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Sudbury Laurentian University – Mining Faculties and Research

Innovation cluster building roadmap for Northern expertise – by Lindsay Kelly (Sudbury.com – May 10, 2023)

https://www.sudbury.com/

Laurentian University-led initiative will harness knowledge of critical minerals, EV, clean-tech development

Advancing an idea from the research stage toward commercialization can be tricky business for mining entrepreneurs, but a new innovation cluster wants to make it easier for Northern Ontario companies to make that leap.

Announced in April, the cluster comprises Laurentian University in Sudbury, which will lead the initiative, Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Nipissing University in North Bay, and Trent University in Peterborough.

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Opinion: Laurentian must be more than a mining university – by Dr. Dieter K. Buse (Sudbury Star – September 10 2022)

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Sudbury and northeastern Ontario need a full university, not a technical college disguised as ‘the mining university’

Re: ‘Opinion: Laurentian must turn its legacy into a new vision for the future,’ (bit.ly/3L0ARkQ) Aug. 29:

The opinions expressed in this article are misguided and ill-informed. Sudbury and northeastern Ontario need a full university, not a technical college disguised as “the mining university”. With due respect for Nadia Mykytczuk’s capabilities as a researcher and head of Mirarco (the Laurentian University research centre focused on mining), she takes much too narrow a perspective on rebuilding the university.

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Opinion: Laurentian must turn its legacy into a new vision for the future – by Nadia Mykytczuk (Sudbury Star – August 30, 2022)

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Among other steps, LU should focus on being ‘Canada’s mining university’

As we get closer to the vote on Sept. 14 that will ultimately decide the fate of Laurentian University following a grueling, agonizing and, at times, nasty CCAA process, I find myself torn between our collective struggle to find closure, the empathy I feel for those whose lives were turned upside down, and mourning what we have lost in our Laurentian and Sudbury community.

As one of the terminated faculty, I have lived the pain of losing my job, my hard-earned academic career, and tenure. Even more difficult has been seeing many of my colleagues and their families leave our wonderful community.

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Sudbury: Laurentian Lunars named finalists in Over the Dusty Moon challenge (CBC News Sudbury – February 14, 2022)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/

Team hopes to present idea at Colorado School of Mines later this year

A group of Laurentian University students in Sudbury, Ont., are finalists in a competition organized by the Colorado School of Mines. The Over the Dusty Moon challenge involved teams to design and build a “regolith transport solution for the moon.” In other words, they want students to find a way to move moon rocks.

“Lunar regolith is an important feedstock for construction, mineral processing and other ISRU (in-situ resource utilization) activities,” the university stated.

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Living With Lakes Centre director says Laurentian must not abandon its environmental legacy – by Heidi Ulrichsen (Sudbury.com – November 1, 2021)

https://www.sudbury.com/

John Gunn said he fears the purpose-built Ramsey Lake Rd. research centre could even be sold for development by cash-strapped LU; ‘No one can confirm otherwise’

Laurentian University must not abandon its legacy of being a global leader in the environment as it restructures, the director of the Vale Living with Lakes Centre told the LU board of governors at their Oct. 29 meeting.

Back in April, Laurentian made massive cuts to its programs and employees. Among the programs cut were some related to the environment. That includes undergraduate programs in ecology, environmental science, environmental studies, major restoration ecology and restoration biology.

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The Drift: Could the mining industry consider the nuclear option to power remote mines? – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – July 23, 2021)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Laurentian University research institute studies how small-scale reactors could replace diesel generation in the Far North

Is there a viable marriage between mining and nuclear power? Laurentian University researcher François Caron aims to find out. There are 10 off-grid operating mines in remote areas of Canada, most of them reliant on diesel generation.

That’ll be a no-go in the years to come as the mining industry faces mounting pressure from society, government climate change legislation, even environmentally conscious investors, to cut its greenhouse-gas emissions and carbon footprint.

To be able to power potential mining camps in greenfield areas where grid power doesn’t reach, the nuclear energy option is being increasingly examined.

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Column: Unmaking a university: Laurentian’s insolvency – by Dieter K. Buse (Sudbury Star – June 26, 2021)

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Accent: Those responsible for turning LU into little more than a technical school have not been held to account

In Sudbury, as across the country, many are puzzled at the sudden declaration of insolvency by the local university. A relatively young institution at 60 years, it had slowly crawled up from being known as a “jock school” or “last chance u” to being a normal place of higher learning.

From being at the bottom of the rankings — if you believe in that sort of crude measurement — to among the top third of small universities, Laurentian defied all the starting strikes against it: first, existing in a working-class town formerly burdened with a reputation as a moonscape; second, overcoming the difficulties in recruiting top faculty and students to an unproven institution; and third, competing with established universities that had the benefit of donations from deep alumni pockets.

By the 1980s and 1990s, many Laurentian students who went to graduate school did well (one with a Rhodes scholarship) and others succeeded in nursing, commerce, finance, law, sciences, teaching and cultural fields.

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Enviro programs should be added, not cut – by David Farrow (Sudbury Star – June 10, 2021)

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

David Farrow is the Ontario Liberal Party candidate for Sudbury in next year’s provincial election.

During my first trip to Sudbury in 1985, I remember the area looking barren with little to no vegetation. It was a shock to someone who was a first-time visitor to the city.

Thankfully, local leaders have taken steps since then to restore the landscape and beautify our community, producing world-class results, in no small part due to the excellent environmental research and teaching at Laurentian University. It made the business hub of Northern Ontario a better place to live.

Shockingly, Laurentian’s School of the Environment and environmental programming, so important to the fabric of our city, have been gutted by the recent Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act proceedings, alongside other vital areas of study. This is a mistake, one that will have consequences in the years to come.

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Laurentian losing three key ‘Sudbury Model’ researchers – by Hugh Kruzel (Sudbury Star – May 13, 2021)

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

They are a loss to regreening and land and water restoration efforts here and around the world

A university is not buildings; it is the sum of all the activities that go on in and around the campus; and much further. It is ultimately the interaction of learners and those who offer learning opportunities. It is the research and even the conversations between and amongst seemingly disparate parts that lead to surprises, discoveries, solutions, and understandings.

The removal of professors, staff, and the impact of cuts and closing, are beyond evaluation and reach well outside our geographic region. In ecology and environmental sciences, the closing of programs ends decades of awareness, sharing, and success in land, soil, and water research and restoration.

Laurentian, of course, is insolvent. To balance its books, it has cut almost 200 faculty and staff, and 69 programs. Graeme Spiers taught in a range of departments.

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Restructuring overlooks important environmental legacy: critics – by Hugh Kruzel (Sudbury Star – April 30, 2021)

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Laurentian is cutting environmental science, environmental studies, ecology and restoration biology programs as it works to balance its books

Sudbury has garnered a reputation around the world as a community that knows how to recover an environment degraded by mining and smelting operations. Most of that know-how was developed by Laurentian University researchers — expertise that will be lost as the university restructures, critics warn.

Laurentian is cutting environmental science, environmental studies, ecology and restoration biology programs – among many others – as part of a process to balance its books.

The university is insolvent, can’t pay its bills and has filed for protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act as it restructures. So far, it has cut almost 200 jobs and 69 programs. Many, however, say cuts are a severe blow to the reputation of Sudbury as a leader in landscape revitalization.

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Laurentian University cuts world-renowned programs – by Albrecht I. Schulte-Hostedde (Sudbury Star – April 28, 2021)

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Sudbury is known as the city of lakes and for its famous regreening programs, yet university is slashing expertise in those areas as it restructures

Among the programs closed in Laurentian University’s “restructuring” were environmental science, environmental studies, ecology and restoration biology.

In a city of lakes, where Sophie Mathur has galvanized global youth around the climate crisis, where the regreening of the region has reached near mythological status, an undergraduate student cannot enter into an environmental or ecology program at Laurentian University.

Think about that. Why were Laurentian’s environmental and ecology programs closed?

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How to fix Laurentian University without gutting it – by Lionel Rudd (Sudbury Star – April 15, 2021)

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Start by hiring new management and appointing a new board

Recent pronouncements emanating from Robert Hache, president of Laurentian University, aided and abetted by the management, has precipitated a tsunami of events that has surely poisoned the well for the university, started by the insolvency crisis and culminating by severing ties with the three federated universities, along with throwing students and the community under the bus simultaneously.

It may take decades to rebuild and regain the hard-won confidence and reputation that has taken so much time and effort to create for Laurentian. You cannot un-ring a bell – irreparable damage has already been done.

I feel a sense of betrayal and despair, despondency and a sense the community, students, faculty, support staff and the physical plant staff share such feelings of betrayal by the management of Laurentian University. There appears to be no end to the chaos the unfolding mess management is heaping upon the faculty, staff, students and the community of Sudbury.

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$40M sought for mining network – by Harold Carmichael (Sudbury Star – June 25, 2020)

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

The fate of a proposal by the Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation seeking $40 million in federal funding for its Mining Innovation Commercialization Accelerator (MICA) could be known soon.

The MICA initiative aims to connect regional mining clusters to cross-section innovation centres to create a national mining innovation ecosystem.

“Next week, we have a meeting with the government to tell us whether or not it’s going to get approved, to figure out the next step,” said Charles Nyabeze, CEMI’s vice-president of business development and commercialization Wednesday.

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Waubetek, Laurentian sign agreement for Indigenous mining centre – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – March 4, 2020)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Centre of Excellence for Indigenous Minerals Development to foster relationships between Indigenous communities and mining companies

Waubetek Business Development Corp. and Laurentian University have signed an agreement signalling an intent to cooperate on the Centre of Excellence for Indigenous Minerals Development.

Dawn Madahbee Leach, Waubetek’s general manager, and Robert Haché, president at Laurentian, signed the agreement during the 2020 conference of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) in Toronto.

The centre will be a clearinghouse of information on best practices related to consultation with Indigenous peoples in advance of mineral exploration and development.

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[Biomining/Bioremediation] Discover: Meet the Sudbury scientist who feeds minerals to microbes – by Mike Commito (Sudbury Northern Life – October 22, 2019)

https://www.sudbury.com/

One-on-one with Dr. Mike: A Q&A with microbiologist Dr. Nadia Mykytczuk

As part of Sudbury.com’s ongoing Discover Series, Dr. Mike Commito, Director of Applied Research & Innovation at Cambrian College, who is often referred to simply as Dr. Mike on campus, is sitting down with researchers and entrepreneurs in Sudbury to spotlight the innovative work they’re doing in our community and beyond.

This week, Dr. Mike had the chance to catch up with Dr. Nadia Mykytczuk on the shores of Ramsey Lake at the Vale Living with Lakes Centre at Laurentian University. Dr. Mykytczuk is a microbiologist who studies how bacteria live and adapt to extreme environments. She holds an Industrial Research Chair in Biomining, Bioremediation and Science Communication at Laurentian University.

When she’s not teaching, Dr. Mykytczuk spends most of her time investigating how bacteria can be used in the mining process. Based on her research, Dr. Myktytczuk believes there is a great opportunity for the mining industry in Canada not only to deploy bacteria in remediation efforts to break down tailings and minimize mine waste, but also to utilize this biomining technology as a catalyst during the extraction process.

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