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Spring 2022

Ficko, Sarah A.

Resource exploration and extraction in the arctic causes long lasting disturbances as natural recovery is a long and slow process in the north. With three Canadian diamond mines expected to close in the next fifteen years, many hectares of land will require revegetating. Research conducted in the...

Fall 2024

Cole, Hailey

Boreal forests provide multiple ecological and economic services, including carbon storage, provision of wildlife habitat and recreational space, and timber supply. In Canada’s western boreal forests, natural resource energy exploration and extraction results in substantial anthropogenic...

Spring 2021

Amoako, Kwaku Akrofi

Reclamation of oil sands fluid fine tailings (FFT) is a challenge for mine operators in Alberta because of their high water content and slow self-weight dewatering. Chemical additives, including polymer flocculants, are used by operators as a treatment technology to reduce volumes and increase...

Spring 2024

Batycky, Anya

Hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (HPAM) is a common flocculant used in oil sands tailings dewatering technologies. Although HPAM is regularly used in tailings treatment and will eventually be incorporated into the reclaimed landscape of the oil sands, there are knowledge gaps surrounding the environment...

Spring 2017

Kirby, William A

Alberta law requires reclamation of lands disturbed by surface mining operations, such as those occurring at the Athabasca Oil Sands Region, however, reclamation rates lag far behind continued disturbance rates. Due to cost, mining companies must make use of the materials on site, of which the...

Spring 2018

deBortoli, Leah A.

Reclamation efforts that promote the re-establishment of native tree and plant communities subsequent of large-scale oil sands mining land disturbances are crucial in restoring natural ecosystems. It is important that reclamation procedures capable of facilitating the establishment of native...

Spring 2017

Frerichs, Laurie Anne

Achieving forest recovery on previously forested well sites in northern Alberta is an on-going challenge for the oil and gas industry. Thirty-three experimental oil sands exploration (OSE) sites were constructed and reclaimed between 2004 and 2006 in northeastern Alberta. Our goal was to...

Fall 2024

Paul, Abigail L

Reclamation of oil sands mines in northern Alberta presents a significant challenge for mine operators, particularly the reclamation of tailings deposits that are produced by the mine waste stream. A proposed approach to reclaiming tailings deposits as upland or wetland landforms is capping which...

Fall 2017

Melnik, Katharine O

Legacy propagule banks of salvaged topsoils are excellent sources of plant propagules for reclamation of mine sites. However, prior studies show that less than 50% of species found in original propagule banks actually establish. We hypothesize that the expression of this legacy propagule bank is...

Spring 2018

Mathison, Adam L

Changing requirements for land reclamation in Alberta has led to the need for revegetation of disturbed lands with native woody and herbaceous species. Our study involves “Hitchhiker Planting” which is similar to companion cropping in agriculture, with the goal of improving native forb...