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The perfect relationship in science wins accolades
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Contact:
Zamir Punja, 604.291.4471, zamir_punja@sfu.ca
Carol Thorbes, 604.291.3035, Media & PR; cthorbes@sfu.ca
Zamir Punja, 604.291.4471, zamir_punja@sfu.ca
Carol Thorbes, 604.291.3035, Media & PR; cthorbes@sfu.ca
October 27, 2003
He is known for his incisive understanding of relationships between fungi and plants. But none of the relationships studied by Simon Fraser University scientist Zamir Punja is as praiseworthy as the symbiotic relationship he has developed with the BC Greenhouse Growers Association (BCGGA). The productivity of Punja’s 12-year relationship with the vegetable producers’ group has garnered him the most prestigious university-industry awards in Canada.
The SFU biology professor is the recipient of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council’s (NSERC) 2003 Synergy award for Innovation and the Leo Derikx award, the top Synergy award. The former puts a $25,000 research grant in Punja’s lab coat pocket. The Leo Derikx award, named after a former NSERC director general of research partnerships, goes to only one researcher and industry partner duo nationally, a year.
The Synergy awards recognize university researchers and industries for long-standing collaborative research and development relationships that lead to tangible commercial results. Derikx, a driving force in building and developing university-industry partnerships in Canada, helped create the Synergy awards.
Punja and the BCGGA— among seven duos receiving this year’s awards—developed crop protection and environmental management technologies that have enhanced the competitiveness of the Canadian greenhouse vegetable industry. Punja and BCGGA have identified genes that enhance pest resistance, developed techniques to identify and monitor pest populations, enhanced post-harvest quality and registered new products for disease management.
Punja will formally receive his award at a NSERC sponsored dinner at Vancouver’s Fairmont Hotel (Pacific Ballroom) on Monday, October 27.
—30—
(electronic photo file of Punja available)
Websites:
SFU Biological Science; www.sfu.ca/biology/faculty/punja/
National Science & Engineerting Research; www.nserc.ca/synergy/03bcgreenhouse_e.htm
The SFU biology professor is the recipient of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council’s (NSERC) 2003 Synergy award for Innovation and the Leo Derikx award, the top Synergy award. The former puts a $25,000 research grant in Punja’s lab coat pocket. The Leo Derikx award, named after a former NSERC director general of research partnerships, goes to only one researcher and industry partner duo nationally, a year.
The Synergy awards recognize university researchers and industries for long-standing collaborative research and development relationships that lead to tangible commercial results. Derikx, a driving force in building and developing university-industry partnerships in Canada, helped create the Synergy awards.
Punja and the BCGGA— among seven duos receiving this year’s awards—developed crop protection and environmental management technologies that have enhanced the competitiveness of the Canadian greenhouse vegetable industry. Punja and BCGGA have identified genes that enhance pest resistance, developed techniques to identify and monitor pest populations, enhanced post-harvest quality and registered new products for disease management.
Punja will formally receive his award at a NSERC sponsored dinner at Vancouver’s Fairmont Hotel (Pacific Ballroom) on Monday, October 27.
—30—
(electronic photo file of Punja available)
Websites:
SFU Biological Science; www.sfu.ca/biology/faculty/punja/
National Science & Engineerting Research; www.nserc.ca/synergy/03bcgreenhouse_e.htm