Dal Events

EES MEMORIAL AWARDS DAY

Mon, 18 Nov 2024 04:00:00 GMT

Each year, our Department commemorates its formers members. Through generous gifts, we are able to present four awards today, including:

MacEachern-Ponsford Award to a student who excelled in field school and has completed the second year of a program majoring in Geology, whose academic performance is of honours calibre, and who has been an active participant in student activities

The G. V. Douglas Award to a student entering second year Earth Sciences with an outstanding academic record in their first-year studies

The James L. Hall Scholarship to a student with a high academic standing and plans to pursue a career in the mining industry

The Brian MacLean Memorial Prize to a student who is pursuing a major or honours degree in Earth Sciences, and shows excellence in their work related to Arctic Geology, Glacial Geology or Marine Geology

Thanks to the applicants, students, donors, Department staff, and faculty who helped make this ceremony possible.

All are welcome.
A light lunch will be served.

EES Departmental Seminar: Changing Land Covers, Climate, and Biological Invasions: Ecosystem Function in Human-Modified Landscapes

Thu, 21 Nov 2024 15:30:00 GMT

Dr. Andrew Reinmann
Asst Prof, Biology, Earth and Environmental Sciences, CUNY

Title: Changing Land Covers, Climate, and Biological Invasions: Ecosystem Function in Human-Modified Landscapes

Abstract: Temperate forests currently comprise the world’s largest terrestrial net carbon sink. However, land cover change, climate change, and biological invasions are altering the forest structural characteristics and processes that mediate the terrestrial carbon cycle. A large proportion of the world’s remaining temperate forest area falls within human-modified landscapes, which are characterized by admixtures of fragmented forest patches, built environments (e.g., towns, cities), and farmland that collectively alter many environmental controls of ecosystem processes. By contrast, much of our understanding of forest ecosystems comes from research conducted in large, intact forests that are generally far removed from human-created land covers. Over the past 10 years, my colleagues and I have been studying carbon cycling, tree ecophysiology, and ecosystem processes in edge-influenced forest patches of human-modified landscapes. Our surprising results indicate that the fragmented forests of human-modified landscapes can actually sequester more carbon per unit area than their intact counterparts, but are also more negatively impacted by climate stress (e.g., heat waves, drought). During my seminar, I will present this work and describe a new large-scale field experiment we are using to study the interactive effects of forest fragmentation and climate change on forest ecosystem processes. My seminar will conclude with an overview of our ongoing work exploring the ecological impacts of invasive species, with a focus on new tools we are developing to track changes in forest health from the Hemlock Wooly Adelgid.

DIRT Talk: The Life of An Ornithologist

Fri, 22 Nov 2024 20:30:00 GMT

EES Departmental Seminar: Sustainability and Innovation in Seismic Data Acquisition

Tue, 26 Nov 2024 15:30:00 GMT

Dr. Andrea Crook
CEO of OptiSeis

Title: Sustainability and Innovation in Seismic Data Acquisition

Abstract: Accurately imaging the subsurface with seismic, whether for traditional energyprojects or in emerging cleantech areas such as geothermal, critical mineralexploration, carbon capture and storage, or nuclear waste management, requires theacquisition of a seismic survey. Generally, this involves deploying seismic sources andsensors in various patterns optimized to avoid surface exclusions and ensureoperational efficiency. However, for more sustainable seismic solutions, these surveyscan also be optimized for reduced environmental impact and lower greenhouse gasemissions. This can be accomplished by incorporating ecological data into the seismicplanning and utilizing new innovations such as alternative sampling methods andequipment miniaturization. When combined with advances in seismic processingalgorithms, the same subsurface data quality can be achieved, but with a significantlyreduced environmental footprint.Through extensive collaboration between multiple disciplines (ecology, biology,geoscience, and engineering), the EcoSeis project has developed sustainable seismicsolutions which can reduce both the surface land footprint and emissions associatedwith seismic acquisition by up to 50%. This case study will highlight lessons learnedthroughout the development, including best practices for acquiring and analyzingunbiased seismic experiments and applications of the technology in CCS monitoring.

2024-2025 CSEG Distinguished Lecture Tour: This national tour is sponsored by the Canadian Society of Exploration Geophysicists (CSEG) Foundation andpresented by a distinguished member of the society. The goal of the tour is to promote the science andapplication of geophysics and to highlight a topic of current interest.

Andrea Crook is the CEO of OptiSeis, a company she co-foundedin 2011 to provide innovative solutions for accurate subsurfaceimaging. Andrea graduated from the University of Manitoba witha B.Sc. Honours in Geophysics and began her career at ShellCanada in seismic processing and geophysical operations. Basedon her extensive contributions to the field of geophysics, shereceived the 2019 CSEG Technical Achievement Award and wasthe Society’s 2023 Symposium Honouree. She is also on theBoard of Directors for the Clean Resource Innovation Network(CRIN). Through active collaboration with industry and academia,she and her team continue to develop innovative solutions forenvironmentally sustainable subsurface imaging.