Now in its 25th year, the Canada Research Chairs (CRC) program is a national program to help ensure Canada remains a global leader in research and development. For the first time in Mount Allison’s history, an all-female line-up of Chair holders are at the forefront, representing diverse and consequential research in the arts, sciences, and social sciences.

Mount Allison Canada Research Chair holders are:

• Dr. Lauren Beck, Visual and Material Culture Studies — CRC in Intercultural Encounter
• Dr. Claudine Bonner, Sociology — CRC in Racial Justice and African Diaspora in Atlantic Canada
• Dr. Linda Pearse, Music — CRC in Music, Contact, and Conflict
• Dr. Julia Riley, Biology — CRC in Integrative Wildlife Ecology
• Dr. Jill Rourke, Chemistry & Biochemistry — CRC in Cell Signaling and Pharmacology
• Dr. Jenny Wong, Chemistry & Biochemistry — CRC in Aerosol Chemistry

All recipients hold five-year renewable appointments valued at $500,000 each for the term, with additional support for first-time recipients. CRC funding for chairs is allotted to universities based on the school’s overall success in research activity.

"Our Chair holders highlight the range and quality of research expertise and approaches of Mount Allison’s excellent faculty,” says the University’s Director of Research Development, Maria Thistle. “Support of the CRC program helps bolster and advance these programs, and at a school like Mount A, that typically results in unique, hands-on learning and training opportunities for students as they are mentored by national research leaders.”

Jill Rourke joined Mount Allison in 2018 and became a CRC in 2024. Her research focuses on how human cells react to their environment looking at areas such as nutrition, hormone systems, and metabolic decisions. She teaches biochemistry courses relevant to students across life and health sciences.

“The CRC program opens time and financial avenues; we’re [my students and I] able to focus on bigger questions in our field,” says Rourke. “Being a CRC at Mount A has been empowering, it’s a great place to work, and be a ‘whole human,’ outside your professional role.”

For Linda Pearse, who has been on campus since 2011 and a CRC since 2023, the program has helped bridge different communities of knowledge. Pearse’s research looks at music during intercultural encounters over historical periods, challenging our generally accepted histories of key events such as during war times or early contact.

“This focus fosters more engagement with international research teams, across academic disciplines,” says Pearse. “Students from across campus work in my SUMR (Sackville Undergraduate Music Research) lab in activities as diverse as transcribing early texts, analyzing secondary sources, coding and data analysis.”

Pearse and her students, working with Indigenous education specialists and other collaborators, recently completed a project focusing on music and conflict, which will be part of support New Brunswick’s high school curriculum.

Claudine Bonner joined Mount Allison in 2023. Her current research looks at early 20th century African-Caribbean and Canadian migration networks, with a focus on Nova Scotia.

“Coming to Mount Allison to become a CRC has been a unique experience. There’s a focus on individualized support and opportunities to build your research and teaching programs and connect with students and colleagues,” she says. “I think these appointments help highlight what’s happening in universities across Canada as we see more individuals with different backgrounds participating and sharing their expertise. It’s nice to be a part of this at Mount Allison.”

Thistle agrees. “Programs like this help to support and inspire the next generation of researchers, and enrich the depth of opportunities and collaboration available to Chair holders as well as the broader research ecosystem at Mount A. These different approaches open doors for new ideas and types of research contributions, acknowledging lived and diverse experiences, and enhancing research impact well beyond our campus community.”

Learn more about Mount Allison's Canada Research Chair holders.