Thank you, Madam Chair and committee members, for inviting me.
[Witness spoke in Kanyen’ké:ha and provided the following text:]
Shé:kon sewakwé:kon. Rahswahérha táhnon Mark yónkyats. Wakhsennekéhte wakenyáhten. Green tewakhsennà:sere. Kenhté:ke nitiwaké:nonh táhnon Kanyen’kehá:ka niwakonhwentyò:ten’.
[English]
In this traditional Kanyen'ké:ha introduction, I introduced myself as Mark Green. My Mohawk name is Rahswahérha, and I sit with the turtle clan in my community of Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory.
I'm also a professor of civil engineering—structural engineering—and I was formerly provost at Queen's University. I have a long-standing track record of support from federal and international granting associations.
Early in my career, I won a Commonwealth scholarship to complete my Ph.D. at the University of Cambridge. I returned to Canada on an NSERC post-doctoral fellowship and became a Queen's national scholar.
Subsequently, I've received funding from pretty much all range of programs at NSERC and served on many review panels, both for NSERC and CFI. As an engineer with connections to industry and a strong working relationship with the National Research Council, I have a track record of bridging research into application, including building code development, both in Canada and internationally.
For research excellence for most NSERC grants, evaluations are based on three broad categories. The first is the excellence of the researcher, the second is the excellence of the proposed research and the third is the training of highly qualified personnel. In funding decisions, I have found the processes to assess excellence to be rigorous, fair and collegial.
I'd also like to stress that the system is flexible. For example, partnership programs emphasize collaborations with industry and economic development. Additionally, the internationally accepted San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment, DORA, as mentioned by my colleague, provides a broader set of criteria to measure excellence. It can capture impact on communities, people and constituents in a way that academic papers and citation numbers simply cannot.
The training of highly qualified personnel is particularly important for Canadian society because these former students go on to successful careers in industry, government and academia. As such, we must ensure that all segments of society have equal and equitable opportunities to access such positions. Furthermore, I firmly believe that to develop true leaders in society, it's essential to expand beyond simply the technical expertise and to connect with the human, socio-economic and environmental implications of one's work in science and engineering.
For the last two years, I've had the pleasure of advising NSERC in the role of scholar in residence for indigenous collaboration, drawing on my research experience as well as my lived experience. All of this is advancing Canada's commitment to reconciliation. For example, we have been adding material on merit criteria as it relates to indigenous research. We can share the details with you. This consists both of NSERC-specific work and tri-agency work.
Indigenous research is context-specific and is generally connected directly to community needs. As such, the results are practical and can have a direct impact on people. Sometimes excellence is not the most technical solution, but one that is best suited to meet the needs on the ground. I'm sure that many of you as MPs can relate to the importance of research being implemented to directly improve the lives of your constituents. The new indigenous innovation and leadership in research grants have created a real breakout moment. In particular, they encourage focused, indigenous-led work to deeply reflect on criteria to achieve excellence. One way to do this is to recognize the importance of indigenous knowledge and community input. We need all types and perspectives of knowledge to achieve true impact.
In closing, I would like to emphasize three points. First is the importance of supporting a diverse community of students and researchers who are reflective of the breadth of Canadian society. Second are ways to intertwine indigenous and western scientific knowledge to achieve expanded excellence and insights. Third is embracing the declaration on research assessment to allow for more impactful research for Canadians.
Niá:wen. Thank you. Merci.