Twin Rivers Paper previously installed and ran a reject refining process in order to improve their pulp yield. However, once the process was implemented it decreased the cleanness in the produced pulp which is undesirable for customers therefore the process was shut down. Currently the rejected chips are either being burned or sent to landfill […]

The proposed research project will focus on understanding the in-vineyard and in-winery mechanisms responsible for the phenomenon of smoke-taint in wines—that is, the tendency of grapes exposed to forest fire smoke to produce smoke-flavoured wines in the absence of any perceptible aroma in the grapes. Of interest here is discerning exactly how the flavoured compounds […]

The production of chicken requires a large amount of protein, and producers currently use antibiotics to help keep chickens healthy. However, there is a leading trend to reduce the amount of antibiotics used today, and with the growing population there is a need to find alternative protein sources. Insects, like crickets, could be a solution […]

I am conducting a multi-species fish population monitoring project in Quebec’s largest lake (Mistassini), to facilitate community-based fisheries management with the Cree Nation of Mistissini. Mistassini is home to recreational fisheries for walleye, lake trout, brook trout and pike. With a 31% increase in the regional human population since 2001 and increasing fishing pressure, effective […]

The sequence of costly wildfires that burned at multiple locations in British Columbia and Alberta during fire seasons in 2003, 2015, 2016 and 2017 remind people that fires play an important part in forests of southwestern Canada. However, people are also increasingly recognizing the role of fire in providing ecological renewal and diversification. As a […]

Haematococcus pluvialis is a green microalga that concentrates the compound astaxanthin, a commercial product with nutraceutical, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, aquaculture, and food applications. Astaxanthin is a carotenoid pigment with high antioxidative activity, used as a feed additive to provide a characteristic pink color to salmonids and shrimp, as well as a human nutraceutical providing protection from […]

Labor cost and availability are identified as the biggest challenges facing Canadian agriculture. The DOT Technology Corporation, as part of the SeedMaster, is to create an autonomous power system that acts as a primary locomotion unit for carrying a multitude of farm implements used for seeding, fertilizing, and tilling. This simple autonomous power will enable […]

Dairy cattle are exposed to stressors that negatively impact health, fertility, welfare and production. Health and climate experts predict that exposure to stressors (i.e. pathogens and extreme temperature events) will increase as climate conditions continue to destabilize. Due to increased antimicrobial resistance, there is urgent need to explore alternative strategies to promote animal health; it […]

Ecosystem-based management (EBM) presumes that sustainability is a function of how well we understand ecosystem function and ecological dynamics. This includes understanding relationships among climate, disturbance, vegetation patterns, and ecological services. Recent research on the historical ecology of montane forests in western Canada has challenged the long-standing notion that stand-replacing fires characterized the landscape. Instead, […]

Research within this project will focus on the innovation and characterization of plant-based ingredients arising from pulses and cereals for the protein ingredient market. The global protein ingredient market was valued at $31.8 billion in 2016 and is expected to rise to $46.4 billion by 2022 with the greatest growth occurring in the plant protein […]

A thorough understanding of the effects of the natural disturbances on successional dynamics is essential when developing silvicultural approaches. If applied correctly, this understanding should ensure the sustainable management of the wood resources, as well as the conservation of the biological attributes and ecological functions of forest ecosystems. With respect to the spatial and temporal […]

The worlds’ forests are being cleared at an alarming rate to make room for agriculture. Consequently, agricultural companies and those that finance them are increasingly required to demonstrate that the farms that they do business with were not recently deforested. Current methods for assessing deforestation involve using experts to analyze satellite images but this process […]