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2013-08-15

Chai, S-L., Eaton, B., Fisher, J.T., Muhly, T.

The North American beaver (Castor canadensis) is a large semi-aquatic rodent that has played a central role in shaping the Canadian boreal landscape, and colonial Canadian history. Exploitation of North American beaver populations to supply the European hat industry spurred the westward...

2013-10-03

Watson, B.M., Putz, G.

The main goal of this research project was to take the first steps towards development of an integrated hydrologic and water quality model to support oil sands mine reclamation efforts in Alberta. The model utilized in this study is a modified version of the Soil and Water Assessment Tool...

2013-04-09

Mian, H., Mukherjee, A., Fair, A., Fassina, N., Powter, C.B.

NAIT-CGCE, NAIT School of Sustainable Building and Environmental Management, and the NAIT JR Shaw School of Business, in collaboration with COSIA, AIEES, and the Oil Sands Research and Information Network (OSRIN), held a technology innovation workshop on March 19, 2013 at the NAIT campus to open...

2013-05-27

Howlett, M., Craft, J.

This report examines the Government of Canada’s legislation that may impact oil sands environmental management in Alberta. It focuses on the evolution, and current state of, pertinent federal legislative Acts in the environmental, natural resource, and energy policy sectors. As detailed below,...

2013-06-20

Naeth, M.A., Wilkinson, S.R., Powter, C.B., Archibald, H.A., Mackenzie, D.D.

LFH salvaged with small amounts of upper horizon mineral soil for land reclamation (hereafter LFH mineral soil mix) has proven to be an important source of seeds and vegetative propagules for forest plant communities. Until recently in Canada, LFH mineral soil mix was not selectively salvaged...

2013-02-13

Vinge, T., Powter, C.B., Pyper, M.P.

Ecological resilience, first defined by Holling in 1973, can be broadly described as the capacity of an ecosystem to respond to a perturbation or disturbance by resisting damage and recovering quickly, but other authors have provided variations on this theme since 1973. Ecological resilience is...

2013-02-15

Vinge, T., Pyper, M.

In a short period of time, the conversation around handling woody materials – deadwood such as logs, branches and stumps – has shifted dramatically. From piling and burning, to mulching and now towards keeping ‘whole logs’ on sites. The changes have led to confusion and this guide is intended to...

2013-06-27

Seely, B., Welham, C.

The overall objective of this project is to develop a framework that integrates risk management and strategic decision-making to evaluate the impact of disturbance (natural and industrial) on ecosystem products and services, and on habitat availability for terrestrial species in Alberta’s Lower...

2013-10-10

Gibson, J.J., Yi, Y., Cho, S., Birks, S.J., Hazewinkel, R.

This pilot study was conducted by Alberta Innovates – Technology Futures (AITF) to characterize the composition of organics present in snow and surface waters in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region (AOSR) with the goal of identifying whether atmospherically-derived organics present in snow are a...

2013-10-18

DeCorby, R.G.

The oil sands industry in Alberta produces large volumes of process-affected water (PAW), which is known to contain heavy metals and organic compounds (such as naphthenic acids, naphthalene, phenanthrene, pyrene, etc.) that are toxic and hazardous to the environment. The industry has an ongoing...