Pollution of water and food is a severe concern as a result of the increasing use of pesticides in agricultural areas. Timely testing of these contaminants is critical to ensure the quality and safety of water and food, particularly for people of the local community. Insecticides (carbamates and organophosphates) may be identified fast in water […]

Canada’s marine ecosystems are biologically rich and provide essential goods and services to about seven million people living along the longest coastline in the world. Facing significant challenges to conciliate economic development, human well-being, social equity and ecological stability, Canada developed an ambitious “Blue Economy” framework, in which this project falls. In the face of […]

In 2014, the Supreme Court of Canada declared 1700 km2 as Aboriginal Title Land to the Tsilhqot’in Nation. The Title Lands are set within the Caretaker Area of Xeni Gwet’in First Nation (XGFN)- one of six Tsilhqot’in communities. The Tsilhqot’in decision has created a range of immediate management and planning needs, and new opportunities for […]

The issue of removal of CO2 from diluted streams is challenging due its low concentration which makes the cost of capture significantly high. The development of material that has high CO2 capacity at low concentrations can help to decrease the overall cost of CO2 capture. The novel approach in the design of solid sorbents proposed […]

Underwater video cameras are a convenient method to monitor aquatic life such as fish. However, these cameras can collect a lot of footage, which can be challenging for humans to process. This project will use computer vision to automatically sort through video taken within and near to seaweed farms to specify the clips that have […]

The North Atlantic right whale (NARW) population, Eubalaena glacialis, is highly endangered. Reproduction success is thought to depend on availability of their main prey, energy-rich copepods. Thus, abiotic and biotic environmental conditions might be of high importance to determine suitable habitats of the NARW. In the framework of the smartwhales program (Canadian Space Agency), we […]

As part of the transition plan to low-carbon economy, the province of Quebec (QC) has become one of the 20+ regions and cities worldwide to announce a plan to electrify transportation which centers around setting up a ’complete electric battery ecosystem’ by 2050. While this plan poses a new phase of land appropriation and environmental […]

The growth of renewable energies on the demand side, as an important step for decarbonization and transition to the smart grid, poses serious challenges to control the system and maintain stability. Transactive energy control (TEC) is introduced as an effective approach in which distributed control methods are utilized rather than centralized ones. Although many studies […]

Demand for aluminum alloys is increasing rapidly, facilitation of electric vehicles being but one example. A consequence is increasing scrap supply; a positive as aluminum is highly recyclable with it consuming a fraction of resources compared to using primary aluminum. There is a growing concern, however, as high-performance alloys are compositionally tuned to maximize performance. […]

Nitrogen is a key component in many molecules used as medicines, materials and fertilisers. Adding nitrogen into molecules is currently inefficient and expensive: it requires multiple steps and creates a lot of waste. Alternatively, it is possible to introduce nitrogen by processes called hydroamination and hydroaminoalkylation. These reactions are 100% atom efficient (all of the […]

Today’s society faces several challenges in implementing and enforcing environmental protection for future generations. In this respect, supplementation of petro-based chemicals by bio-based ones is of special importance to reduce the consumption of crude oil. Among such measures, chemical surfactants can be replaced by biosurfactants, e.g. rhamnolipids which are produced via fermentation from renewable resources […]

State-of-the-art polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs), based on membranes like Nafion© have achieved a mature level of performance and cost reductions. To enable new cell concepts, allowing further steps in cost reduction of the whole fuel cell system in the future, it is vital to maintain a high commitment in research on catalyst and electrolyte […]