Driven by heightened environmental awareness, the construction industry increasingly strives to utilize materials such as timber with a low-carbon footprint in their life cycle. High-strength mass-timber products, innovative ductile connections, and fast computer-numerically-controlled pre-fabrication, combined with changing legislation create better opportunities to also build tall timber structures. However, low ductility and limited tensile strength of […]

Ecosystem-based management (EBM) presumes that sustainability is a function of how well we understand ecosystem function and ecological dynamics. This includes understanding relationships among climate, disturbance, vegetation patterns, and ecological services. Recent research on the historical ecology of montane forests in western Canada has challenged the long-standing notion that stand-replacing fires characterized the landscape. Instead, […]

Ecosystem-based management (EBM) presumes that sustainability is a function of how well we understand ecosystem function and ecological dynamics. This includes understanding relationships among climate, disturbance, vegetation patterns, and ecological services. Recent research on the historical ecology of montane forests in western Canada has challenged the long-standing notion that stand-replacing fires characterized the landscape. Instead, […]

The purpose of this project is to conserve critical shorebird roost habitats at high tide in the Minas Basin of the Bay of Fundy in collaboration with recreational beach users, local businesses and tourism operators. The project seeks to develop long-term solutions for creating safe spaces for roosting shorebirds by identifying innovative strategies whose effectiveness […]

In many parts of the world, especially in developing countries, untreated or partially-treated municipal and industrial wastewater is directly discharged into natural water bodies and streams. The wastewater may contain many organic as well as inorganic contaminants which may be then introduced to rural communities downstream. The contaminated water may be used for washing, drinking […]

As part of my Honours thesis, I will conduct literature review and field research on changing practices of pilgrimage in the Indian Himalayas. Pilgrimage has historically been an important aspect of Indian religions, and has exploded in popularity with increased accessibility due to a growing middle class and improved communication and transportation infrastructures. Because much […]

Examine the effects of different drying methods on colour and flavour compounds in Moringa oleifera leaves and drumsticks. The proposed hypothesis is that flavouring and colouring compounds of Moringa leaves and drumsticks are unstable and/or highly volatile during drying process. This exchange between the University of Toronto and the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University will explore […]

Ces dernières années, le biobutanol a attiré l’attention dans le domaine de la recherche car ses propriétés sont supérieures à celles l’éthanol telles que sa valeur énergétique et son indice d’octane, il peut donc être un substitut de l’éthanol dans l’essence sans toutefois impliquer les problématiques généralement associées à l’éthanol (tel que l’hygroscopicité). De plus, […]

With recent high energy consumption rates, the awareness has been increased for thermal energy storage systems to reducing cooling loads. Referring to literature potentials and limitations, the research hypothesis can be formulated as ‘Developing a free cooling system of phase change material (PCM)-to-air heat exchanger, utilizing both convection and radiation heat transfer modes, can maintain […]

Thermoelectric materials can be used to convert heat into electricity. The conventional method of fabrication for this type of application is to first compress the powder form of the material with heat followed by machining into rectangular prisms. Using two different compositions in the method described, one of negative-type and one of positive-type is to […]

In order to design and operate more efficient urban transport infrastructure networks along the Cascadia Corridor, improved spatial and temporal data is required to understand travel activity patterns. The integration and comparative analysis of new data sources including: electronic transit ticketing (Vancouver Compass Card, Seattle Orca Card), geospatially tagged social media, smartphone travel diaries, and […]

The emerging emissions trading market provides the province of Alberta an opportunity to diversify its economy and drive climate change mitigation innovation. By improving the carbon credit generating efficiency, more economic opportunities and carbon sequestration industrial applications become feasible. The City of Calgary Dewatered Biosolids Land Application – Willow Biomass and Marginal Land Reclamation Demonstration […]