Echinacea purpurea is a popular herbal medicine with a global market of ?$1 billion but there is tremendous variability yet limited distinction between the products on the market. Amway Canada is a leader in the production and distribution of Echinacea products, and now aims to leverage the company`s unique Echinacea resources by sequencing the plant`s […]

Virtual screening is a computational technique used in drug discovery to search large libraries of small molecules in order to identify those structures which are most likely to bind to a drug target, typically a protein receptor or enzyme. Virtual screening is thought to have the potential to speed the rate of discovery by reducing […]

The BC food processing industry needs to do a better job of communicating its value if it is to attract the investment it needs to remain competitive and feed British Columbians. Food processing plays an important role in sustainable food systems, which in turn are a recognized component of sustainable community development. Yet, despite the […]

Research in Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence has been applied to image recognition. Weather modeling and prediction make use of distributed computing. Forestry research produces ground cover models and economic value predictions. These active research disciplines are all implicated in the emerging area of big data analytics as applied to the needs of the industrial […]

The forest industry in British Columbia (BC) is facing increasingly difficult challenges regarding fibre supply. New winch-assist technology that enables fully mechanized ground-based forest harvesting on steep terrain has been increasingly used in BC since 2016. The new systems have improved safety and provide access to fibre that was previously uneconomic. New low-consumption small-size cable […]

Climate change, land development, invasive species, and other disturbances can alter the composition, structure, and functions of native vegetation across landscapes. These disturbances also impact insect parasitoids, which are a key, and often overlooked, component of biodiversity. By their ability to control other insect populations, they are integral for fostering resilient and functional forests. Understanding […]

Clearcut logging and acid deposition affect plants, lichens and slugs (lichen consumers) and may facilitate the introduction and spread of alien invasive slugs, which can increase grazing pressures on at-risk lichens. The main research goal of this project is to improve our understanding of how clearcutting practices affect herbs and slugs and facilitate both the […]

To sustain its leadership in the world marketplace, the Canadian pulp industry must continue to increase pulp quality, while it improves manufacturing efficiency, reduces energy consumption and decreases impact on the environment. Properties of a manufactured pulp vary with production parameters and characteristics of the feedstock. To produce pulps of the highest quality at lowest […]

The goal of this research is to use the developed information around the technical, economical and social political challenges for the implementation of small-scale bioenergy systems in remote indigenous communities in Canada. The targeted outcome creates a multi faceted model to evaluate the success and impact of future installation with less input factors to simplify […]

The fundamental challenge when reclaiming oil sands areas is to ensure not only survival, but vigorous growth of the plant material. Finding plants suitable for high salt conditions has offered the opportunity for Alberta-Pacific Forest Industries Inc. to investigate the potential role of using native balsam poplar (Populus balsamifera) as a key reclamation species for […]

The aim of the study is to look at the available research on forest machinery production data and collect further data on forest machinery working in conditions that have not been studied before. In so doing we hope to determine what value the production data collected in British Columbia provides as a management tool when […]

The forestry sector is one of the important pillars in the Canadian contributing to 1,6% for the country`s GDP. Access forest structure and quantifying leaf and wood elements is essential to understand productivity and environmental contribution of trees and forested areas. Light Detection And Range (LiDAR) produces a 3-Dimension point cloud with high spatial resolution, […]