Throughout Western North America with few exceptions all species of Pacific Salmon stocks have been in steady decline for over 50 years. On the West Coast of Vancouver Island, Chinook salmon stocks are of particular concern. These fish provide ecological, cultural and economic value to the region and current numbers are at an all-time low. […]

This project extends the development of an innovative fishery by-product business of an earlier Mitacs-funded project (McKay, McLachlan, O’Gorman, Oldroyd and Rad-Spice (2020)). The disposal of by-catch fish in Manitoba has been identified by fishers in Misipawistik Cree Nation as not only environmentally wasteful but also a missed opportunity for sustainable and culturally-relevant economic development. […]

Noise from human activities negatively affects the well-being of humans and wildlife alike. In rural areas, ecosystems that are relatively undisturbed by human activities may still be subjected to noise exposure from vehicles passing nearby, industry-related noise (e.g., compressor stations), or from airplanes overhead. To date, however, little work has been done to quantify what […]

This Ph.D. study will focus on simulating and validating soil flow behavior models using numerical terramechanics for three distinct applications of soil flow behaviors from operations of construction equipment: hauling loose material (wheel loader), excavation of soil (backhoe loader/excavator) and pushing large quantities of soil (bulldozer). Numerical terramechanics models will be compared with DEM models […]

As Games User Research (GUR) becomes a mature and essential pillar of game development, the challenges of performing rigorous qualitative and quantitative research in small teams are exacerbated by the disruption caused by the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. Research methods such as heuristic evaluation, think-aloud usability testing, initial experience testing, playthrough observation, and post-launch data analysis […]

FSO (Family Services Ottawa) is a not-for-profit social service agency whose mission is to assist individuals, to build on their strengths and to improve their mental health. FSO does so by providing counselling, education, and advocacy within a context of working to foster systemic change. Although their programs are increasingly monitored and evaluated at the […]

Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and/or chronic kidney disease (CKD) affect more than 5 million Canadians. Progression of CKD is the primary cause of end-stage renal disease while NASH is now the leading cause of liver cirrhosis and liver transplant. Despite their high prevalence and severe impact on morbidity and mortality, current therapies are largely ineffective and […]

The research project that will be conducted by the intern will enable the creation of a questionnaire that will later be deployed to the indigenous researcher (and graduate student) community. Most of the activities will involve gathering and analysis information from databases (i.e., Aboriginal People’s Survey) and interviews (and focus groups) to ensure that we […]

This research project sets out to conduct a comprehensive literature review on Indigenous agriculture in Canada. We collect information about different sources of data that could be put in use to provide insight into Indigenous engagement in the Agriculture/Agri-food sector across the country. We will review the current Statistics Canada’s databases to explore data overlaying […]

In this proposal, we intend to answer how infrastructure sensors can be used for autonomous driving. Using infrastructure sensors make automated driving safer, more simplified, and cost effective especially for multiple autonomous vehicles operating in known environments such as large residential/commercial complexes and resorts. Infrastructure sensors replace the main onboard vehicle perception sensors with infrastructure […]

Within the Canadian context, poultry farmers are constrained by regulations that predetermine chicken prices and market supply. As a result, they are limited in the approaches they can take to improve the profitability of their operations. Within this regulatory framework, farmers must rely on measures that can be applied on their farms to improve chicken’s […]

The advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) systems has enabled development systems such as autonomous vehicles (AVs). However, like any other technology, AI systems suffer from security vulnerabilities, and they can be easily fooled by a smart adversary. Malicious attacks on AI systems in safety-critical system such as AVs can be life-threatening or result in financial […]