This research project aims to investigate the potential of a Vancouver Island Model Forest. A model forest is a partnership-based process for working towards sustainable development of a forested landscape. We will arrange a stakeholder meeting to establish a common understanding of the concept and see if there is commitment from stakeholder groups to procees with development. By interviewing key forest stakeholders we will try to identify the common needs and possible areas of collaboration on the Island.

The fan assembly is a critical component of a Thrust Cushion Vehicle (TCV) designed by Slipstream Vehicles Ltd. It provides both the lift and thrust for the TCV. However, given the novelty of the patented fan, there is insufficient data to predict the fan performance. This project will focus on development of a new set of numerical fan models for estimation and analysis of the fan performance. Once these models shown to be valid through comparison to field data, they will be used to scale up the fan performance and for optimization studies.

The industry partner for this development internship is a company working in the area of Forestry and Agriculture Manufacturing located in Quesnel. The company is preparing to grow rapidly with a new product development (still in the R&D phase), market feasibility and commercialization aspects for the same. The new product being developed by the company- the VHCP (Van Horlick Cultivator Planter) is the next generation of mechanized tree planting systems.

The deciduous forests of southern Quebec have been heavily impacted by centuries of human disturbances and now bear little resemblance to the forests initially encountered by European settlers. In the coming decades, the climate in this region is expected to change considerably, thus facilitating novel insect pest and disease attacks in these forests. However, not all forests are equally susceptible to these potential threats; certain forest types could prove more resilient than others.

The internship will involve further research, development and the implementation of up to four of the recommendations provided in the previous internship term, as outlined a recently completed report to Ecotrust Canada, titled ‘Draft Summary Report, ‘Forest Stewardship Council Group Certification Program: Next Steps’ (December 2012). The first step will be to work on the development of a proposal of services that Ecotrust Canada could provide to FSC Canada. This will involve identifying what services are needed, and how EC could deliver them while maintaining alignment with their mission.

An increasing number of Aboriginal communities are seeking a fair share of benefits from the economic development of forest lands and resources. Yet participation remains low, and initiatives to increase the participation of Aboriginals in the forest sector have had limited contributions to improving the economic and social well-being of Aboriginal peoples and communities. This situation reflects a general lack of knowledge about what Aboriginal economic development of forest resources really means.

The purpose of this Mitacs Accelerate project is to create a cross-platform mobile tree mapping application that would serve as a learning resource and participatory interface for citizen engagement concerning urban tree stewardship. The tool will be prototyped for Grange Park, a prominent and heavily used urban park in downtown Toronto. Development of the mobile mapping tool will use HTML5 with several Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and libraries such as jQuery and Google Maps/Fusion Tables. The project has two organizational partners.

The Honna River is a source of drinking water for the Village of Queen Charlotte on Haida Gwaii, British Columbia. There is concern that sediment from a highly traveled logging road is contributing to poor water quality in the Honna River. This project is following up on the work of Elizabeth Baird (2010 Mitacs Intern), where she determined what factors controlled sediment leaving logging roads. However, the dataset she used was limited to a 10 month period. This project has two main objectives using a longer dataset collected over the past 3 years: 1.

The species of European hawkweeds present in British Columbia are aggressive and ecologically detrimental invaders of meadows, parks, agricultural lands and rangelands. Left unmanaged, these species could cost the province of British Columbia upwards of $60 million in economic losses by 2020. The Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations (MoFLNRO) is responsible for addressing invasive plant species on Crown land.

The research objectives for this proposed Mitacs project are to identify the forested Tribal Lands in the US that hold the most promise for participating in the developing regional US and Canadian offset markets. The partner organization is Offsetters Clean Technology, a BC based company with expertise in carbon management and advisory services in Canada. This project will ultimately result in the creation of a new line of business for the company focused on First Nations and tribes outside of British Columbia.