Knight Inlet Lodge is an eco-tourism resort specializing in grizzly bear viewing, and caters to both national and international clients. The business requires research to improve their interpretive program by informing guide naturalists on the function of observed bear behaviour. Research is required to: 1) assess the relatedness and movements patterns of regularly observed bears, 2) assess the use of bear scent marking trees in the surrounding estuary, 3) assess how local food availability (salmon) affects the social behaviour of bears.
Nowcasting encompasses a detailed description of the current weather along with forecasts during the next several hours. Most current nowcasting techniques, such as MAPLE (the McGill Algorithm for Prediction by Lagrangian Extrapolation) used in The Weather Network/Pelmorex Media Inc., are based on temporal extrapolation of radar and satellite imagery. Recent advances in observation networks, high-resolution numerical models, and in particular the data assimilation methods have great potentials to improve nowcasting accuracy.
Canadians are increasingly using cycling as a means of transportation. However, understanding the risks is problematic as data is limited. To address this, the Spatial Pattern Analysis and Research (SPAR) Lab has created a web-map, BikeMaps.org, to gather data from cyclists on crashes, near misses, hazards, and thefts. Cyclists around the world have enthusiastically begun to map points. However, BikeMaps.org requires a web-browser, which, in this day and age of mobile devices, limits its functionality.
Initial studies on the Kisameet Bay Clay Deposit by Dr. Ernest Hauser of MIT in the early 1950's showed the unique properties of this clay deposit. To build on this early research and make clear a distinction between Kisolite and other clays on the market, we have chosen to invest in modern research. As such, a research intern from the University of British Columbia will use and evolve modern chemical characterization techniques to isolate and identify the biologically active (i.e. antimicrobial) organic components of Kisolite.
Electromagnetic (EM) methods are commonly used for geophysical exploration in various applications such as mineral exploration, hydrocarbon detection, management of fresh and salt water and CO2 and reservoir monitoring. While in the past, EM methods suffered from expensive data collection, new systems now collect massive amounts of data over space and time, and new instrumentation allows for higher quality and accuracy of the data.
ln Situ Recovery (ISR) mining is used for about 47% of uranium mining globally. Regulations on restoration of mined aquifers require a return to pre-mining baseline water quality conditions, or conditions where the risk of human exposure is as low as reasonably achievable. Determining the attenuating capacity of down-gradient aquifer solids is key to quantifying this risk. Organic carbon phases and sulfides are expected to be important controls on transport of elements of concern through these materials.
Hydraulic fracturing accounts for a significant component of Canadian gas resource plays – and its use is ever increasing (Rivard et al., 2014). A particular environmental challenge associated with these operations is the need to establish tailing pits for the used fracking fluid (frack-ponds). Leakage of frack fluids from these ponds presents a significant, ongoing and growing environmental concern.
The proposed geological research project is collaboration between UBC and industry sponsors to evaluate the nature of metallic resources in NW Turkey. Undeveloped concentrations of gold, silver and copper occur in the study region; these occurrences are being actively explored by the partner organizations. In the interest of the partner companies this research project focuses on an area that completely covers mineral tenure licenses owned by the companies.
Mineral exploration generates billions of dollars for the Canadian economy. Any tool that increases exploration or extraction efficiencies by 1-2% creates economic returns of tens of millions of dollars. Advancements in nanotechnologies now allow characterization of samples at unprecedented resolution. The mining industry represents an untapped opportunity in this field because it lags behind the material science and semiconductor industries in highresolution sample analysis.
The MDRU of UBC proposes to conduct a study at the Efemςukuru gold deposit, located 30 km southwest of Izmir, Turkey. Efemςukuru is an example of an ore deposit formed from convecting hot, metal-bearing fluids in an area with abundant faults. One of the key objectives of this project is to identify how the geometry of the faults in the surrounding area controlled the metal-bearing fluids responsible for gold mineralization.
