Protected areas naturally attract conservationists keen to preserve pristine environments. Hospitality companies exploit these areas to expand tourism. Private interests are often supported by lobby groups such as chambers of commerce and hotel associations. Between the conservationists and private sector owners are the employees that provide essential services from chambermaids to bartenders who mostly earn minimum wage. These workers have seen their negotiating power eroded due to the lack of organization and representation unlike powerful environmental groups and private enterprise.

Balch Exploration Consulting Inc. (BECI) develops low cost geophysical survey solutions to the natural resources sector. They are investing in the development of a rotary-wing unmanned aircraft system (UAS) with a new high-precision fluxgate magnetometer. The general objective of this internship is to develop a rotary-wing UAS for aeromagnetic surveying.

The project will develop ecosystem value accounts of land owned by the forestry company Kenauk Canada ULC (Kenauk Canada) using a variety of ecological economic approaches. The emphasis is to capture the broader value of ecosystem goods and services as opposed to equating value with the price of standing timber. Approaches under consideration include: net primary productivity, development of biocapacity accounts, and development of ecosystem service indicators.

Human influence on current climate change is now unequivocal. The rate of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions continues to increase, and climate models and observations show that climate changes are accelerating in response to these emissions. In this context, the rate of the current climate change strongly modifies the frequency and the intensity of extreme events, such as droughts, heat waves or extreme precipitation. Strong rates of GHG emissions can cause a destabilization of a component of the climate system (e.g.

In water quality management, mathematical models are used to understand ecological processes, to predict aquatic ecosystem dynamics, to evaluate management alternatives/climatic scenarios, and to support the policy making process. Environmental models involve substantial uncertainty due to their structure, unknown parameters, and errors associated with calibration data and other inputs. This research program aims to address the urgent need for credible modelling tools by combining environmental mathematical modelling with Bayesian analysis.

Evaluating the impact of multiple stressors on aquatic ecosystems often requires robust biodiversity estimates.

Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) can deliver needed substantial emission reductions as we transition to alternative fuels. However, it is important to verify that CO2 being injected into the subsurface is well contained within the geologic container. This student will construct soil gas wells, as well as conduct surface monitoring research to define normal fluctuations of soil gases in soil, and compare to situations of expected leakage.

Symbiotic EnviroTek Inc, in collaboration with the University of Calgary is undertaking a research project that will pilot and validate the efficacy and robustness of algae as a wastewater treatment technology and demonstrate a new business model for municipal wastewater infrastructure. The project provides a unique opportunity to optimize system performance in a pilot scale commercial environment, on site in the community to be served by the technology.

The goal of this project is to develop management targets for grassland songbirds on native rangelands in western Saskatchewan. This research will identify grassland conditions required by priority species and examine how these differ between species and throughout prairie regions with very different soil and moisture conditions.

Cited is a multi-media program that tells stories about research and academia to a general audience. It is experimenting with a unique co-creative approach that puts students, journalists, and researchers together on the same team. Mitacs interns will work with Cited media partners to conduct original research that builds interviews, documentaries, and other media related to research and academia—particularly in the social sciences and humanities. These will be distrusted widely through a network of partners across North America.