New funding explores the social, cultural and economic impact of COVID-19

Seven University of Ottawa professors are among recipients of millions in funding from The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) aimed at improving the response to challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The SSHR’s Partnership Grants provide support for partnered research activities that inform decision-making in the public, private or not-for-profit sector across Canada, with 139 projects earmarked for $3 million in investment.

The following uOttawa professors and their projects were selected for funding:

• Angel Foster, a professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences, is leading a mixed-method study into the novel coronavirus’ impact on abortion provision. She is exploring women’s experiences seeking and obtaining abortion care and identifying how to improve abortion services in Canada during future pandemics.
• Agnes Grudniewicz, an assistant professor at the Telfer School of Management, is
  analyzing how organizations serving communities of low socioeconomic status have responded to the pandemic crisis and what their virtual service delivery will look like in the future.
• Thomas Juneau, an associate professor in the Faculty of Social Sciences, is studying the implications of COVID-19 on the national security and intelligence community.
• Simon Lapierre, a professor in the Faculty of Social Sciences, is documenting female victims of conjugal violence and the response by community organizations during the pandemic to identify best means of safely delivering services to this group without risking their health.
• Francois Larocque, a professor in the Common Law Section of the Faculty of Law, is analyzing the implementation of official languages in emergency plans documents during COVID-19 to integrate lessons learned into the modernization of the Official Languages Act.
• Geoffrey McCarney, a professor at the School of International Development and Global Studies (SIDGS) in the Faculty of Social Sciences, aims to evaluate Canada’s ability to respect regulatory procedures while fostering clean innovation and economic growth in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Luisa Veronis, an associate professor in the Faculty of Arts, is developing tools for French-speaking immigrant to improve and better support their assimilation and transition into the teaching setting at the start of their professional careers.

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