Seidou Ousmane and team awarded $2.5 million by IDRC to investigate climate change strategies

November 17, 2011

Seidou Ousmane, assistant professor in the University of Ottawa Department of Civil Engineering, is part of a multi-institutional team that has been awarded $2.5 million over five years by the International Development Research Centre (IRDC) to investigate climate change adaptation strategies in the water and health sectors in Canada, Morocco and western Africa.

The team comprises researchers from five African research institutions, École Mohammadia d’Ingénieurs (Rabat, Morocco), Agrhymet Regional Centre (Niamey, Niger), the University of Niamey (Niger), the African Centre of Meteorological Applications for Development (Niamey) and the Centre de Recherche Médicale et Sanitaire (Niamey), along with five Canadian bodies, the University of Ottawa, the Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique, Environment Canada, the Université du Québec à Montréal and the Institut national de la santé publique du Québec. The University of Ottawa will take the lead for the research components that are related to extreme weather events under a changing climate, as well as the development of short–to–medium–term forecasting and warning systems. Over the next five years, more than 30 African and 15 Canadian graduate students (master’s, PhD and postdoctoral) will receive training in the fields of climate change, health and water. The international research team will also support the African institutions through technology transfer activities.

IDRC is a Canadian Crown corporation that works in close collaboration with researchers from the developing world in their search for the means to build healthier, more equitable and more prosperous societies.

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