Projets novateurs réalisés

Indigenous Energy Financing Solutions

Energy poverty is an issue that impacts many First Nations communities in British Columbia. Despite significant appetite from communities to develop clean energy solutions, many do not benefit from the available financing programs. This research seeks to understand what barriers exist for First Nations communities in accessing energy financing, as well as to identify some best practices from other jurisdictions. The project will use this information to propose innovative community energy financing options that could be applied in the B.C. context.

Flexible Data Reader on Distributed File Systems for Training Deep Learning Algorithms

With the fast-growing size of machine learning datasets, it has become increasingly important to store them in a reliable and distributed manner. Large scale distributed file systems such as GFS, HDFS and Amazon S3 have the capability to store large scale of data reliably. However, these distributed file systems have an intrinsic shortcoming: they provide good read/write access guarantees only for large size files, and therefore cannot efficiently handle frequent read/write operations for large number of small files. In machine learning training protocols, the ability to shuffle data points within a dataset is crucial to avoid local minima and overfitting, which requires the data points to be accessed in a random manner, preferable efficiently. The main focus of this project is to find a way to store machine learning datasets on distributed file systems while maintaining a competitive randomly reading performance for shuffling data points. TO BE CONT’D

Automation and Evaluation of Rapid Deforestation Assessments of Small Farms

The worlds’ forests are being cleared at an alarming rate to make room for agriculture. Consequently, agricultural companies and those that finance them are increasingly required to demonstrate that the farms that they do business with were not recently deforested. Current methods for assessing deforestation involve using experts to analyze satellite images but this process can be cost prohibitive for small farms. The objective of this project is to develop and assess the accuracy of a new method that completely automates this process without the need for experts. Developing and assessing this method is expected to benefit Taking Root, the partner organization, to demonstrate that the farms that it does business with were not recently deforested at a much lower cost.

An order-reduced simulation framework for 3D multiscale geophysical electromagnetic problems

The goal of this research is to investigate the extension of upscaling and multiscale methods and their application to efficiently simulate (frequency-dependent and time-dependent) electromagnetic fields in geophysical scenarios that include metallic-cased boreholes and fractures filled with conductive/resistive fluids. Simulating this type of geophysical settings is quite challenging because they consider highly heterogeneous media and features at multiple spatial scales that require a very large mesh to be accurately represented. This results in a system of equations to be solved that often exceeds the limits of average computers. Thus, the key is to reduce the problem size but retain the accuracy of the electromagnetic responses, which is what upscaling and multiscale methods aim to do efficiently. The research-based solution proposed in this project is relevant to advance the prediction and simulation capabilities for geophysical electromagnetic problems in the context of Hydraulic fracturing. TO BE CONT’D

Étude comparative des effets maternels chez deux herbivores terrestres

Mon sujet de doctorat porte sur les capacités d’adaptation de grands herbivores face aux variations de leur environnement. Je m’intéresse particulièrement aux aspects liés aux soins maternels, tels que la date de naissance et la composition du lait maternel. L’hypothèse de base derrière mon projet stipule que les activités liées aux soins maternels devraient coïncider avec le pic de disponibilité de la végétation au printemps, pour que les jeunes et les femelles bénéficient de nourriture abondante. En effet, bien que les naissances aient lieu en majorité au printemps, peu d’études ont testé la capacité des femelles à s’ajuster à l’arrivée d’un printemps hâtif ou tardif au fil du temps, surtout en ce qui a trait à la composition du lait maternel.
Un stage dans le laboratoire du professeur Øystein Holand à la Norwegian University of Life Sciences, à Ås, en Norvège, serait une expérience très pertinente à mon avancement académique. Le professeur Holand travaille sur des questions très similaires aux miennes qu’il teste sur une autre espèce d’ongulé, le renne. La collaboration avec le professeur Holand permettrait d’établir un réseau de collaborateurs à l’international et de bénéficier de l’expertise de son groupe de recherche. “TO BE CONT’D”

The Contribution of Invertebrates to the Seasonal Diets of Walleye in Lake St. Joseph

The aim of this project is to better understand the onshore and offshore feeding habits and movement of walleye on Lake St. Joseph. There is special emphasis on answering the question: if, when and how much do Walleye rely on invertebrates in general, and Mayflies in particular. Walleye are an economically and ecologically significant sport fish and Mayflies are an important bioindicator of ecosystem health and potentially have an intricate predator prey relationship. To better understand these interactions, we will reconstruct the seasonal diet of walleye, across many age classes and determine their foraging habits both onshore and offshore. Biological information will be collected from the walleye to determine any specific foodweb interactions and transient movements that may exist. To conserve and protect ecological processes in an everchanging world understanding natural interactions has never been more important.

Development of a bacterial detection assay for point-of-care infection monitoring

Ineffective diagnosis of bacterial infections leads to excess healthcare costs of $25

billion/year worldwide due to transmission of infections while waiting for diagnosis,

unnecessary antibiotic treatments and resulting increased drug resistance, etc. Point-of-care

molecular testing can help provide timely and effective diagnoses leading to better (and more

cost-effective) patient management. Markets where point-of-care testing would make a large

difference are the hospital-acquired infections markets, sexually transmitted infection (STI)

market, and upper respiratory infections market.

