our region’s forests are in good hands with this rising star

an unlikely forester

dr. temitope ojo had big dreams when he was growing up, but working in the natural resources industry wasn't one of them.

"as a kid in nigeria, we didn't have constant electricity," temitope says. "so i set my mind on becoming an electrical engineer because i wanted to be part of the solution."

for temitope's phd thesis, he did a comparative analysis of two communities that relied upon one primary industry for their survival—atikokan, ontario, and oloibira, nigeria.

after he finished high school, he applied to the federal university of agriculture abeokuta (funaab), nigeria.

then temitope hit a snag.

it would be a full year before his electrical electronics engineering spot would become available, and he didn't want to wait around. when the university told him they had a spot open in their forestry program, temitope took it.

his friends weren't sure about this unexpected choice. "they laughed when i told them and said, 'you're going to be a forester?'"

"but i fell in love with forestry," he says.

helping restore a ravaged landscape

when he finished his undergraduate degree, graduating with distinction, temitope put his newfound knowledge to practical use.

in nigeria, all university graduates are required by law to complete a year of national service with the national youth service corps (nysc) to promote national unity and community development. temitope was eager to use this service year to support reforestation efforts.

"nigeria is in an environmental crisis caused by deforestation," he explains. "with fewer trees to anchor the soil and break the wind, communities are facing landslides and strong winds that rip roofs off homes."

he planted over 10,000 trees during his year of service—both fast-growing gmelina and sturdy teak trees.

his herculean efforts earned him a national youth service corps state coordinator's award from the federal government.

temitope was admitted to phd programs in multiple countries, but lakehead stood above the others. "i wanted professors with track records of mentoring their 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 and who specialized in my interests," he says. "i also wanted small classrooms and to be close to nature."

but temitope wasn't finished with academia. he returned to school to complete a master of forest economics and management at funaab, graduating at the top of his class.

"then i decided to continue my passion for forestry, and began looking at phd programs in the united kingdom, sweden, finland, hong kong, and canada. i picked canada because it has the best forestry programs in the world."

a friend you can lean on

temitope's research led him to choose lakehead. so, in 2019, he made the life-changing journey from nigeria to northwestern ontario.

"when you come to lakehead, you don't only come to study," temitope says. "lakehead has the resources to help you fit into the community and to inspire you to give back to the community.

my phd supervisor, dr. michel s. beaulieu, instilled this ethos in me. i wanted to replicate that goodness."

soon, temitope was helping other 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 transition to life in a new country.

he started a shuttle system, giving new international 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 rides from the airport to their residences and buying groceries for them with his own money. he also introduced them to services available at lakehead and in thunder bay.

"i became friends with many of the 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 i met."

temitope was recognized by the university’s student success centre with lakehead leader awards for diversity and inclusion (2020) and community engagement (2023). 

temitope contributed in many other ways. he was the president of lakehead's branch of the canadian union of public employees and a member of the graduate student association's executive.

he volunteered with the environmental non-profit ecosuperior, served as a citizen representative and vice-chair of the city of thunder bay's anti-racism & equity advisory committee, and joined the thunder bay historical museum society board, where he now serves as vice-president.

a new champion for northwestern ontario forestry

a few weeks before receiving his phd in forest sciences in 2024, temitope landed a position as the regional supervisor of the ministry of natural resources' northwest region.

in this role, he leads the regional information and analysis unit, where he oversees natural resource assessment and geospatial analysis. he also develops complex geographic information system (gis) products that support ecological sustainability and natural resource planning across northwestern ontario.

temitope served as the vice-chair of the canadian institute of forestry (northwestern ontario) and was featured in an article in the september 2023 issue of the professional forester. right, temitope stands beside dr. michel s. beaulieu after receiving a 2025 city of thunder bay exceptional achievement – good citizen award.

"it's all thanks to the mentorship of dr. beaulieu," temitope says. "when i was close to graduating, he reviewed my resume and gave me tips and pointers, which got me an interview with the ministry of natural resources.

i'm so grateful to him and to lakehead for helping me find my dream job."

ensuring equitable maternity care for all northern ontarians

overview:

• many northern ontario communities have limited access to maternity and newborn care
• training more midwives can help solve the region's healthcare challenges
• dr. kirsty bourret and dr. helle møller's research team offers timely maternity care solutions

bringing a child into the world should always be a joyful experience, but for many northern ontario families, pregnancy also brings stress and anxiety.

women across the region report difficulties in finding adequate perinatal and pregnancy care.

