抖阴APP导航

Oct. 30, 2025

Early-career researcher first humanities winner of prestigious award

抖阴APP导航 professor finds innovative ways to conduct research in wild environments
Amanda Melin
Sylvie Li / Shoot Studio

Tim Lee, Faculty of Arts

For Dr. , BSc鈥03, MA鈥06, PhD鈥11, finding innovative ways to collect data from wild environments in non-invasive ways is a key part of her research programme. 

Melin is currently using this approach to study wild primates in Costa Rica, and the evolution of sensory systems, how they interface with the outside world. 

A professor in the Faculty of Arts鈥 Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, and an NSERC Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Primate Genomics and Dietary Ecology, Melin is the first humanities researcher to be awarded the from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).

Amanda Melin

Dr. Amanda Melin, PhD, is the first humanities researcher to be awarded the Arthur B. McDonald Fellowship from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

Sylvie Li / Shoot Studio

Showing the scientific community the value of humanities research 

鈥淭his is an example of why the Faculty of Arts is so important in the context of transdisciplinary studies,鈥 says Dr. , PhD, dean of the Faculty of Arts. 

鈥淲e could not be prouder that we have Amanda showing us, and showing the rest of the university and the scientific community, why the Arts are important and why working across disciplines means that we get to new knowledge and understanding that鈥檚 going to transform all of our lives.鈥 

While Melin鈥檚 research has historically focused on colour vision and the evolution of visual systems, with this fellowship, she is going to look at chemical senses: taste and smell.  

鈥淭his is a high honour for Amanda and we鈥檙e incredibly proud of her,鈥 says Dr. William Ghali, MD, vice-president (research). 

鈥淪he brings credit to herself and the University of Calgary through her work. We are so honoured to have her here in our midst.鈥 

鈥淚鈥檓 really proud to be representing my discipline and am really excited about the research,鈥 says Melin. 

鈥淭his is huge.鈥 

Dr. Amanda Melin, PhD is a professor in the Department of Anthropology and Archaeology in the Faculty of Arts, and a member of the Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute.