Carleton professor Jeremy Schmidt received a Talent Award on Nov. 16 from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) for his research on water issues.
According to the SSHRC, Schmidt’s work has been “foundational” in establishing the field of water ethics. They describe the Talent Award as one of their highest awards, as it is distributed based on academic excellence, talent for research and knowledge mobilization, and potential for future leadership within and/or outside the academic sector.
Steven Reid, Carleton’s media relations officer, expanded further on the meaning of knowledge mobilization. “Part of knowledge mobilization is sharing the research, globally or within the community,” Reid said.
The Talent Award includes $50,000, 10 per cent of which will be allocated to promoting and sharing Schmidt’s research.
“I do anticipate using the funds to connect further with people on the ground in Alberta so that I can get an even better sense of what their concerns are, what things have changed since I’ve been there last, and how their ideas about water might come to affect policies there,” Schmidt said.
“In the coming year I’ll design and host workshops, probably one in Halifax and one in Alberta, that translate my research findings into things that everybody can understand, to make the research public in a way that is accessible for people regardless of their educational backgrounds so that they can understand why they should care about water,” he added.
Schmidt said his research is focused primarily on water policies in Alberta, and he plans to write a book on the subject in order to take his research a step further.
“I’m most interested in the way that we value water and the way that our values around water connect back to the forms and policies that we use to manage it,” Schmidt said.
Schmidt was nominated for the award by Dalhousie University and received it while working at Carleton. “There were many worthwhile candidates, so to be selected from among them was more than exciting, it was kind of flooring,” he said.
“I’ll continue to do my research now that I’m at Carleton. I’m excited to be contributing to the entire Carleton community, not only in my own discipline in geography and environmental studies but also in other disciplines where people are concerned about water,” Schmidt said.
