In the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia, California bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis california) populations have declined by 60% since 2011, likely due to a new mite infestation, Psoroptes ovis. These mites cause hearing loss and impaired awareness in wild sheep, possibly increasing their vulnerability to predation by cougars (Felis concolour). To assess this risk, data from GPS-collared bighorn sheep between 2014 and 2019 will be compared, in collaboration with the Government of British Columbia.

The increasing use of engineered particulate matter in a variety of fields, including medicine, cosmetics and textiles, results in greater human exposure than in the past. As this matter may be swallowed or breathed in and penetrate the blood stream where it may reach organs and exert a toxic effect, techniques are needed that can quickly measure minute amounts of this matter in various media, such as the air that we breath, the water that we drink and the food that we eat.

We will use a database of more than 30 years of scientific survey and citizen-science observations of common loon breeding on lakes in Ontario, as well as other parts of Canada, to determine whether loons now breed successfully on lakes where they were negatively affected by acid rain (and other human threats like development). Our data will be augmented by new surveys on the same lakes we have surveyed for three decades.

Promoting the use of renewable energy such as biogas produced from organic waste is one the main alternatives to achieve more sustainable development strategies. Anaerobic Digestion (AD) is an efficient and proven technology, which can be employed to convert Organic Waste to Biogas as Renewable Natural Gas (RNG), and to reduce global methane emissions. The main objective of this research is to determine and optimize the input recipe of mixed feedstock organic waste for an Anaerobic Digester (AD) to take advantage of economy of scale and to have synergetic effect on biogas production.

Recycle BC, a not-for-profit organization responsible for British Columbia’s packaging and paper products recycling is conducting a pilot project on reducing recycling contamination (ie. wrongly-placed recyclable and non-recyclable materials in different recycling streams) in multi-family buildings (eg. apartments, townhouses). The goal is to determine which intervention will cause multi-family building residents to reduce their recycling contamination.

This research project aims to develop data analytic technologies to achieve the smart waste and recycling management services. In the smart waste management, the information about container fill levels is captured by the sensors through the Internet of Things (IoT) in real time. A more efficient dynamic routing strategy will be developed through this research with the collected sensor data. The dynamic routing needs to be adaptive to ensure the bins will not overflow while maintain its operational efficiency. Meanwhile, the strategy will also optimize the objectives, i.e.

This project aims to develop a prototype and workflow for the efficient and effective use of an unmanned surface vessel (USV) for magnetic data acquisition in Canadian lakes (9% of Canadian territory). Specifically, the USV will be used to tow either a floating or submerged sensor system consisting of multiple magnetometers in a gradiometer configuration. The main goal is to enable magnetic mapping of lakes at unprecedented spatial resolution with applications ranging from infrastructure localization, archaeological prospection, unexploded ordnances detection to mineral exploration.

Rivers naturally shift and move through lateral erosion and deposition, which can cause problems for infrastructure that is built on riverbanks. Traditional engineering solutions have entirely halted lateral movement, which can have negative consequences. This research is investigating an alternative method, which uses grains that are within the grain size distribution of the riverbed, rather than the method known as riprap, which are much larger grains. This research will use a flume to model the Nicola River, alongside computer models.

To maximize usage of residuals and underutilized product streams at Port Hawkesbury Paper (PHP), this investigation is conducted with eco-industrial parks in mind, and a goal of increasing industrial sustainability. The streams investigated could act as a supplement to PHP’s current processes or an external feedstock for a collaborative relationship through waste as a form of currency. Inventory of potential available residuals, streams, and energy sources will be produced and evaluated as well as trial scale operations of potential projects (aquaculture, soil amendments, etc.).