"if a woman living outside of a major centre needs her baby delivered, she often has to travel an average of four or five hours," says health sciences professor dr. kirsty bourret.

dr. kirsty bourret (left) is a francophone settler, midwife and researcher committed to advancing primary care, reproductive justice, anti-racism, and culturally safe care. she bridges clinical practice, policy, and implementation research to strengthen health systems that reflect the communities they serve.

rural, indigenous, and francophone communities face the greatest challenges.

"over the last five years, birth services in northern ontario hospitals have been shutting down," says health sciences professor dr. helle møller. "many of the remaining doctors don't have experience assisting with births, so they aren't offering maternity care."

"it was emotionally difficult to be separated from my two-year-old child for so long."
- northern ontario woman who had to leave her community to give birth

dr. helle møller (right) studies the determinants of health, social justice, and equity in health, healthcare, and health education. in particular, she focuses on perinatal people, people on the female continuum, and indigenous people in northern, rural, and remote regions.

for dr. bourret and dr. møller, the way to solve this concerning state-of-affairs is obvious. train more midwives so that they can step into the gap.

currently, midwives support approximately 40 per cent of all births in thunder bay, however, there aren't enough of them to meet demand in the region.

"hundreds of northern ontarians who want midwifery services are turned away because of a shortage of midwives," dr. bourret says.

what exactly does a midwife do?

midwives are frontline healthcare providers whose services, which are free of charge, are comparable to those offered by doctors and nurse practitioners.

prenatal, birth, and postpartum care is the focus of most midwives; however, they can also tend to every aspect of women's health and reproductive needs—from their teen years to menopause and beyond.

this care includes routine health screenings, contraception, early pregnancy loss and pregnancy care, care of mothers, and care of babies for the first two years of their lives.

they also allow women to choose where they will deliver their babies—at home, in a hospital, or at a birth centre.

during home births, midwives bring clinical equipment including blood pressure cuffs, ivs, portable ultrasounds, and instruments for suturing, as well as medications to stabilize newborns and mothers. some midwives travel up to 400 km to treat patients in rural northern communities. photo credit: association of ontario midwives

"there are a lot of misconceptions about midwives, including that they're untrained and unregulated," dr. møller says.

"we want the public to know that midwives must complete a four-year university degree and that they are a regulated health profession governed by the college of midwives of ontario. they collaborate closely with specialists and are recognized by the province of ontario as essential to interprofessional primary care teams."

dr. bourret is a midwife herself. "i came to midwifery in 2000 because i believe that everyone deserves equitable, safe, and respectful care."

"midwives have a unique philosophy of care and a huge positive effect on their clients' mental health," agrees dr. møller.

they provide continuity of care, informed choice, are on call 24 hours a day for urgent concerns, and travel to clients' homes for postpartum care.

standing up for women and children

midwives help patients navigate a complex healthcare system by acting as advocates and by offering counselling and referrals. currently, there are only about 1,000 midwives to serve ontario's population of over 16 million. photo credit: unsplash/brian wangenheim

dr. møller and dr. bourret are part of northern midwifery care—an interdisciplinary research group committed to ensuring that every woman in northern ontario receives culturally safe, equitable midwifery care.

the group is leading a large qualitative and quantitative midwifery research study called "mapping midwifery care in northern ontario, an intersectional mixed methods study."

"until now, there was no research showing where midwives are working in northern ontario and how the midwife shortage is affecting access to primary healthcare," says dr. bourret, who is the study's lead investigator.

dr. møller is a co-investigator along with laurentian university midwifery professor emeritus dr. susan james and dr. patrick timony with the centre for rural and northern health research. their diverse research team also includes graduate 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 and northern ontario client partner researchers with lived experiences, including midwives and doulas.

midwives make all the difference

over 51 midwives, plus clients from every district in northern ontario, were interviewed for the research study. "i come from denmark where midwives provide 85 per cent of care to pregnant and birthing people," dr. møller says. photo credit: association of ontario midwives

preliminary results of the study have found that midwives provide timely and continuous primary care across rural, remote, and urban communities in the north and that they are one of the backbones of a good healthcare system.

they divert admissions to hospitals—including costly emergency department visits for women and newborns—and free up hospital resources for other patients.

that's why dr. bourret and dr. møller are organizing the northern ontario midwifery symposium this winter, to explore challenges, innovations, and collaborative solutions that will support sustainable midwifery care in northern ontario.

