Christopher Yost, a professor in the University of Regina’s Faculty of Science, has been named as the University’s tenth Canada Research Chair (CRC).

Yost’s research, which aims to protect Canadians from food-borne illness, focuses on protecting irrigation water from fecal contamination.

“Food-borne illness is a serious threat to the health of Canadians, and at the same time has the potential to cause significant economic impact to food producers,” says Yost. “Through my CRC-funded research, I will continue working to help protect Canada’s food supply against microbial threats from ‘farm to fork.’”

As Tier II CRC in Microbes, the Environment and Food Safety, Yost will receive funding totaling $500,000 to support his research over the next five years. In addition, he will receive an associated $137,044 infrastructure grant from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI). Yost is also eligible to have his CFI grant and two years of his CRC funding matched by the Government of Saskatchewan’s Innovation and Science Fund.

“In recent years, food safety has become an issue of increasing concern in Canada, making Dr. Yost’s research particularly relevant,” says the U of R’s Vice-President Research and International, David Gauthier. “Yost’s work will have a number of social and economic benefits for Canada, including a reduction in food-borne illness, a decreased burden on the health care system, and protection of Canada's reputation as a safe producer of food for the global marketplace."

One aspect of Yost’s research as CRC in Microbes, the Environment and Food Safety involves microbial source tracking (MST). MST can be used to track fecal contamination of irrigation water to help design mitigation strategies that will protect irrigation watersheds from future microbial contamination by urban and livestock sources. To facilitate this work, through national and international collaborations Yost will establish the Centre for Irrigation Water Protection at the U of R using the CFI grant. This Centre will be a focal point for training graduate students who will become the next generation of scientists working in Saskatchewan.

“Dr. Yost’s research is yet another example of the innovative and relevant work taking place in the U of R’s Faculty of Science,” says Katherine Bergman, the U of R’s Dean of Science. “We have a dynamic research environment in the faculty, and our professors and students continue to make strong contributions to the University and the larger community.”

The Canada Research Chair Program was established by the federal government in 2000, with an allocation of $900 million. The program aims to make Canada one of the world’s top five countries for research and development. Previous recipients of CRCs at the University of Regina include: Christine Chan in Energy and Environmental Informatics; Shadia Drury in Social Justice; Gordon Huang in energy and Environment; Peter Leavitt in Environmental Change and Society; Randy Lewis in Computational physics; Greg Marchildon in Public Policy and Business History; Charity Marsh in Interactive Media; Joseph Piwowar in Geomatics and Sustainability; and Carol Schick in Social Justice and Aboriginal Education.