Dr. Wong is developing new and better ways of measuring such chemicals at extremely low ambient concentrations to determine how they act in the real world.
WINNIPEG, MB – The University of Winnipeg is pleased to welcome Dr. Charles Wong as Canada Research Chair in Environmental Toxicology, an appointment that brings with it $100,000 annually for the next five years. Dr. Wong, who most recently worked at the University of Alberta, is cross-appointed in the Environmental Studies Program and the Department of Chemistry. He is specifically interested in emerging pollutants, including flame retardants, pharmaceuticals and breakdown products, about which little is known.
Dr. Wong is developing new and better ways of measuring such chemicals at extremely low ambient concentrations to determine how they act in the real world. Pollutants that are chiral are poorly understand and are also of interest, such as pesticides, PCBs and DDT. Understanding how to measure these chemicals, and how they behave in the environment, will lead to better ways to assess human and ecosystem chemical exposure, and ultimately better means by which to protect the environment and our way of life.
“Attracting top caliber talent like Dr. Wong to The University of Winnipeg’s new science complex and the Richardson College for the Environment is a critically important priority,” said Dr. Lloyd Axworthy, President & Vice-Chancellor of UWinnipeg. “Dr. Wong’s field of study will inspire a generation of students interested in working towards a more environmentally sustainable planet.”
“I am thrilled and excited to be joining The University of Winnipeg as Canada Research Chair in Environmental Toxicology,” said Dr. Wong. “I look forward to helping to build the new Richardson College for the Environment into a world-class centre in the environmental sciences, and to find creative, innovative, and practical interdisciplinary solutions to environmental issues and problems.”
Born in Hong Kong, Dr. Wong emigrated to the U.S. in 1973, grew up in Los Angeles, and obtained his PhD in civil engineering from University of Minnesota. He was a postdoctoral fellow for two years at the US Environmental Protection Agency’s National Exposure Research Laboratory in Athens, GA. He was recruited to Canada for a joint postdoctoral position with Dr. Scott Mabury of the University of Toronto and Dr. Derek C.G. Muir at Environment Canada from 1999-2002.
Dr. Wong has 32 peer reviewed publications and has won several awards, most recently the 2007 Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry Weston Solutions Environmental Chemistry Award, offered to the outstanding environmental chemist under the age of 40.
Dr. Wong joins The University of Winnipeg on July 1, 2008. Dr. Wong is UWinnipeg’s sixth and final Canada Research Chair recipient.
UWinnipeg’s other Canada Research Chairs are: Dr. Jennifer Brown, Aboriginal Peoples in an Urban and Regional Context; Dr. Tom Carter, Urban Change and Adaptation; Dr. Jacques Tardif, Dendrochronology; Dr. Mavis Reimer, The Culture of Childhood; and Dr. Dawn Sutherland, Indigenous Science Education.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Diane Poulin, Communications Officer, The University of Winnipeg
P: 204.988.7135 E: d.poulin@uwinnipeg.ca
