Dalhousie University is receiving a $154 million grant from the federal government, representing the largest single research funding deal in the institution’s history, to conduct “the most intensive investigation ever into the ocean’s role in climate change.”

The money is part of the Canada First Research Excellence Fund, or CFREF, which is distributing a total of $1.4 billion to 11 large research projects across the country. The Dalhousie grant is the only one to be awarded in Atlantic Canada.

Transforming Climate Action: Addressing the Missing Ocean, as Dalhousie’s project is called, will include about 170 researchers from Dalhousie, as well as project partners Université du Québec à Rimouski, Université Laval and Memorial University of Newfoundland. Thanks to unspecified matching funds, the $154 million from the Feds will translate into about $400 million worth of actual research funding.

“The ocean is protecting us against the worst impacts of a warming planet. But exactly how, and for how long it can do so, are critical scientific questions that need answers urgently,” said Anya Waite, Dalhousie’s associate vice-president for oceans and CEO of the Ocean Frontier Institute research hub.

“Without a better understanding of the ocean’s role in mitigating global warming, our efforts to meet global climate targets and avert the worst impacts of climate change are at serious risk.”

Transforming climate action will have three main goals: reducing uncertainty about the North Atlantic’s ability to act as a carbon sink, working with First Nations groups and other stakeholders to develop greenhouse gas mitigation solutions for the oceans sector and advancing the principles of social equity in climate change adaptation.

The Ocean Frontier Institute, which was founded in 2015 and helps organize research collaborations with universities across the world, will lead the effort.