Human influence on current climate change is now unequivocal. The rate of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions continues to increase, and climate models and observations show that climate changes are accelerating in response to these emissions. In this context, the rate of the current climate change strongly modifies the frequency and the intensity of extreme events, […]

To achieve the goal of commercializing striped bass aquaculture in Nova Scotia, the obstacle of high (up to 100%) overwinter mortality among young-of-year fish needs to be overcome. Mortality is restricted to fish that are under one year old (underyearlings, 500g) suffer negligible mortality. Potential factors for such low survival rates identified through four years […]

Golf courses represent a unique opportunity for urban foresters to promote an increased quality and quantity of trees in the city environment. Golf course managers focus attention mainly on grass maintenance and less so on trees. The tree canopy at Old Ashburn Golf Course is currently in a degraded state. Taking advantage of a forthcoming […]

Yukon Energy Corporation (YEC) began generating hydro-electricity at the Aishihik Hydro Facility, situated within Champagne and Aishihik First Nations’ (CAFN) Traditional Territory, Yukon, in 1975. Their continuing water use license will expire in 2019. Notwithstanding the Aishihik facility’s 41 years of energy production, CAFN has repeatedly expressed social and environmental concerns associated with the facility’s […]

Reports of air monitoring since 1994 show the annual average PM2.5 concentration in the Prince George airshed is one of the highest in the province. Although a large effort is underway to monitor ambient levels of PM2.5 , there has been no systematic study on personal exposure at the neighborhood level. Furthermore, there are no […]

Ecomuseums are primarily community-based endeavors that respond to local needs while concentrating on sustainability. They help guide and develop democratic projects that focus on connections to local history and heritage, which include local physical geographic features, natural resources, natural habitats and agricultural practices. This research concentrates on three case studies in southern Saskatchewan to study […]

In the summer of 2017, GM of Canada will be launching several employee engagement campaigns pertaining to sustainability goals. This project will determine how the control of different variables could lead to more or less employee engagement. These variables include the communication medium, the reward mechanism, and the depth of technical detail. By better understanding […]

Declines in migratory bird populations have been linked to a range of complex environmental factors, including the dramatic increase in application of neurotoxic neonicotinoid insecticides in recent decades. Neonicotinoids are used as seed treatments in a wide variety of Canadian crops, and consumption of treated seeds could result in poor navigation and migration delays in […]

The objectives of this research project revolve around the emerging world of municipal climate change policy, planning and implementation in an Ontario context. Specifically, this project will: 1. Assess and compare innovative policies and procedures that are being used by Ontario municipalities to integrate growth planning with climate and energy planning. 2. Assess the factors […]

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are a popular strategy for ocean conservation in Canada and several options are available to pursue this type of protection. However, the current federal and provincial processes for MPA development involve engagement in lengthy multi-stakeholder processes that can overwhelm local communities and their conservation objectives. An alternative strategy is the establishment […]

The Centre for Sustainable Development at Simon Fraser University has been a leader in sustainable development theory and practice, in Canada and internationally, since 1989. The Centre stimulates sustainable development research and study in BC and elsewhere; collects and provides information about sustainable development; carries out sustainable development projects in partnership with communities and agencies, […]

This MITACS internship will support Julie Fortin, an MSc student whose focus is on developing new techniques for analyzing oblique historical mountain survey images based on the world’s largest systematic collection of historical mountain survey images, the Mountain Legacy Project. Her research is driven by questions about shifts in biodiversity over time, built atop biodiversity […]