Innovative Projects Realized

Remote sensing for understanding air-ice-sea gas exchange over landfast sea ice during spring melt season in the Canadian Archipelago

Our ability to model the air-sea exchange of CO2 with confidence in the Polar Oceans, a key component of global climate systems, is currently limited due to critical gaps in our understanding of the relationship and interactions between the air, sea, atmosphere and ice. This includes ice-driven CO2 fluxes during Spring melt season. Eddy covariance techniques provide the best available method to measure direct air-ice-sea fluxes of CO2. Qikirtaarjuk Island in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago hosts the only permanent eddy covariance system in the world; the site continuously measures fluxes over landfast sea ice. During the placement drones and fixed point cameras will be used to collect fine-scale in-situ observations of sea ice and melt ponds in the footprint of the EC equipment over the Spring melt season. Combining these with direct CO2 flux measurements made by the tower will provide a dataset from which new understanding of the relationship between Arctic oceanic CO2 uptake, sea ice and melt pond dynamics can be obtained.

Quantifying the impact of 3D effects on 3D Electrical Resistivity Tomography data at Mactaquac Dam, New Brunswick

Geophysical techniques are being increasingly used to monitor the structural conditions of dams, due to their widespread coverage and ability to detect subsurface issues, such as the development of seepage pathways. One such technique is Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT), which is sensitive to moisture content and porosity, meaning it can be useful for detecting areas of potential seepage, and therefore parts of the dam which are failing.
Analysis of geophysical data often requires computer models. In my PhD I have been exploring how such models can lead to incorrect interpretations if the 3D geometry of the site or dynamic variation in water levels adjacent to the dam are not accounted for. This exchange will allow me to apply some of the approaches I have been working on to an established site in Canada where geophysical techniques have been applied. I anticipate that the work will enable greater certainties in data interpretations.

Social Lead Identification

Millions of people post information on social media sites about their interests, preferences, opinions etc. on a daily basis. LeadSift mines this data stream in real-time to generate incredibly accurate and targeted sales leads. Given the short text and ambiguity around a social post, it gets very difficult to accurately identify intent. This project will explore different Natural Language Processing techniques to analyze the inherent semantic structure of social posts. Due the real-time nature of the social data, the algorithms need to be extremely efficient and scalable. The expected benefit to LeadSift will be dramatic improvement in the quality of the sales leads we can generate from socia media

La prise en compte des enjeux associés à l’eau dans l’élaboration d’un plan d’adaptation aux changements climatiques d’une MRC rurale, étude de cas de la MRC des Sources

L’ampleur et la vitesse des changements climatiques nécessitent une intervention forte en matière de réduction des émissions de GES mais aussi, à court et moyen terme, le déploiement de plans d’adaptation permettant une réduction des impacts environnementaux, sociaux, économiques et de santé humaine. Ces plans d’adaptation ont une forte assise régionale et les organismes régionaux, notamment les MRC, ont un rôle stratégique à jouer dans la conception et le déploiement de ces plans d’adaptation. Le présent projet vise à identifier et documenter les enjeux stratégiques associés à l’eau et proposer des mesures d’adaptation et d’outils d’aide à la décision permettant une meilleure prise en compte de ces enjeux dans le cadre de l’élaboration d’un plan global d’adaptation aux changements climatiques pour la MRC des Sources. Pour réaliser à bien ce projet, la stagiaire bénéficiera de l’appui scientifique et logistique d’Ouranos, le consortium de recherche spécialisé sur les questions de l’adaptation aux changements climatiques.

Placemaking and cosmology in Tsimshian rock art

A close relationship with the land is an integral part of the worldview of Tsimshian people, whose territory is on the northern coast of North America. Key places were marked as pictographs and petroglyphs (rock art), many of which are recorded as specific events in Tsimshianic oral tradition. This project seeks to advance the understanding of these places and landscapes by developing more advanced methods of digital recording using 3D modelling from photogrammetry at rock art locations and Geographical Information System (GIS) for regional patterns. The result will be a richer understanding of these locations, landscapes, and histories. One of the most important outcomes of this project is that it will strengthen the relationships between Indigenous communities, the scientific community and the public by sharing our gained knowledge. Archaeology has a remarkable way of bringing people together.

Demystifying Maritime Governance:Analysis of the frameworks and emerging issues for the governance of shipping in Canada

This project will undertake research on the governance of shipping Canada (a) to explain its global and domestic structures, frameworks, actors, interconnections, and processes in the simplest terms possible and (b) to analyse contemporary major drivers of change in the system. Four transformative issue areas will be addressed, namely the interface between shipping and Indigenous rights, the significance of marine spatial planning for shipping, the growing role of risk governance and self- regulation, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the occupational health and safety of seafarers. The project will draw upon the continuity between international and domestic regulation and administration of shipping, highlighting differences in approaches in the Atlantic, Arctic, Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway, and Pacific regions, as well as roles for federal, provincial, territorial, and Indigenous governments.
The project aims at enhancing general understanding of the complexity of governance of shipping to better inform decision makers, rights holders and stakeholders tasked with shipping issues and to better contextualize public debates on such issues. Accordingly, the principal impact of this project is educational. The project anticipates a range of deliverables for the various audiences.

Design and Development of a Home Safe Living Systemfor Aging, Rehabilitation, and Geriatrics

The main objective of the project is to develop a software system to expertly capture an electronic health profile of a client with physical and/or cognitive disabilities to determine their level of functional ability, mobility and cognitive ability. Using the profile, the system will expertly assess the client’s ability to live either independently or with the assistance of a caregiver, and recommend the necessary changes. The proposed system requires integration of multiple software modules, such as from Functional Independence Measure (FIM), DGIClinical, VIDex, Invacare, etc. This project will be a fullfledged design, implementation, and extension of our current NSERC Engage project with Home Safe Living Inc. The implementation of the “Home Safe Living System” is applications and innovation oriented. It is planned that new technology with new products and services, possibly patentable, will be developed. If successful, this project will have commercial innovative marketable products and solutions leading from research.

Design Automation and Optimization Using Artificial Intelligence

The goal of our proposal is to develop three automated processes in the field of construction using artificial intelligence. The first process is to develop a method that can convert two-dimensional drawings into three-dimensional models that can be further manipulated on a computer. The second process is to optimize the cutting of raw materials– such as panels and stiffeners– to reduce the overall wastage, as well as optimize the transportation process of these materials to the resulting construction site. The third process is to design a method that can ensure objective and accurate calculation of costs for construction projects based on the multiple parameters included in the design. This project is situated at a Manitoba-based construction firm, Greenstone Solutions. The benefits to the company will include reductions in manufacturing time, costs, and wastage, which will result in increased productivity, efficiency, and reputation.

Mapping Alpine vegetation trait change in the Canadian Rockies

This project investigates the vegetation of the Canadian Rockies, focusing on roots and other belowground characteristics which significantly influence ecosystem structure and function. The project will compare vegetation change over time and space using historical and recent photos from the Mountain Legacy Project. The findings will provide increased understanding of spatial and temporal variation of belowground traits at regional and global scales. This will also shed light on past and future responses to warming and other environmental change including fire. New analytical techniques we aim to develop during this project may be used to investigate environmental change using remote methods across Arctic and Alpine systems. These findings may contribute to our ability to predict future climate change scenarios in these ecosystems. Increased understanding of belowground ecosystem responses, and skills shared throughout the placement, will also contribute to future study in the Canadian Rockies at the University of Victoria.

Cortree Business Strategy Internship Application

The goal of this project is for our intern to come up with a Business strategy for two newly introduced programs by conducting a business analysis, environmental scan and a competitor analysis. Cortree will use these plans to refresh the current business plan for our Mediation and PSW training services. Neither services existed at the initial introduction of Cortree’s business plan. Our intern will work alongside the Managing Director of Cortree, Product Manager of cortree, an academic advisor and on occasion the CEO of SCIO on this project.

By the end of this project we hope to have established a comprehensive plan that is feasible and compliments the nature of Cortee and its 2020/2021 strategic goals of:
expanding our impact, amplifying the voice of our community and sharing more knowledge.

Liam Byrne- INEO Solutions Inc

INEO is a technology company providing services to retailers, including liquor retailers who have been deemed essential services in the pandemic. As a group, retailers were struggling for sometime with a changing consumer landscape and have now been getting crushed by the pandemic. INEO’s technology gives retailers access to data which until now only online companies have had. We have developed patented technology to give the retailers cutting edge loss prevention solutions combined with digital signage and data analytics. Using computer vision and neural net technology, along with powerful edge processing, we detect and analyze customer traffic as it enters a retail store. We develop insights from this traffic to give the retailer and the brands in their stores better decision making data. This ranges from things as simple as when to assign staff to certain roles (cashier, stocking, sales etc) to more relational items such as understanding time of day or weather on changes in the % male to female shoppers.

Land Trust Alliance-Michael Stark

The Land Trust Alliance of BC represents 36 land trusts across BC. Several factors have complicated our work since March 2020.
First, our ability to message and communicate the need to conserve private land as individual members and as a collective. Focus has moved towards health care, social services and other pressing causes. Yet the environment and climate change remain one of BC’s top priorities. How to refocus and regain a market share is critical to reach land owners, donors and volunteers.
Second, fundraising. Again, other issues such as shelter, food, health care, employment have attracted donor attention. This combined with the ability to hold fundraising and outreach events have impacted the financial foothold of land trusts.