Dr. Graham Bell: Understanding Biodiversity: the next Big Science Project and how it will change politics Natural ecosystems are large, complex biological machines that provide essential services to all life on the planet. Humans are now altering and simplifying these machines on a grand scale – removing many species, adding others and changing inputs. Dr. […]

Dr. Daniel Pauly: Fisheries and global warming, and their impacts on marine ecosystems and global food security Over the last half century, the reach of industrial fisheries extended down into deeper waters and spread out across the oceans, past the developing nations of the Southern Hemisphere, all the way to Antarctica. Almost everywhere, massive catch […]

Dr. Denis Mitchell: Failure is not an option: lessons for making Canada's buildings and bridges safer Many of Canada’s urban regions are at risk of a moderate or severe earthquake. Preventing loss of life and major damage to infrastructure depends on correctly anticipating the degree and type of shaking, as well as understanding what makes […]

Dr. Allison Sekuler: The Amazing, Changing, Aging Brain The "greying population" is the fastest growing group in Canada. Age-related changes in perceptual and neural function have implications for virtually every aspect of our lives—from recreation to transportation, health care and the work force. Recent research, shows that although aging leads to declines in some abilities, […]

Dr. Philip Jessop: Switching to Green Chemistry The old way to prevent pollution was to capture pollutants before they left the factory, which is always a financial burden. The Green Chemistry approach—design the process so pollutants aren’t made—can reduce environmental impact while making industries more economically competitive. Economic benefits occur because designing processes to reduce […]

Dr. Liuchen Chang: Bringing Power to the People - Smart Grids and the Future of Renewable Energy For many small-scale wind and solar power generators to displace carbon fuels, they have to work seamlessly with sophisticated power systems built around large and predictable point source generators. Matching the power supply with demand, when the sun […]

Dr. Sophie D'Amours: Green forests, green dollars: rebuilding Canada’s forest products industry leadership through innovation Innovation and knowledge are the centerpieces of a remarkable transformation of Canada’s forest products industry. The old vision of exporting logs and pulp is being swept away by a new paradigm of sustainable forest management, innovative and value-added products, integrated […]

Dr. Daniel Krewski: Decision-making in an uncertain world Are cell phones safe? Are there valid replacements for animals in toxicology tests? What are the health threats from emerging diseases? Questions about safety and reliability pervade today’s complex technology-driven world. Yet definitive answers rarely come quickly or easily. This talk will explore some of the fundamental […]

James Franklin: Geoscience as a Key to Canada’s Economic Competitiveness, Wealth and Development While mining and energy currently contribute more than $45 billion annually to the Canadian economy, clouds are rolling over the horizon. In as little as 10 years, the global appetite for both conventional and high-technology metals will likely outstrip supply. The pace […]

Dr. Richard Peltier: The Lowdown on the Meltdown Gravity measurements from space reveal a rapid loss of land ice from both Greenland and Antarctica. These observations, the most accurate yet, confirm the link between increasing greenhouse gas concentrations in the lower atmosphere and accelerated warming in the northern hemisphere—a warming that is amplified as ice […]

Dr. Stephen Larter: Alternate futures for the oil sands industry: from the age of steam to the age of biology Underground steam injection has made in situ recovery of oil sands bitumen possible, but it comes at a high cost. The boiling of water consumes energy and can create significant carbon emissions of its own. […]

Dr. Andreas Athienitis: Cities in the Sun: The Path Towards Smart Net-zero Energy Solar Buildings and Communities Imagine a building that acts as a small power plant, able to produce as much energy on-site as it consumes over a year. Net-zero energy buildings (NZEBs) are today becoming technically possible by combining energy efficiency measures with […]