ontario is at the heart of Canada’s metal and auto manufacturing; however, the production of metals and their use in cars has a significant carbon footprint. Both Ontario industries have committed to reducing emissions and waste to stay competitive in Canada, but they still create scrap metal waste that cannot easily be recycled.

Reza Kholghy’s ERA-funded project will use metal samples from industry partners to develop technologies that oxidize waste scrap metal from manufacturing processes with air, water or CO2 to produce emission-free energy, green hydrogen, valuable gases (syngas) and metal oxides that can be used for steel and aluminum production. His Energy and Particle Technology Laboratory team also seeks to quantify the economic and emission reduction benefits of such technologies for Ontario.

“I aim to clarify the role of sex steroid hormones in depression, potentially contributing to more effective and tailored pharmacological treatments for young women in Ontario.”

In Ontario, the burden of depression (measured in years of life lost and years of reduced functioning) is more than lung, colorectal, breast and prostate cancers combined. While the causes are complex, women are twice as likely to suffer from depression as men, and evidence points to the involvement of sex steroid hormones, like estrogen. Surprisingly, more than 100 million women worldwide use hormone contraceptives without fully understanding their influence.

Robyn McQuaid and her McQuaid Lab will use the ERA funds to examine the effects of hormone contraceptives on neurobiology, stress physiology and mental health among young women. These findings could inform medical recommendations for hormonal contraceptives, allowing women to make evidence-based health decisions.