Innovative Projects Realized

Political ecology of mining: the linkage between resource governance and environmental injustice

With the increasing global demand for minerals and metals, environmental and social harms caused by extractive industries will worsen unless the sector is paid careful attention to. Resource-use decisions are shaped by political economy forces that often lead to degradation of the local environment. The sector has also threatened the survival of marginalised communities and indigenous peoples, whose lands and habitats are often seized and altered for mining activities. Environmental defenders and activists are even being killed, with the cases often left unsolved. All these issues are severe and are linked to the political economy of resource extraction. The present research will look at the linkage between natural resource governance and environmental injustice in Myanmar in the civil war context. Canada is a leading country in the mining industry, not only within its own borders but also overseas. As such, it is crucial for Canada to gain insights into mining practices occurring elsewhere. This research will contribute to the existing body of knowledge on mining-related issues and provide Canadian researchers and policymakers with valuable insights into the complexities of resource extraction in developing countries.

Digital era governance in Canadian border security

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Negotiating Childhood and Neighbourhood Environments in Kunming, China: A multi-generational study

This project will examine how the ways in which children perceive, experience, and relate to their neighbourhood environments have changed over three generations in Kunming, China. This project represents part of a larger study: the Negotiating Childhood Around the Pacific-Rim Project. The researchers will recruit intergenerational families to participate in the research together, with at least one participant from each of the three generations (grandparents, parents, children). Each participant will complete a semi-structured interview based on a standardized questionnaire to start the research as well as drawing a mental map of important places from their childhood. Following these activities, each participant will take six photographs to illustrate important places, both positive and negative, from their childhood. Finally, each family will be given a family photobook with each participants’ photographs (as well as a short description) at a final family focus group event, which will provide a platform for a comprehensive summary of the research and intergenerational dialogue on issues of how childhood has changed. This research aims to expand understanding of changes in childhood experiences in China over three generations.

Smart Energy Network at residential to community levels: optimization of natural gas, electricity and heat with end-use devices

There is growing pressure from intergovernmental organizations, governments and consumers to reduce the quantity of greenhouse gases being released into the atmosphere. Investments in green technology such as renewable energy sources, battery technology and carbon capture and sequestration can often yield significant reductions in carbon emissions. However, the corresponding economic costs of these projects can regularly result in a balancing act between environmental benefit and affordable energy consumption. Smart Energy Network, SEN, systems could provide a solution to this dilemma. This proposal is about integration and optimization of the energy sources electricity (E), natural gas (NG), heat (or thermal, T) and end use devices at a community to residential level. Optimal integration of advanced storage, on-site generation, end-use devices, and large penetration of renewable energy sources will be studied. The main reason for integration and optimization of the energy sources is to deliver end-user services in the most affordable, reliable and sustainable way and to relieve grid congestion by conversion of energy sources, storage and multifunctional/multifuel end-use devices.

Show and Tell: The effects of seeing, hearing and perceiving central bank messages

The proposed project aims to examine how the non-verbal communication of central bank policymakers, as well as how the media interprets and disseminates this communication, impact financial markets and public opinion. Focusing on communications from the Federal Reserve and Bank of Canada, the research will explore how various groups, including traders and journalists, interpret and react to emotional cues. By investigating the role of both conventional and social media in spreading soft information and analyzing how emotional signals influence news coverage, the project seeks to improve comprehension of market dynamics and public perceptions. Additionally, the research aims to uncover systematic differences in the interpretation of central bank communications based on the geographical background and political affiliation of the media outlets, shedding light on how these factors shape market behavior and media representation. This collaborative endeavor will expand and elevate the research initiatives led by Professor Alexopoulos and the Bank of Canada, ultimately contributing to a deeper understanding of monetary policy and its societal impact.

Mechanistic Analysis of Cross-Coupling Reactions

Palladium-catalyzed cross coupling is one of the most powerful tools in modern synthetic chemistry, with is collaborative discovery recognised with the 2010 Nobel Prize for Chemistry. This class of reactions has had a huge impact on the way in which chemists think about building fine chemicals, because it allows for clipping of two molecules together to make a more elaborate one under mild reaction conditions. Despite its popularity in use, these catalysts have a mechanism and nature of the catalytically relevant species that is incompletely understood. We plan to combine our expertise to probe key mechanistic questions in palladium-catalyzed cross coupling reactions focusing on the catalyst activation process. This collaboration is aimed at building up a robust model of the chemistry and generate actionable recommendations for rational improvement of reaction protocols that identify areas for improvement, reduce catalyst consumption, and better utilize this precious earth resource.

