Fleming College Receives More Than $700,000 in Federal Funding for Two Social Innovation Research Projects

PETERBOROUGH, ON – (November 13, 2026) – Fleming College has been awarded $719,989 through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada’s (NSERC) College and Community Social Innovation Fund (CCSIF) for two applied research projects. The projects are among 57 included in a recent funding announcement made by the granting agency.

The first project will support Deer Lake First Nation advance a community walleye hatchery program. The second will use drones and artificial intelligence to give national charity Forests Canada an even better understanding of the success of new planting sites as part of its forest restoration work.

“Receiving two CCSIF awards is a significant achievement for Fleming and reflects the strength and breadth of our applied research,” said Jennifer Andersen, Executive Director, Applied Research and Innovation at Fleming College. “These projects demonstrate the range of expertise at Fleming and the opportunities that come from bringing different disciplines together to address the needs of the organizations we work with.”

Fleming’s applied research partnerships have traditionally been rooted in Peterborough and the Kawarthas, where college researchers work with businesses, organizations, and communities to solve technical challenges, advance innovation, and address community priorities. These two new projects extend that work beyond the region.

The first project, led by Fleming’s Centre for Innovative Aquaculture Production (CIAP), brings together researchers from CIAP and Fleming’s School of Environmental and Natural Resource Sciences (SENRS) Fish and Wildlife program to work with Deer Lake First Nation, a remote community in the Far North of Treaty 5 territory approximately 70 km east of the Ontario-Manitoba border.

Building on the community’s walleye hatchery, the three-year project will combine Indigenous Knowledge with applied aquaculture science to develop hatchery techniques tailored to the local walleye population and environmental conditions, and to study the timing and conditions for releasing hatchery-produced fish.

The research will help identify approaches that support the wild walleye population while strengthening food security and community-led fisheries management. Community members will also receive hands-on training in hatchery operations, fish breeding, and monitoring, supporting the community’s long-term ability to manage the hatchery independently.

The second project brings together researchers from the College’s Centre for Applied Machine Intelligence and Integration Technologies (CAMIIT) and SENRS forestry programs to work with Forests Canada. The project will give the organization a better understanding of the survival and growth of newly planted trees.

“Currently, Forests Canada asks our planting partners to provide a survival assessment of a planting project. Typically, they are able to look at between two and ten per cent of a planting site,” said Val Deziel, Director of Restoration Ecology and Research, Forests Canada.

“Ultimately, drones will be able to look at a complete site – including remote sites that are often difficult to access on foot – and be able to provide data on things like forest structure, density, and greenness. Being able to have both boots on the ground and drones in the air will give Forests Canada an even better understanding of the success of our planting projects.”

Young tree survival is currently monitored manually, which can make the process costly and time-consuming, particularly at remote sites. While drones and remote sensing can be used to monitor established forests, automatically identifying young, widely spaced trees presents a different technical challenge.

Over three years, the research team will develop an AI-powered drone monitoring system that uses multispectral imagery and machine learning to automatically detect, count, and assess young trees from the air. The resulting system will provide Forests Canada with a more consistent and efficient way to track tree survival across its reforestation programs, supporting more effective management and clearer reporting to landowners, funders, and communities.

The two new projects build on Fleming’s work in applied research with industry, communities, and organizations across a range of sectors. Fleming has received more than $2.2M in NSERC CCSIF funding to date, with the two 2026 awards bringing the college’s total to seven grants secured through the highly competitive program since its inception. Through its applied research centres and academic programs, Fleming College brings expertise to challenges in areas including environmental and natural resource sciences, water and wastewater, advanced technologies, and health care.

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About the College and Community Social Innovation Fund (CCSIF)
CCSIF grants are managed by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) in collaboration with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). CCSIF grants enable colleges to conduct multidisciplinary research and collaboration on projects with community partner organizations.

More information:
communications@flemingcollege.ca