Development of innovative tools for marine ecological assessment and intertidal habitat restoration Year Two

Contaminated sites assessment and remediation is an area of specialized services provided by Keystone Environmental. The technical challenge facing Keystone Environmental is to develop an innovative approach to provide effective contaminated sites services at rocky intertidal beaches in British Columbia. The rocky beaches of Howe Sound, impacted by effluents from pulp mills and mine acid rock drainage, have been studied and a significant body of historical data has been accumulated. Re-establishment of biodiversity after decrease of the contaminant input was very slow or minimal. The present MITACS Elevate proposal addresses this problem through the development of new tools for (1) interpretation of ecological assessment data, (2) provision of cost-effective methodology for “environmental quality” assessment and (3) providing effective rocky intertidal habitat restoration services. A collaboration between Dr. Christopher. J. Kennedy (SFU) and Keystone Environmental will develop and apply tools for intertidal ecological assessments and habitat restoration to enhance environmental effects monitoring services.

Faculty Supervisor:

Chris Kennedy

Student:

Partner:

Keystone Environmental

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

Simon Fraser University

Program: