British Columbia’s (BC) resident killer whales are listed under the Species At Risk Act as ‘threatened’ and ‘endangered’ for the northern and southern residents, respectively. Contaminants have been recognized as one of the main threats affecting the survival and recovery of these populations. This project will look at the levels of contaminants of concern in […]

The beluga population living in the St. Lawrence Estuary (Quebec) is endangered, and exposure to organic contaminants (i.e., polychlorinated biphenyls, short-chain chlorinated paraffins and polybrominated diphenyl ethers) may be one of the reasons that explain their steady decline. Recent studies using skin/blubber biopsies of St. Lawrence belugas showed that several of these organohalogens may perturb […]

In response to the number of residents at Louis Brier Home living with dementia, this project seeks to implement environmental modifications to support resident orientation (specifically related to the hallways and door frames). Based on the data analysis from the observations and focus groups, recommendations will be made for modest physical environmental modifications to promote […]

Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells are a clean source of energy and a promising candidate for replacing internal combustion engines in automotive applications. However, the commercial use of fuel cells in such applications faces significant challenges on cost and durability. This project aims to address the concerns around fuel cell durability with a focus on […]

The Southern Resident Killer Whales (SRKW, Orcinus orca) population is assessed at 73 individuals, and significant threats include high levels of endocrine disrupting contaminants, alongside other anthropogenic threats. Studies have painted a partial picture of the contaminants of concern in the SRKW food web. For example, preliminary studies of chinook salmon suggest that some resident […]

To an unprecedented degree in the history of HIV/AIDS, people with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV) are aging largely owing to the success of treatment. As a relatively new phenomenon, research on HIV/AIDS and aging is only just emerging, and remains largely epidemiological in focus. One leading epidemiological study called COAST comes from the B.C. Centre for Excellence […]

We propose to perform detailed studies that characterize chemically and biologically and the unaltered ancestral plant species of the Cannabis genus. Chemically, these studies will provide the chemotype profiles for each parental species for a spectrum of non-tetrahydrocannabinoid compounds. Biologically, these studies will provide the pharmacological profiles for each parental species. These data will enable […]

The project is based on focus groups discussions to look at the impact of microfinance on women’s wellbeing in rural parts of Vietnam. This approach will support to evaluate the different ways through which economic burden associated to microfinance may affect women’s well-being and what are the initiatives involving financial institutions and advocates of women’s […]

The Fraser River watershed, British Columbia provides habitat for Chinook salmon, which delivers food for First Nations, recreational anglers, commercial fisheries and endangered Southern Resident killer whales. Extensive forestry, agricultural, industrial and urban activities take place in the Fraser Valley exposing early life history stages of Chinook to a mix of legacy and new contaminants, […]

Through a review of existing anti-stigma campaigns targeting stigma towards people who use drugs (PWUD) and a series of focus groups conducted with marginalized PWUD, this community-based research project will explore how anti-stigma campaigns can be made more inclusive of all PWUD, especially those most severely impacted by stigma. The project is being guided by […]

Biba is a company that creates interactive experiences for families on playgrounds and provides data for playground owners. This research project explores how can we leverage third party data sources and machine learning to confidently determine how many people are in a playground at a given time and how long they spent there. This kind […]

British Columbia’s sablefish fishery is among the most highly valuable fisheries in Canada. In the early 1990s, mainland inlets were closed to commercial fishing because young sablefish were thought to grow in these protected areas before moving to the offshore areas where the fishery operates; we will look at movement patterns of sablefish within BC […]