Rhodes Scholar takes his interest in climate change to Oxford
Rhodes Scholars are typically well-rounded, brilliant and dedicated, and Michael Noonan is no exception. His honours BSc in ecology research was published in a leading academic journal and earned an Undergraduate Research Award from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.
He’s also a varsity wrestler and he plays the bagpipes. It’s no wonder he is the university’s second Rhodes Scholar in four years. The award provides the funding for him to pursue a DPhil in zoology at the University of Oxford’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit. He’ll be leaving in September 2012.
It was Concordia’s award-winning wrestling team that initially attracted the university’s most recent Oxford-bound graduate. During his second year, he took a class in conservation biology with professor James Grant.
“As soon as I was done that class, I knew that was something I wanted to keep doing,” he says.
Before he graduated, Noonan conducted original research on passages routinely used in hydro dams to allow fish to travel through them. “There was a lot of literature on how to build them, but no one had studied how well these fishways were actually working.” Turns out these measures, intended to preserve delicate river ecosystems, work only 50 per cent of the time.
Watch the video of Rhode Scholar Michael Noonan:
“Although hydro power is more environmentally friendly than using fossil fuels, these results can greatly reduce the negative impact these systems have on the environment,” Noonan says. The results of the study could lead to improved dam designs.
Grant supervised Noonan throughout his studies, and encouraged him to apply for the prestigious award. He will be researching how climate change impacts biodiversity.
Related links:
• Read about more 2012 Great Grads in the Faculty of Arts and Science
• “Meet Concordia’s Next Rhodes Scholar” — NOW, November 30, 2011
• Ecology Program