Protecting healthy populations of wild animals is an important goal for British Columbians and all Canadians. Wildlife provide important economic, ecological, and cultural values, yet are increasingly under threat from a range of impacts, including land use change, overharvest, climate change, and growing recreational pressure on our parks. A key challenge facing wildlife managers is […]

The extraction, storage, conveyance, and refining of petroleum hydrocarbon liquids (or nonaqueous phase liquids (NAPLs)) often result in their accidental release into the environment. Consequently, NAPLs will travel into subsurface soils and may enter groundwater, further exacerbating the extent of contamination. Aside from being energy-intensive, disruptive of the environment, and incur treatment durations that may […]

In 2014 a handheld DNA measurement device, the “MinION”, was commercialized. It is 100X smaller by volume and 6X faster and 20X less expensive than the next smallest DNA measurement device on the market. But its measurements are of a lower quality, about 90% of measured DNA is accurately ‘detected’ compared to 99.9% for leading […]

The use of cinnamon as a flavoring agent and a remedy for metabolic, respiratory, and gynecological disorders is widespread throughout the world. Studies suggest that Ceylon cinnamon may be useful in the treatment of type 2 diabetes. This project will use a high-throughput method to analyze how a concentrated water extract of Ceylon cinnamon changes […]

Coastal wetlands and embayments are sensitive ecosystems located between rivers and the shoreline of lakes. Human activities (e.g., urban development and agriculture) on land can influence the functioning of these ecosystems and the quality of water that flows through them. Healthy coastal wetlands can offer significant services in the form of water quality purification, flood […]

This project will investigate the use of novel bacterial strains as inoculants for agricultural crops that will promote plant growth. It has been demonstrated, in a previous MITACS funded project, that the application of the novel KGS strains of bacteria to plants in a greenhouse will promote the growth of the plants. This current project […]

Buildings in Canada consume 29% of the total energy and 58% of the electricity on an annual basis. Through optimal sustainable design, however, there is an opportunity to reduce a building’s energy consumption as high as 80%, and the remaining 20% energy consumption can be produced from renewable sources. Sustainable design requires consideration and integration […]

Land surface temperature can tell us a lot about the health of ecosystems, forests and trees. Generally, the healthier, greener and more diverse a forest is, the colder it is, as plants use solar energy to grow, rather than releasing it as heat. This project focuses on using images of temperature measurements from satellites, space […]

This project will map the sandstone and shale deposits in the McMurray Formation to improve resource extraction and recovery efficiency. The detail that this study will provide can help lower our energy sector’s carbon footprint in the future, and answer questions regarding changes in coastal river environments. It examines the interaction between rivers and the […]

We are proposing to help design the experimental setup to characterize chip-scale Optical Phased Arrays (OPAs). OPAs – a photonic device used for optical beam forming and beam steering – have been widely studied for LiDAR, optical sensing, free-space communication and more. Building on previously prototyped phase array antenna design at Honeywell, the team aims […]

Localized cooling of the lower body to maintain core body temperature in Paralympic athletes during heavy exertion

This project aims at investigating the use of the eco-friendly solvent, supercritical carbon dioxide (SCCO2), alone or in combination with ethanol and water, to obtain extracts rich in isoflavones from red clover plant. Firstly, SCCO2 will be used for obtaining extracts containing a high concentration of isoflavones. Then, SCCO2 will be applied to the extracts […]