We’re delighted to once again recognize the remarkable graduate student research work in clean energy across Canada with another round of grants. With a large and diverse pool of applicants representing universities across the country, this year’s competition was intensely competitive and showcased outstanding talent and creativity. After a rigorous adjudication, the Foundation is excited to announce for the first time ever, that we will be awarding two $15,000 grants. This year’s awardees are:
- Claire Floras (Dalhousie University)
- Juliana Lisik (Simon Fraser University)
We congratulate the 2025 recipients, who demonstrated themselves as passionate researchers whose projects promise to drive meaningful change. We look forward to seeing their work unfold and the sustainable solutions it will create for communities across Canada and beyond. Thanks to the generosity of our supporters and donors, the Tyler Lewis Clean Energy Research Foundation has grown from offering a single $10,000 award annually to funding multiple annual $15,000 grants, enabling us to support even more emerging leaders. We’re delighted to welcome these two outstanding awardees into the community of past honorees; they not only advance innovative clean-energy solutions but also embody the Foundation’s mission through their dedication both inside and beyond their research.
Learn more about this year’s award recipients and their research below.
Claire Floras – Extending the Lifetimes of LFP and NMC 18650 Lithium-Ion Batteries by Investigating Degradation Mechanisms
Dalhousie University (PhD, Applied Science in Materials Engineering)
Claire completed her undergraduate degree in Engineering Physics at Queen’s University in 2023 then moved to Halifax to continue her education at Dalhousie University. She obtained her Master of Applied Science with Dr. Jeff Dahn in 2025 conducting research on lithium(Li)-ion batteries. After taking a month off to canoe the Missinaibi River in northern Ontario, Claire began her PhD research in the same laboratory and with the same supervisor. Her work focuses on identifying and eliminating degradation processes which occur in nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) and lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries in order to extend their usable lifetimes for electric vehicle and energy storage applications. With the TLCERF grant, Claire looks forward to being able to dedicate more of her time to posing and answering research questions. When not in the lab, Claire is outdoors hiking, paddling, skiing, or climbing with friends. Her love of the outdoors has shaped her career goals and interests: throughout her education, Claire has sought out opportunities related to the clean energy field so that she could dedicate her career to climate action from a scientific perspective. A summary Claire’s research is described below:
“Rechargeable lithium (Li)-ion batteries are not only ubiquitous in electronics, power tools, and modes of transportation, but are also crucial to the field of clean energy. The objective of this research is to design and build Li-ion batteries which are capable of the necessary decades-long lifetimes in applications like electric vehicles and grid energy storage. However, there are several challenges associated with extending battery lifetime. For example, if one produces a battery to last twenty years, it is not feasible to wait twenty years to see whether one was successful before deploying that battery commercially. Methods of accelerating testing are required. Further, to produce long-lasting batteries, the failure mechanisms of these batteries must be identified and eliminated. Some failure mechanisms are already widely reported on in literature and can be avoided by making thoughtful design choices; others are more challenging to detect and explain. There is a wide range of possible destructive and non-destructive experimental techniques for investigating failure mechanisms, each of which provides a glimpse into a specific aspect of battery health, and comes at some cost. The aim of this project is therefore to design batteries for the purpose of understanding failure then to characterize the results using a variety of those analysis techniques.
NMC and LFP are two types of commercially relevant positive electrode materials typically paired with graphite negative electrodes. While there are many other battery technologies currently in development and garnering media attention, none of these have yet overcome the significant hurdle of commercialization; this work therefore focuses on improving the lifetime of materials which are in use today and which will continue to be in use for the foreseeable future. NMC batteries are found in most electric vehicles in North America and are characterized by high energy densities, but require mining expensive critical minerals like cobalt and nickel. LFP cells are found in systems such as the Tesla Powerwall and some entry-level electric vehicles; these batteries have a lower energy density than NMC but are cheaper to manufacture. Increasing NMC and LFP battery lifetimes will both reduce the total lifetime cost of devices that use them and increase public confidence in, and therefore adoption of, technologies dependent on battery energy storage. Now is a defining period of the Li-ion battery industry as North American automakers and manufacturers struggle to remain competitive. Longer battery lifetimes are crucial to the future of the clean energy field and will have extremely beneficial environmental and ethical ramifications.“
Juliana Lisik – Optimizing Microstructure of Magnets Used for Clean Energy Technologies to Approach Theoretical Performance Limit and Enable Rare-Earth-Free Magnets
Simon Fraser University (PhD, Physics)
Julie received her Bachelor of Science Honours degree in Physics from Simon Fraser University (SFU) in 2023. During this time, she spent several semesters in the Physics of Nanomagnetic Materials & Devices Lab led by Dr. Erol Girt, where she was involved in investigating new materials for unique energy-saving electronic devices called spintronic devices. Julie is currently pursuing her PhD in Physics in the same lab, working on a new, impactful research project on improving magnets for clean energy technologies. She holds a personal conviction that we have a responsibility to be stewards of the world that we live in and recognizes that clean energy research is a powerful tool to fulfill that responsibility. Julie’s research has led to international collaborations, including training with simulation experts in Austria and coordinating the efforts of five research groups for a publication that she presented at a major international magnetism conference in January 2025. At SFU, Julie trains new members of her lab, is an occasional fill-in lecturer, and participates in physics outreach and community events. For several years, she tutored undergraduate students and acted as vice president and co-rehearsal leader of the SFU Jazz Band. Julie has a strong passion for music—playing several instruments—and spending time in nature. She is a worship leader at her church, and, for five years, she volunteered at care homes as a musical therapist. She loves camping, snowboarding, swimming, climbing, and making desserts. A summary of Julie’s research is described below:
Magnets are essential in most modern technology, being indispensable components of vehicles, electric motors (e.g. in household appliances), and countless electronic and medical devices. Their key function is to generate a persistent magnetic field that provides energy without the need for hazardous sources like fossil fuels. Thus, magnets are used in some of the largest sectors of clean energy technology, such as wind turbines and electric vehicles. The strongest magnets to date, used in almost all commercial high-performance magnet technologies, contain rare-earth metals: scarce materials with unstable supply chains and an environmentally damaging extraction process. This is a direct contradiction to their use in clean energy technology. In June 2025, G7 leaders highlighted rare-earth metals for magnets as essential to industry but at risk. It is imperative to develop high-performance magnets that minimize or eliminate rare-earth metals.
The energy stored in a magnet depends heavily on its microstructure. Current commercial magnets fall short of their theoretical potential due to suboptimal microstructure, meaning we are not getting the most out of the materials that we use. In fact, inadequate microstructure is the sole roadblock to using rare-earth-free magnetic materials in high-performance applications. Julie’s research aims to develop a novel fabrication method, provisionally patented in June 2025, to optimize magnet microstructure and allow accessible materials to replace rare-earth metals. Julie is currently building specialized equipment to apply this method to rare-earth magnetic films and, moving forward, will transition to new materials and bulk magnets. This project requires equipment and training that will be made possible by the Tyler Lewis Clean Energy Research Grant. Successful proof of the new fabrication method would be a huge breakthrough, not only in the performance of magnets but also in their accessibility and sustainability. Julie’s long-term ambition is to co-found a BC-based company to bring these cleaner, cheaper magnets to the global market, thereby mitigating the rare-earth crisis, benefiting the global environment, and bolstering Canada’s standing as an innovative leader. The support from the Tyler Lewis Clean Energy Research Grant will be instrumental in accomplishing this research project: advancing magnetism in a way that addresses both technological and environmental challenges and makes “clean energy” magnet technologies truly clean.
