TRU faculty awarded federal grants to advance global research partnerships
Two Thompson Rivers University (TRU) faculty members have received Faculty Mobility for Partnership Building (FMPB) grants, supporting independent international research projects that strengthen global partnerships and address critical challenges in sustainability and health.
Collaborating for climate resilience
As part of Dr. John Church’s research on heat stress in cattle, frozen North American gene-edited cattle embryos will be sent to research collaborators in Brazil.
Dr. John Church, professor in natural resource science, has been awarded $7,000 to support a research collaboration in southern Brazil with the University of Western Santa Catarina (UNOESC) in Xanxerê. A globally recognized authority on cattle heat stress, Church will travel to Brazil this April to share and apply innovative research techniques he developed in Canada.
“This project is focused on knowledge exchange,” said Church. “By working alongside researchers in Brazil, we’re applying climate-smart tools that can help producers better understand and manage heat stress in cattle, an issue that affects agriculture worldwide.”
During the visit, Church will teach and implement drone-based monitoring methods and the analysis of heat shock proteins to characterize cattle heat stress. The work will involve recently acquired gene-edited Angus cattle. The project promotes a climate-literate approach to agricultural research while strengthening institutional ties between Canada and Brazil, aligning with TRU’s commitment to sustainability and international engagement.
Update (April 2026):
Foundational research informing this work has also received national recognition. A thesis paper on cattle heat stress by TRU Master of Science in Environmental Science student Robert J. Wester, co-supervised by Church, was recently named a 2026 Editors’ Choice by the Canadian Journal of Animal Science. The distinction, awarded to only a small number of papers annually, highlights the paper’s timeliness and potential impact within the field of animal science.
Addressing aging across disciplines
In a separate FMPB award, Dr. Claudia Gonzalez Lozano, assistant professor in psychology, has received $6,733.40 to support a research collaboration with biomedical engineers at Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico, her alma mater. Her project focuses on how human brain activity and cognitive abilities change with age.
As part of the project, Gonzalez Lozano will use non-invasive brain imaging and stimulation techniques to examine neural activity while participants complete cognitive tasks combined with paced breathing exercises. The interdisciplinary collaboration brings together expertise from neuroscience and biomedical engineering to better understand brain–body interactions.
“Addressing these complex questions requires collaboration across disciplines,” she said. “These partnerships allow us to develop more precise tools and explore accessible, non-invasive strategies that may help support cognitive health and resilience in aging populations.”
Funded by Global Affairs Canada, the Faculty Mobility for Partnership Building Program supports short-term research and teaching activities in Latin America and the Caribbean, with the goal of strengthening institutional partnerships and expanding Canada’s international research impact.
Thompson Rivers University is leading in sustainability. Learn more about TRU’s contributions to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.