Full waveform inversion (FWI) is an inversion technique that uses least squares theory to compute a velocity model of the Earth that minimizes the difference between an acquired shot and a synthetic shot. The technique proved to be of hard usage in industry and the goal of the project is to research for solutions that […]

The annual return of sockeye salmon to the Fraser River is a vital part of British Columbia’s environment, economy, and First Nations heritage. However, sockeye salmon can face numerous challenges during their migration including fisheries, warm water temperatures, and dams. Recent population declines in sockeye salmon have prompted concerns over the challenges salmon face during […]

The Centre for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology (CAWST) is a non-profit organization promoting appropriate technologies in water and sanitation for the developing world. An example is the biosand filter, currently manufactured by hundreds of organizations in 55 countries, and used by 650,000+ families. Ensuring filter quality will accelerate its dissemination worldwide. In this project, […]

Environmental modelling has been an indispensable tool of the Lake Simcoe restoration efforts. The proposed research aims to develop an integrated watershed-receiving waterbody modelling network that will provide a realistic platform for the evaluation of a variety of land-use management and climatic scenarios. The novel feature of the project is the application of cutting-edge Bayesian […]

On the coast of British Columbia, both eelgrass meadows and Pacific salmon species are declining, yet eelgrass community dynamics and reliance of juvenile salmon on these communities are poorly understood. We will assemble the first large-scale dataset from monitoring efforts of coastal BC organizations in order to assess eelgrass community diversity and structure across environmental […]

The objective of this project is to improve the communication between architects and wind engineers so that affects associated with wind such as pedestrian comfort, building strength and ventilation may be considered earlier on within the design phase of a project. By documenting the development of the invisible yet extremely prominent winds that flow through […]

The goal of this project is to develop the first ever high definition integrated water circulation and water quality model for the Toronto Waterfront. As one of the most urbanized freshwater ecosystems with complex geometries and physical processes, Toronto Waterfront is in an urgent need for modern scientific tools that can support effective environmental management […]

Groundwater contamination by hydrocarbon fuels such as gasoline and diesel fuel is a serious threat to the environment and human health. Sources of this contamination include leaking underground storage tanks, pipleline breaks, tanker truck accidents and train derailments. There is a need for improved understanding of the mobility of hydrocarbon fuels in the subsurface to […]

“Underwater logging is the process of logging trees from underwater forest. It is expected that underwater logging will significantly increase in the coming years as the amount of flooded forests continue to grow due to dam construction and the availability of sophisticated underwater logging technology. Concerns about potential negative effects of underwater logging, like degradation […]

The proposed research project will conduct feasibility studies on the purification and conditioning of industrial, hemicellulose derived C5 sugars from a number of potentially commercial liquor fractions, derived from lignocellulosic biomass. In the first two Mitacs projects, enzyme hydrolysis showed considerable benefits over traditional acid hydrolysis for S2G’s bio-glycol production. However, relatively high enzyme loadings […]

The great number and variety of factors influencing the survival of migrating salmon smolts in the early marine environment makes it difficult to understand the causes of recent declines in smolt survival and salmon population productivity. We will combine novel methodologies (biotelemetry and biomarkers) simultaneously to examine a variety of factors influencing the migratory behaviour […]

The Grosmont formation, a carbonate naturally fractured reservoir in Alberta, Canada, has 400 billion bbl of bitumen resource, which is currently not commercially exploited. Viable exploitation of this reservoir would mean addition of a huge quantity to Canadian oil reserves. Since December 2010, Laricina Energy Ltd. in their Saleski pilot evaluated a bitumen recovery process […]