In 2018 the Region of Durham created the Durham Community Energy Plan (DCEP), Durham Region's strategy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and transitioning to a green economy. Achieving the goals of the DCEP will provide multiple economic, environmental and social benefits to Durham Region. Successful implementation of the DCEP however will require collecting and reporting on data from multiple groups (e.g. government, community organizations, postsecondary institutions, and utilities) to ensure that the goals of the DCEP are met.

The costs of manually sorting seeds and plants for commercial clients and international export is costly and at risk of human error. Correspondingly, 2020 Seed Labs requires cost-effective, custom solutions to enhance automation in their seed sorting and plant selection workflows. Across diverse sectors, image analysis combined with machine has provided a wide-range of benefits. Here, we propose to capitalize on these technologies to address biotechnological challenges unique to 2020 Seed Labs by utilizing successfully implemented workflows developed by the partner academic labs.

Shared e-scooters have recently emerged as a new form of micro-mobility. E-scooters offer an arguably environmentally sustainable transportation option that create an opportunity to replace some automobile trips. To date, most research focusing on e-scooters is situated in dense urban contexts, with little to no insights within suburban settings. The proposed project will explore the community benefits related to environmental sustainability and social equity, of the upcoming e-scooter pilot program in the City of Brampton.

There is a growing demand for accessible, affordable and high-quality houses in northern communities of Canada.
The intern will study the foundation solutions used to support residential houses and commercial buildings in
northern Canada. The intern will conduct interviews with many stakeholders on the foundation and house
development and then develop a guide to the design of engineered piles based on recent findings from the
UAlberta lab.

This collaborative project between Vulcan County and the University of Lethbridge will allow an intern to use multispectral and thermal imaging as well as terrain analysis using topography rendered from Structure from Motion (SfM) to locate potential grave sites at a variety of locations in rural Southern Alberta. Sites vary from single plots to larger sites containing victims of the Spanish Flu outbreak in 1918. Application of these technologies provide the intern with an opportunity to recover lost records of graves in a non-destructive and cost-effective manner.

In multiple sclerosis, the protective coating around nerve cells called myelin and the brain cells that make myelin, called oligodendrocytes, are lost. In addition, research has shown that astrocytes, another type of brain cell, may have a negative impact on recovery in MS. Our project takes on a two-birds-with-one-stone approach to combat MS by delivering genes to the astrocytes to force them to convert into oligodendrocytes. We have shown that in cells we can make different types of oligodendrocytes by using different genes to force conversion.

Indigenous and non-Indigenous natural resource managers and salmon agencies in the Yukon have identified extensive knowledge gaps surrounding juvenile Chinook salmon and their use of rearing and overwintering habitats. This knowledge gap limits the ability of resource managers to establish effective freshwater conservation and protection measures for these fish.

Social determinants of health, including factors such as social isolation, food insecurity, and income, play a big part in our health. To account for these important social factors, some healthcare organizations have begun to adopt a strategy called social prescribing which involves regularly asking people if they need help with social determinant of health issues and connecting patients with community resources that can help.

Climate change is an important driver of environmental modifications and creates important changes in the ecosystem functioning. It is important to be able to follow these changes, but following whole ecosystems is impossible. Thus, it is recommended to follow bioindicators accurately reflecting the environment state. Arthropods (spiders, insects, etc.) are particularly sensitive to climate changes and are expected to react rapidly. Following their reactions (displacement northward, changes in abundances) could be insightful of climate change impacts.

This proposed project will support our ongoing efforts in developing a novel two-stage fluidized bed gasifier for converting low-cost biomass residues to renewable natural gas in British Columbia to help the BC industry to meet the 2030 decarbonization target.