Black Swan Theory and Applications

This research is aimed at contributing to a larger research initiative, entitled “Rethinking the Foundations of Economics and Finance” that is principally being undertaken by Professor Robert F. Owen at the University of Toronto. The scientific context of the project lies within the intersection of economics, behavioral science, and complexity theory. It aims to integrate insights from various disciplines to enhance an understanding of economic phenomena of uncertainty.
The research highlights the importance of “Black Swan” events and bounded rationality for understanding the current insufficiency of micro-macro linkages. The research recognizes the interconnectivity between economics and finance and such ostensibly different fields, as medicine, biochemistry, and physics.
The analysis also highlights that conceptual closure indicates the “continuity” between microeconomics and macroeconomics, requiring a focus on the smallest elements of change in dynamic systems, termed “nanos.” The new field of nanoeconomics incorporates a dynamic respecification of fixed and sunk cost concepts, which is an essential distinction for explaining interdependent portfolio reoptimization processes, entailing asset commitment and decommitment decisions, following “news”.
The project and its result will help the host supervisor to further develop the existing research and project by deepening into the topic and its application in economics and finance.

Exploring the Impacts of Music Therapy with People Receiving Palliative Care in Rural NS

Music Therapy (MT) has the potential to support health and well-being of people with incurable diseases and limited life expectancy. Yet, it is a relatively underused service in Canada. There is a need for non-invasive and non-pharmacological treatment options in Palliative Care because such treatments can sometimes further exacerbate illness (e.g., drug interactions). Research has demonstrated that MT benefits palliative care patients by improving well-being, relaxation, and anxiety. However, it is unclear whether MT can help with other factors like pain, quality of life, satisfaction with health services, social support and relationships, and connectedness to positive memories. The proposed research aims to: 1) investigate the effectiveness of MT specifically in a rural Canadian palliative care setting, (2) clarify which outcomes are improved by MT, and (3) examine if certain characteristics predict positive outcomes. The internship will also allow us to expand research to explore caregivers’ perceptions of the MT their loved one received. The intern will be involved in all aspects of this research. The findings will benefit our partner, Arts Health Antigonish (AHA!), by providing information that can be used to refine MT programs, to raise awareness of the service, and to advocate for increased access to such services.

Development of downstream process for carotenoid production

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Approche empirique à la calibration d’un modèle d’élément finis d’une mine en roche dure sous l’effet d’un comportement viscoplastique

L’exploitation d’une mine souterraine est sujette à d’importantes contraintes: l’espace de travail réduit, la distance parfois très élevé au minerai et le besoin de renforcer ou de supporter le massif rocheux. C’est sur ce dernier point que porte la présente recherche. Le choix d’un support de terrain approprié repose avant tout sur la bonne compréhension des contraintes (forces) naturel agissant sur notre excavation et les propriétés de résistance de la roche. Les contraintes naturelles ont deux origines : force tectonique dont l’origine provient du mouvement des plaques tectonique et le poids des terres qui augmente avec la profondeur car chaque élément doit supporter tous les précédents. Un massif rocheux est avant tout un amoncellement d’unités rocheuses qui même si parfois, elle semble similaire visuellement, ne sont pas identique doivent donc tester en laboratoire. Dans le présent projet avec IAMGOLD, le partenaire industriel, le stagiaire devra élaborer un modèle numérique du comportement des excavations souterraines à leur projet minier Westwood. La particularité de ce projet est qu’il devra être en mesure de reproduire un comportement viscoplastique, c’est-à-dire, une déformation dans le temps de l’ouverture.

La codirection tripartite : modèle évolutif dans un environnement complexe

En 2023, afin de faire face à un conflit interne, Paroles d’excluEs, un organisme à but non lucratif dont la mission est de « susciter la parole et la mobilisation citoyennes pour développer l’action collective des personnes en situation d’exclusion […] », a opté pour un nouveau mode de gestion : la codirection tripartite. Celle-ci se caractérise par un partage des responsabilités du poste de direction générale entre trois personnes codirectrices. Dans le but de mettre en oeuvre les meilleures pratiques, Parole d’excluEs souhaite se baser sur la recherche scientifique. Toutefois, très peu de chercheur.ses se sont penchées sur la codirection en trio dans le milieu communautaire. Cette étude de cas vise donc à accompagner l’organisation afin de mieux comprendre ses
conditions de mise en place, ses pratiques et son fonctionnement, d’identifier ses conditions de succès et de développer des outils permettant sa pérennisation et sa réplication.

Pricing Prediction from Images of Clothing Items

The general objective of this project is to develop and implement an innovative AI-powered solution that enables resellers and small-medium-sized eCommerce businesses to generate pricing predictions of items from product images enabling them to save time and maintain consistency across pricing. The solution aims to reduce the time-consuming and expensive process of manually predicting prices of one-of-a-kind resale items, ultimately removing pricing bias and saving time on each eCommerce listing. Additionally, the project seeks to promote sustainable consumption by extending the lifecycle of goods through responsible reselling.

Data creation for items at the source will save brands and resellers precious time and maintain the accuracy of traceable data across different business models – resale, recycle of fashion items. Pricing prediction for items from images will aid in creation of product data.