HEAL Alumnus Dr Don Lafreniere Awarded Prestigious Eddie Goldenberg Research Chair at Trent University
- Post by: Anastasia Soukhov
- 1:52PM Aug 28, 2026
- No Comment
We are excited to congratulate Dr Don Lafreniere, a Faculty Associate with the HEAL at Western University, on his Eddie Goldenberg Research Chair at Trent University. He is receiving $8 million in federal funding over eight years to build a national program training marginalized youth in geospatial technologies and research.
Dr Lafreniere spent 15 years at Michigan Technological University studying how built environments, natural spaces, and communities shape each other over time. He’s used geographic information systems (GIS) to tackle problems such as urban health inequities, watershed management, and climate change impacts on specific places. Now he’s bringing that approach to Trent’s School of the Environment with a specific goal to train young people in the tools and knowledge they need to work alongside communities on real challenges. Youth from marginalized backgrounds will learn geospatial analysis and conduct research that directly improves sustainability, resilience, and civic engagement in communities.
Like the HEAL, Dr Lafreniere’s work puts tools and expertise in the hands of young people solving problems in their own communities and it recognizes that solutions come from listening to communities first. We look forward to collaborating with Dr Lafreniere in his work with youth, and in his new Research Chair role at Trent University.