"midwives are change agents,"dr. møller says.

make your voice heard by clicking here to register for the northern ontario midwifery symposium on february 6, 2026.

dr. bourret and dr. møller's research is funded by the association of ontario midwives. you can learn more about the northern midwifery care research group on facebook and instagram. you can also email them at northernmidwiferycare@gmail.com.

the research and innovation bulletin is distributed weekly every tuesday by the office of research services and includes information on research funding opportunities, events and workshops and updates from our funding partners.

check out the latest version of our bulletin, by clicking here.

tiny soil microbes are superheroes that can help save the planet

"in a small handful of healthy soil, there are billions of microorganisms—like bacteria and fungi—that's amazing!" says lakehead biology professor, dr. nate basiliko.

a love of soil began very early in life for dr. basiliko (right). he grew up on a 100-acre family farm in upstate new york. "there was a woodlot on our farm, and my brother and i occasionally tapped trees for maple syrup."

these microorganisms, also called microbes, can do everything from cleaning contaminated water to reducing the severity of wildfires.

dr. basiliko has been studying microbes since he was an undergraduate student working in a soil science laboratory at cornell university.

"i started putting mud into jars and measuring what the microbes were doing, and i've never looked back," he says.

these microbes live in hyper-diverse communities called microbiomes.

"microbiomes are everywhere—in soils, plants, wastewater, and in our bodies, particularly our lower guts. all living things are dependent on microbiomes."

although soil science has been around for more than 100 years, a vast amount remains unknown.
"the tools to study soil microbiomes are still limited, but this makes it exciting for 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 and researchers."

dr. basiliko typically studies soils and ecosystems in managed boreal environments in canada, but occasionally he collaborates with researchers in other parts of the world. above, he tours the antisano volcano in ecuador.

munching microbes can get a little gassy

dr. basiliko is particularly interested in the connection between microbes and methane, a greenhouse gas.

researchers collect a core sample from a peat bog (left). "i love collaborating with 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 , colleagues, and communities, government, and industry partners," dr. basiliko says. photo credit: steph davidson

"some microbes eat and break down stagnant organic matter, so scientists are constantly looking for new ways to use them in human-engineered systems like wastewater management and agro-ecosystems," he says.

there's a downside to all this decay, though. "rotting organic matter without oxygen generates huge amounts of methane, which contributes to global warming."

luckily, there are methane-eating microbes, called methanotrophs, that consume most of the methane produced in the world's stagnant soils.

part of dr. basiliko's research concentrates on slowing climate change by harnessing these microbes' ability to destroy methane.

in landfills, for instance, putting a layer of healthy, well-aerated topsoil over areas that have been filled with waste prevents most of the methane from escaping into the atmosphere.

bogs have ecological superpowers

sundew (right) and pitcher plants are two carnivorous plants found in nutrient-poor bogs. in ontario, 30 per cent of the province are wetlands, making them critical to fighting climate change. photo credit: samantha mitchell

currently, dr. basiliko is a member of a large research project led by nipissing university focused on reclaiming wetlands affected by mining operations.

"we're studying wetlands, also known as bogs and fens, in the sudbury area of ontario," he says.

"until the 1970s, nickel and copper smelters released toxic chemicals into the air, causing severe environmental damage."

typically, bogs act as spongy filters. their native plants and microbial partners work together to purify polluted water before it flows into lakes and rivers.

around sudbury, however, the sheer volume of pollutants released into the atmosphere for almost a century has damaged many wetlands.

a bold experiment to regenerate crucial ecosystems

one group of plants that disappeared from bogs was peat mosses.

these plants are keystone species that support carbon sequestration, stable water levels, and a unique set of microbiomes, animals, and other plants—including carnivorous ones.

when they disappear, wetland ecosystems collapse.

for decades, the state of sudbury-area bogs seemed irreversible. but peat mosses have begun to return, thanks to air quality regulations and large investments made by the mining sector.

the wetland research project is attempting to speed up peat mosses' recolonization of their former habitat. the hope is that if peat mosses flourish once again, microbial communities and other bog life will flourish, too.

wetlands comprise only 2.5% of land surface area in the world, but hold one-third of its total carbon. they can also slow the spread of wildfires. above, dr. basiliko (far right) with colleagues from laurentian, saint mary's, nipissing, and brandon universities.

"our research team is now planning the next stage of research, in collaboration with our industry partners," dr. basiliko says.

"we will sparingly take peat mosses from healthy wetlands that have been set aside for horticultural purposes. then, we'll use drones to transplant them to degraded bogs and fens that could not otherwise be revegetated."

the mosses will be tracked by the researchers to see if they can successfully restore bogs.

"if this experiment works, we'd like to apply our results more globally. creating practical solutions to serious problems is what inspires me as a researcher."

in 2025, dr. basiliko renewed his nserc discovery grant, 'microbiomes mediating environmental change across boreal landscapes.' he is also one of the co-investigators in the wetland reclamation research project 'mining atmospheric co₂: assessing the efficacy of novel carbon sequestration strategies in smelter-damaged peatlands," which received an nserc alliance missions grant. this project is led by dr. colin mccarter (nipissing u) in collaboration with dr. ellie goud (st. mary's u), dr. pete whittington (brandon u), dr. peter beckett (laurentian u), and dr. florin pendea (lakehead orillia).

giving people a sense of belonging is one of taliah lalande's missions in life.

the fact that she received a 2025 lakehead leader award for community engagement proves just how successful she's been.

 taliah at the final home game of the lakehead orillia 2024-25 soccer season. 

a master of educational studies student, taliah first arrived at lakehead orillia as an undergraduate in the bachelor of arts and science program.

"i majored in interdisciplinary studies with a focus on geography," she says. "i love to travel, and the program allowed me to explore and understand the world around me."

but making the transition from high school to university was a little disconcerting. she found herself in a new city where she didn't know a soul.

"there were 14 people in my middle school in kitchener, so i was used to being in a close-knit group."
her experience inspired her to help other lakehead 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 feel less isolated.

"loneliness is one of the worst things for mental health, so i decided to help grow 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 ' relationships and connections," she says. "i always checked in with them, listened to them, and brought their concerns forward in meetings."

an enthusiastic cheerleader and supporter

taliah continued her community building as an intern with lakehead orillia athletics. in this role, she fostered camaraderie among athletes on the soccer and hockey teams and across campus through social media.

"although i can't play soccer anymore because of an injury, i can still support," she says. "i cheer my loudest and take pictures that the players will cherish."

she's now continuing her work with lakehead athletics as a social media and communications assistant.

taliah (based'25) manages lakehead athletics' content creation, photography, and communications across instagram. "i also attend as many events as possible. i love supporting student athletes and building school spirit." above, taliah at last season's final varsity kick-off soccer event.

as an undergraduate, taliah also volunteered on the board of the education student teacher association – orillia (esta-o), first as operations director, then, last year, as vice-president.

organizing events and activities is another way that she's created a greater sense of community.

"we've led food drives and donated the groceries we collected to the sharing place food centre in orillia. we wanted to make sure families had access to the essentials."

she also took charge of crafts and cocoa. for this popular event, 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 sell handmade crafts, baked goods, and small items, while esta-o sells hot chocolate, coffee, and tea. "it's meant to draw people together, raise funds for charity, and support local student businesses."

a student to look up to

it was because of her efforts to connect 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 through esta-o that taliah was honoured with a lakehead leader award.

presented by lakehead's student success centre, these awards celebrate exceptional 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 who inspire the lakehead community.

taliah with wolfie at the bell let’s talk hockey night where the lakehead extramural women's hockey team played for the frost cup. 

according to the student success centre, "taliah was nominated because of her kindness and compassion, consistently demonstrating a dedication to others in every aspect of their involvement at lakehead."

she's known for offering solace and support to 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 under stress.

"someone later told me that having me sit with them made them feel seen and safe. it reminded me how powerful small acts of care can be, and reaffirmed why i want to work in education."

helping children feel valued

after finishing her undergraduate studies, taliah wanted to gain more education and experience before jumping into the classroom. she opted for a master of educational studies with a focus on mental health.

"i want to get a better understanding of how i can help 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 in my own classroom one day.

i'm most drawn to the junior grades," she adds. "i enjoy helping them build their confidence and deepen their social-emotional learning.

i want to become 'that teacher,' the one that 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 can always turn to."