Natural gas use in transportation sector has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from heavy truck, marine, light duty vehicles, and rail transport with a 20-30% reduction. It is proposed that a comprehensive scoping of research priorities related to natural gas vehicles and refueling infrastructure be undertaken. The outcome of this work would be […]

To combat the degradation of receiving water resulting from stormwater runoff approaches that focus on retaining and infiltrating stormwater at the source, referred to as Low Impact Development (LID) practices, are being proposed more frequently in recent years. Toronto and Region Conservation Authority recently initiated monitoring of precipitation and runoff from a large industrial site, […]

All new infrastructure and natural resource projects being developed in Canada are required to undergo an Environmental Assessment. A key aspect of this regulatory process is the need to demonstrate that the activity will not adversely affect human or ecosystem health. It is through the science of human health and ecological risk assessment (HHERA) that […]

Volatile organic Compounds (VOCs) and semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) belong to the group of anthropogenic chemicals, meaning their effects are a result of human activity. VOCs are commonly found in the manufacturing process of paints, petroleum products, pharmaceuticals, and refrigerants. Additionally VOCs can be used as gasoline additives, solvents and dry-cleaning agents. SVOCs are common […]

Canada’s municipal water suppliers are facing challenges from population growth, ageing infrastructure, and climate change. We can no longer rely on finding new water sources or increasing our abstraction rates; we must implement demand management approaches that reduce our need for water. This project will focus on the use of price reforms in Canadian municipal […]

Rio Tinto Alcan, the industrial partner of this project, is slowly faced a challenge to produce AA1XXX DC cast ingots with much higher impurity levels than before. The present project is aimed to investigate the influence of impurity elements, particularly V levels, on the fir-tree zone and its related Fe-rich intermetallic phase selection. This project […]

This research is aimed at better characterizing the exposure associated with three particular natural hazards – earthquake, flood and wind. The work represents an unprecedented collaboration between three leaders in the field of natural hazards at Western University and the insurance industry through the efforts of individual interns and the associated projects aimed at evaluating […]

Biochar is charcoal that is used as a soil amendment to increase plant productivity and as a means of keeping carbon out of the atmosphere. Although a number of voluntary carbon standards allow for soil carbon projects to generate carbon offsets, no protocol has been developed for biochar. The overall objective of this research project […]

Sea spraying icing is one of the ongoing problems in offshore operations. It may cause hazards and operational problems for both supply vessels and offshore drilling units. It is well known that spray icing leads to instant heat loss, sudden temperature drop, and rapid ice accumulation. However, there is lack of knowledge about the mechanism […]

Individuals and organizations use weather information to help inform day-to-day decisions. This project focuses on the use of weather information by winter recreationists in the Province of Ontario. Based on survey data, the project will identify the main sources of weather forecast information, the importance placed on this information, and the influence of specific aspects […]

Forest ecosystems are not only a source of timber, it also provides other societal benefits such as regulation of water quality, soil quality maintenance, climate regulation and pollination among many others. However, these services are not static and they change across time and space depending on the nature and extent of the changes in land […]

The Honna River is the drinking water source for the Village of Queen Charlotte (pop. 950), and is also important salmon habitat. Sediment from unpaved forest roads near the river may be entering the channel in significant quantities. In a previous internship, intern David Reid implemented a channel reach-scale study of all sediment sources in […]