The real world of environmental pollutants: New approaches to identifying priority contaminants in the Endangered Southern Resident Killer Whale food web

The Southern Resident Killer Whales (SRKW, Orcinus orca) population is assessed at 73 individuals, and significant threats include high levels of endocrine disrupting contaminants, alongside other anthropogenic threats. Studies have painted a partial picture of the contaminants of concern in the SRKW food web. For example, preliminary studies of chinook salmon suggest that some resident […]

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Development of converter based electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, modeling and data processing tools for fuel cell stack diagnostics and servicing

Heavy-duty fuel cell vehicles as a clean energy transportation solution have attracted much interest over the last few years. However, they still suffer from various degradation and faults and a relatively short lifetime, hindering their wider market adoption. Better diagnostics tools are highly needed to obtain information from the fuel cell stacks of the industrial […]

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Wise Practices in Indigenous Entrepreneurship Education

In partnership with Tribal Resource Investment Corporation (TRICORP), the University of Victoria (UVic) Gustavson School of Business co-created and designed the Aboriginal Canadian Entrepreneurs (ACE) program. The ACE program provides entrepreneurial training, mentorship and coaching for members of First Nations communities, governments and financial institutions in their home communities. While the ACE program has made […]

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An Evaluation of Targeted Physical Environmental Interventions in Louis Brier Home & Hospital

In response to the number of residents at Louis Brier Home living with dementia, this project seeks to implement environmental modifications to support resident orientation (specifically related to the hallways and door frames). Based on the data analysis from the observations and focus groups, recommendations will be made for modest physical environmental modifications to promote […]

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Gas-Diversion Detection Techniques using Guided Wave Ultrasonic Testing

Detection of natural gas diversion in residential pipelines is important for public safety. To maintain utilities companies’ reputation and customer satisfaction, such diversion must be detected in a nonintrusive manner, without digging or using endoscope cameras. Thus, it is important to develop techniques for residential gas pipeline diagnosis using an external small device that can […]

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LiDAR-based object detection and tracking for real-time parking availability monitoring

This project will develop a smart parking solution, including both hardware sensors and the analytics platform, that provides real-time parking availability data, which can support decision makings, such as policy refinements, demand-responsive pricing, etc. Our project aims to optimize the rate of parking facilities’ utilization as well as improving drivers’ parking experience. In terms of […]

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Nutrient removal using a solid state glass adsorbent for treating agricultural waste, waters, and public effluents

Agricultural waste and public effluents often contain elevated levels of phosphorous and nitrogen that limit its ability to be directly repurposed as crop fertilizer or irrigation spray. Removal of soluble nutrients from waste water is difficult. Current treatment options have high investment costs and are often not well suited for smaller farm sizes common in […]

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Using OMICs to assess contaminant related exposure and effects in Fraser River Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha)

The Fraser River watershed, British Columbia provides habitat for Chinook salmon, which delivers food for First Nations, recreational anglers, commercial fisheries and endangered Southern Resident killer whales. Extensive forestry, agricultural, industrial and urban activities take place in the Fraser Valley exposing early life history stages of Chinook to a mix of legacy and new contaminants, […]

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Feasibility assessment and development of knowledge, technology, and tools for mercaptan natural gas odorant monitoring

FortisBC Energy Inc. is exploring novel technologies and methods for mercaptan monitoring to detect natural gas leakage in industrial, field, and household settings. Since commercial mercaptan detectors are bulky and expensive, there is a need for low-cost and miniaturized mercaptan detectors. The proposed project will lead to the development of a handheld mercaptan detector which […]

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Industrial Safety Management using Control Theory and Machine Learning

Optimizing plant processes is of prime importance now more than ever. With stricter infrastructures being placed on safety, environmental effect, and corporate social responsibility, more complex systems that optimize these factors are needed. These complex systems with advanced algorithms are intended to further streamline the existing process while mitigating issues leading to a safer workplace, […]

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