Canada is entering a pivotal moment in its response to chemical pollution. From microplastics to industrial additives and emerging contaminants, the complexity of today鈥檚 chemical mixtures demands new scientific approaches. Traditional chemical鈥慴y鈥慶hemical assessments can no longer capture how these mixtures behave nor how they affect ecosystems, food systems, and human health.
A team of Brace Water Centre faculty members is playing a central role in driving that change.
With a newly awarded NSERC CREATE grant, Prof. Nathalie Tufenkji is launching MIXCHEM, a pan鈥慍anadian training program designed to prepare the next generation of researchers to study the exposure, fate, and effects of complex contaminant mixtures. Co鈥憀ed with Prof. Kevin Wilkinson at the Universit茅 de Montr茅al聽and supported by Brace member co鈥慳pplicants Prof. Subhasis Ghoshal and Prof. St茅phane Bayen, the initiative reflects a growing recognition that advancing environmental protection requires moving beyond single鈥憄ollutant frameworks.
MIXCHEM offers participants advanced training in sampling and monitoring, non鈥憈argeted analysis and mass spectrometry, omics鈥慴ased tools for assessing biological responses, predictive methods for designing safer chemicals, and data鈥慸riven approaches such as machine learning. Students also gain hands鈥憃n experience through internships and exchanges with partners across government, industry, NGOs, and academia.
The program places strong emphasis on professional development and ethical scientific practice. 鈥淚n this age of readily accessible generative AI technology, an essential aspect of professional development is learning how to ethically use AI,鈥� Tufenkji notes. Trainees will build the professional skills that environmental science and engineering careers demand, from academic integrity and authorship to intellectual property and data sharing.
Interdisciplinary collaboration lies at the heart of MIXCHEM鈥檚 vision. By bringing together expertise in analytical chemistry, environmental engineering, biology, ecotoxicology, and genomics, the program creates a unique training environment where students learn to think and work across disciplinary boundaries. Social scientists, community members, and Indigenous partners will also play a key role, helping trainees explore the broader societal dimensions of chemical pollution, including inequities and the disproportionate impacts borne by marginalized communities.
The Brace Water Centre is supporting MIXCHEM through training activities and student stipends, as part of our ongoing commitment to capacity building and training the next generation of water science and engineering professionals. With MIXCHEM now underway, Prof. Tufenkji and her colleagues are training experts ready to address one of the most urgent environmental challenges of our time.
