A group of graduate students are posing for a photo while holding their certificate.

[From left to right]: Tim Papakyriakou, Zakhar Kazmiruk, Nicole Loeb, Madhurima Chakraborty, Mahdi Zabihi Mayvan (2024 recipient), Lisa Kulchycki, Christopher Peck (2024 recipient), and Lucette Barber.

Recognizing current Arctic research: The D.G. & V.E. Barber Memorial Fellowship

The D.G. & V.E. Barber Memorial Fellowship in Arctic Research is intended to honour Dr. Barber’s commitment to the next generation of Arctic researchers. The recipients from Spring Convocation 2025 have been selected and are highlighted below.

July 7, 2025 —

The Arctic is a difficult and complex region to study due to its rapidly changing nature and challenging access. To help inspire research of the Arctic and Subarctic regions, Dr. David Barber and Mr. Doug Barber established an endowment fund. This was also done to honour their father, V.E. Barber, who was a strong supporter of science. Tragically, Dr. David Barber passed away on April 15^th, 2022.

This endowment fund was established at the University of Manitoba to honour the memory of Dr. David Barber, Distinguished Professor and Founding Director of the Centre for Earth Observation Science. Dr. David Barber also held a and Tier 1 Canada Research Chair Arctic System Science and Climate Change.

A person is presenting the award winners to the audience while another person holds the award next to them.

Dr. Tim Papakyriakou and Lucette Barber presenting the awards.

The fund, which has so far awarded $140,000 to 19 recipients, is meant to support graduate students who are conducting or have conducted thesis research pertaining to the Arctic and who demonstrated outstanding leadership and/or excellence in Arctic research.

Use the following link to find out more information about the D.G. & V.E. Barber Memorial Fellowship in Arctic Research, including past recipients and details for how the fund is supported.

Below are the recipients from Spring Convocation 2025, including their project titles:

Madhurima Chakraborty, M.Sc. – Exploring the environmental factors controlling iceberg season severity along the east coast of Canada
Veronica Coppolaro, Ph.D. – Passive acoustic monitoring of marine mammals and vessel noise in Hudson Bay
Zakhar Kazmiruk, Ph.D. – Marine microbiology in the changing Canadian Arctic
Lisa Kulchyck, M.Sc. – Evaluating the relationship between lipids and body condition in beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) harvested for subsistence in the Western Arctic
Nicole Loeb, Ph.D. – Extreme Precipitation in Greenland and the Baffin Bay Region: Changes, Drivers, and Impacts on Land Ice

Nick Lupky

Arctic Research, Awards, CEOS, Clayton H. Riddell Faculty of Environment, graduate students

New York Times: Is This Polar Bear Town Canada’s Key to the Arctic?

Ice has been shrinking in Hudson Bay, making it navigable to ships for about five months a year, or about one month more than in the 1980s, said Dr. Feiyue Wang, Professor and Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) at the Department of Environment and Geography and Centre for Earth Observation Science, University of Manitoba.

Cracking the code of Thwaites ice shelf’s disintegration

A new study led by researchers from the University of Manitoba’s Centre for Earth Observation Science provides the most detailed account yet of how the Thwaites Eastern Ice Shelf in West Antarctica has progressively disintegrated over the past two decades.