UNBC professor Greg Halseth has been re-appointed as a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair for his work examining the challenges faced by rural and small towns.
Halseth was one of the first UNBC faculty members to be named Canada Research Chair. He was initially awarded a Tier 2 chair in 2001, and became the first UNBC faculty member named a Tier 1 Chair in 2011. His work has examined strategies for community development in rural communities, with a focus on northern B.C. resource-based towns.
Tier 1 Chairs are seven-year appointments and come with $1.4 million in research funding. The appointees are nominated by their peers based on research excellence in the disciplines of engineering and the natural sciences, health sciences, humanities, and social sciences.
During his first Tier 1 appointment, Halseth and his team of researchers looked at how economic and social challenges facing rural communities differed around the world. His research was shared in two publications, Transformation of Resource Peripheries, which was edited by Halseth, and Towards a Political Economy of Resource-dependent Regions, written by Halseth and Laura Ryser.
During his second Tier 1 appointment, Halseth hopes to focus his research on developing solutions for rural and small communities in northern B.C.
