Many animals undertake seasonal migrations in order to access habitats that are critical for activities such as breeding, feeding, or overwintering. In BC, western rattlesnakes undertake small-scale migrations between their overwintering dens and their summer grounds, allowing them access to critical food resources and mates. The migratory patterns of adult rattlesnakes are relatively well studied […]

The forWater Network, funded by the federal government as well as industry partners and provincial governments, is a national research network looking into the impacts of forest-management strategies on drinking-water source quality and treatability. forWater Network researchers at Dalhousie University (including Duinker, the supervisor in this application) are working with Halifax Water and Westfor Management […]

“Etuaptmumk (Two-Eyed Seeing)” is a framework for bringing together different worldviews in search of mutual benefit. In partnership with the Saugeen Ojibway Nation (SON), this project is using an Etuaptmumk (Two-Eyed Seeing) approach to bridge Indigenous Ecological Knowledge (IEK) and Western science to inform locally relevant fisheries governance on Lake Huron. Using both knowledge systems, […]

This project will develop a new tool to identify strengths and needs in communities. This tool will be designed for and designed with Indigenous communities. This project will be a partnership between an Indigenous tech company, Function Four, and a research team at the University of Winnipeg. F4 already has and digital community assessment tool […]

The objective of the research is to develop a method for and pilot test the remediation of 3,000 tonnes of arsenic trioxide contaminated soils with concentrations up to 20,000mg/kg. Our project aims to research and develop an efficient and safe methodology of soil washing to remove the arsenic from soil, however other methods would be […]

Stable isotope analysis is an important tool for identifying the primary foods present in wildlife diets. This project will use stable isotopes, collected from approximately 1000 hair samples, to develop dietary profiles of grizzly bears in British Columbia, Canada. The dietary profiles, representing the proportion of meat, fish, other marine fods, and vegetation in an […]

The project proposes to enhance pollination networks and the diversity of interactions among both native plants and their native pollinator taking into account the changing climate and a history of habitat loss and degradation. The main goal is to increase the ecological connections among sites to work toward a more resilient landscape in the Lower […]

Demand for metals, including gold, is ever increasing particularly as modern technologies, including sustainable energy production, rely on such finite resources. As easily accessible surficial deposits in traditional mining areas such as the Sixtymile gold district, YK, deplete ever more advanced approaches to exploration are required that search deeper in the ‘bedrock’. However, exploration for […]

Using simplified language understandable to a layperson; provide a general, one-paragraph description of the proposed research project to be undertaken by the intern(s) as well as the expected benefit to the partner organization. (100 – 150 words) To address local food system issues like loss of farmland, people without enough food, or climate change impacts, […]

The proposed research project to be undertaken involves the following two objectives: (1) Evaluate the effectiveness of prescribed burning as a management technique for maintaining native vegetation in the Chittenden Meadow, which has ecological and cultural importance. Continued long-term monitoring of the meadow, including assessing burn intensity, will help to increase our understanding of vegetation […]

Industry and environmental consultants are increasingly using environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding approaches to complement traditional environmental risk assessments. However, the application of these technologies to field locations where sampling is limited due to access to secure sites, or remote locations where the environment is very heterogenous, poses challenges to acquiring representative eDNA samples. Furthermore, the […]

The northern resident killer whale (NRKW) population off British Columbia’s coast is considered ‘threatened’ within Canada. Recent studies have shown that NRKWs face many threats, with a key stressor being the negative interaction with commercial and recreational vessel traffic. The Robson Bight Michael Bigg Ecological Reserve is a marine protected area in Johnstone Strait, east […]