Dr. Edmund C. Merem, professor in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, has been appointed to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship selection committee. Merem’s three-year term began July 1 and will run until June 30, 2020.
“I feel highly elated to serve Canada, being a former Canadian government employee and an academic who focused on emerging research issues with relevance to the country. I’m honored by the opportunity,” said Merem, who is also the founding coordinator of the Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts and doctoral program for Urban and Regional Planning.
As a member of the SSHRC committee, Merem will help vet higher-education scholarship applicants. Merem has an extensive background in research and grants. He spent years in Canada and Africa working in the public sector. He also has 15 years of academic teaching at the graduate and undergraduate level including eight years as a research and teaching assistant.
Merem has presented at least nine research papers at faculty and student conferences and has nearly 50 publications and more than 100 conference presentations.
The professor’s first book “Environmental Accounting for Changes in Farm Landuse” was published in October 2005; a second book “Environmental Accounting for Oil and Gas a North American Case Study” was published in the spring of 2011. He is currently working on a third book “Environmental History of African Americans.”