This proposal will marry a unique bacterial detection strategy with a multiplexed chip-based

device for rapid analysis of infectious pathogens. The applicant, Dr. Das, has developed a

strategy that allows trace quantities of bacteria to be analyzed in 30 minutes or less. In the

proposed project, he will test whether it can be run on a multiplexed chip and whether the

resulting assay will be practical for use in a point-of-care testing system. The sponsor,

Xagenic (Canada) Inc., will benefit from this effort as it will speed the….

The Global Charango: Diasporic Perspectives on Cross-Cultural Intersections

This Globallink proposal is “stage 1” of my Master’s thesis. The subject is the charango– an iconic colonial era Indigenous/European hybrid instrument with roots in the Andes in South America, where it was an expression of cross-cultural encounter and musical innovation of indigenous people. Since then, it has spread, changed, and become central to musical culture in South America and beyond. This research concerns the interactions of the charango outside of its home terrains. In a study of cross-cultural musical intersections, this thesis will assert that the charango’s presence in the diaspora creates rich opportunity for re-examining issues of cross-cultural musical interaction, negotiation, and invention. Theoretical concepts from Diaspora studies and multiculturalism shall set the context for a research-creation ‘laboratory’ of cross-cultural musical collaboration. These field experiments will test and illustrate the charango’s versatility and importance in diaspora, and present the ‘global charango’ for the first time in musicological scholarship.

Modification of Sludge Based Activated Carbon for nutrient removal in stormwater runoff through rain garden growing medium

Pollutants in stormwater runoff and municipal wastewater are grave concerns to the receiving environment of lakes and streams, as nutrients (Phosphorus (P), Nitrogen (N)) contribute to eutrophication. While rain gardens are effective to retain and retard stormwater runoff and removal of certain organic pollutants, limited studies have been conducted on nutrient capture.
This research focuses on waste-to-resource for nutrient removal from aqueous environments. While other sorbents are available, activated carbon produced from sewage sludge (sludge-based activated carbon (SBAC)) has the potential to be a more sustainable option as the negative environmental impact from its disposal process will be eliminated. In this proposed work, the chemical activation condition of production of SBAC will be optimized from previous research, including the selection of chemicals and chemical concentration. TO BE CONT’D

Integrating Cultural Heritage into Protected Area Management

In the field of conservation studies, a great deal of recent interest and work has been focused on breaking down the divisions between the conservation of cultural heritage (buildings, objects, monuments, archeological remains, as well as the associated values, beliefs, stories, myths, legends) and the conservation of natural heritage (ecosystems, geological formations, flora and fauna). The overall goal of my doctoral research is to contribute to this conversation, provide further considerations for overcoming these barriers, and strengthening integration. This application proposes a study and research exchange at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden where a study is currently underway to explore these questions in relation to the Lake Vänern Archipelago Biosphere Reserve. During this project I will study with the range of conservation experts situated at the University of Gothenburg, assist with the ongoing study, and conduct a ‘pilot’ test for my larger, and largely similar, study that will be conducted in Alberta, Canada upon return from this exchange.

North Coast Innovation Lab

The two internships proposed in this application are for research and feasibility project coordinators for the North Coast Innovation Lab (NCIL) in Prince Rupert, BC.
In addition to research and feasibility around potential projects that will a) grow the local economy for fish and marine products, and b) enhance coworking and resource sharing, the internships will also explore, at both systems and ground levels, how social innovation strategies of economic development and community building can be applied in the rural, northern and coastal context.
Ultimately, the NCIL hopes to spark a systemic shift in the approach to community-led economic development, and interns will play an integral role in the planning, research, prototyping and feasibility of marine economy-building and resource-sharing initiatives.

Estimation de l’évaporation d’un réservoir hydroélectrique en milieu boréal en contexte opérationnel

Afin de gérer les réservoirs hydroélectriques, des modèles hydrologiques sont utilisés pour estimer les divers apports et sorties d’eau. Ces modèles comprennent typiquement une estimation empirique de l’évapotranspiration qui est la même pour l’ensemble du territoire. Or, les conditions régissant l’évaporation au-dessus d’un plan d’eau diffèrent de celles en milieu terrestre. De plus, les modèles doivent opérer avec peu de données d’entrée, en raison notamment de la faible disponibilité de mesures météorologiques in situ. Au fil du temps, divers modèles de l’évaporation ont été testés dans divers climats. Une synthèse de la performance de ces approches appliquée au contexte québécois des réservoirs en milieu boréal et évaluée grâce à des données fiables est toutefois manquante. Cette étude vise donc à évaluer la performance d’une large gamme de modèles d’évaporation peu gourmands en données d’entrée à l’aide de mesures directes de l’évaporation des réservoirs Eastmain-1 et Romaine-2. Les résultats de cette étude permettront d’améliorer la modélisation hydrologique des réservoirs et ainsi d’optimiser nos pratiques de gestion de la ressource.