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Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs) frequently use anaerobic digestion (AD) to break down organics to reduce the total volume of biosolids produced. As population increases, cost of biosolids disposal increases while regulatory limits tighten. Bioaugmentation is an innovative process that enhances the biological activity within AD systems to improve performance through the addition of biocatalytic compounds (BC). Currently there is a knowledge gap regarding how the routine use of BCs, containing a consortium of bacteria and enzymes, applied directly within the AD system can affect the system’s performance and its by-products (biogas and biosolids). This study reviews the impact of routine bioaugmentation applications using a commercial grade BC on an AD system. An analysis of two full-scale AD systems inoculated with said BC has been completed to determine impacts on biosolids, and biogas production. This study provides significant information substantiating the claim that bioaugmentation enhances AD performance and long-term economic viability.

Peatlands in the Alberta boreal forest are predicted to experience early and severe climate change impacts through permafrost degradation (melting). Permafrost loss and the subsequent release of greenhouse gases are predicted to have significant global climate change implications. This study provides visual and quantifiable evidence that climate change is impacting Canada by developing an objective, cost-effective method to monitor peatland permafrost degradation in the Alberta boreal forest. Peatland landscape pattern shifts resulting from permafrost melting over time were correlated to changes in local ClimateWNA climate variables using GIS. Landscape diversity indices of these shifts were calculated from grey-scale pixel tones of historical Alberta air photos and correlated with climate and geographical variables, using the SPSS Linear Mixed Model with repeated measures. Resulting models that combine date, temperature, precipitation and latitude variables were determined to be most appropriate for communicating climate change impacts in Alberta permafrost peatlands to decision makers.

The purpose of this thesis is to understand the perspectives of the environment among Indo-Canadian, Sri Lankan-Canadian and Filipino-Canadian immigrant communities who reside in Surrey, British Columbia. Environmental perception has commonly been defined as awareness of, or feelings about, the environment, or “the way in which an individual perceives the environment; the process of evaluating and storing information received about the environment” (Oxford Reference, 2019). By identifying key stakeholders within these communities, I explored perspectives of environmentalism and concerns for the improvement of the health of the environment, through a series of open-ended semi-structured interviews. The participants in this research demonstrated a willingness to improve and protect the quality of the natural environment. In addition, they acknowledged their lack of awareness regarding consequences of environmentally harmful activities that were occurring during their childhood, adolescence and early adulthood. The findings help identify the issues that prevent inclusive environmentalism in Surrey in these targeted immigrant populations. They could also assist policy makers and environmental programs to implement more effective approaches for raising awareness and promoting more environmentalism among the three diasporas.

I have made a 22 minute ethnographic film and academic supplement that takes an ethnographic approach to the subculture of dumpster diving in Victoria, B.C. I first came across the somewhat controversial issue of dumpster diving a year prior to embarking on my thesis when I was invited to join a small household of individuals on one of their food finding excursions. What initially sparked my interest and eventually led to me joining them was the notion that dumpster diving isn’t necessarily about scavenging in alleyways for scraps of rotting food due to economic hardship. The dumpster diving route that I joined them on one night consisted of driving to three separate grocery food stores and gleaning food from the dumpsters, which would otherwise be taken to the landfill. After I returned home from the night with a substantial amount of good looking, good quality food, two realizations stood out to me: the first being the staggering amount of perfectly good food found in grocery store dumpsters that would otherwise be wasted. The second was the sense of camaraderie while participating in the activity of dumpster diving and the various “rituals” it entails such as making meals from dumpster food together. There were even other dumpster divers we ran into at the dumpsters, and what particularly struck me was the friendly enthusiasm shared among one another, and what I later came to recognize as a strong sense of community. This was striking to me, especially considering the fact that we were all digging through what are otherwise dirty dumpsters in dark alleyways! My firsthand experience with dumpster diving sparked some curious informational investigation on my part, and I eventually came into contact with more small pockets of individuals who went dumpster diving on a regular basis. Although the groups did not necessarily know or interact with each other, it was interesting to find that the values they all shared in common tended to center around mitigating the impact of food waste in their environment. Furthermore, it became clear that building and maintaining a sense of community around a dumpster diving lifestyle was definitely a norm among these individuals. When the time came around the following year at Royal Roads, I decided to base my thesis on the phenomenon of dumpster diving as a subculture, both in light of its response to food waste as well as looking at how community plays into the culture of dumpster diving. I decided it would be most suitable for the purpose of my thesis to produce an ethnographic film as my main work. I really wanted to most accurately document the quality and quantity of the food found within the dumpsters, and the social interactions that made up this community of fellow dumpster divers. I followed 11 participants in Victoria, B.C. who dumpster dive regularly at grocery store food dumpsters. After finding participants through word of mouth and other self-identified dumpster divers, I held semi-formal interviews and got audio-visual footage of dumpster diving events and activities.

This mixed methods study was guided by the research question: How does the use of humour in secondary students’ communications about climate change relate to their feelings and actions towards climate change? It used an experimental approach to compare the experiences of two groups of Grade 11 students in creating a video concept about climate change targeted to their peers. Ten themes emerged from the qualitative data, with Humour and Burden both providing links between Engagement-related feelings and actions and Dissociation/Distancing-related feelings and actions. Relevant literature generally cautions against using humour in science communications as it may undermine the seriousness of the message, but this study has revealed that humour can play an important role in coping and maintaining engagement with climate change, and strengthening group cohesion. Recommendations for future research are provided, as well as suggestions for bringing the results into Environmental Education and Communications practice.

As a consequence of climate change, many populations of sockeye salmon in the U. S. Pacific Northwest are now experiencing significantly warmer river conditions during their spawning migration from the ocean to their freshwater spawning grounds compared to the 30 year average. The Columbia River witnessed an extended heat wave in 2015 and low flows pushed water temperatures to 21° C, which ended up killing 90 percent of the adult sockeye salmon returning to spawn in their natal streams in the summer months. Fish passage delays at hydro-electric dams potentially compounded this effect. The purpose of this study was to determine if water temperatures had a delay effect on run-timing and potential returning sockeye salmon population mortality in the Snake River in the Columbia Basin. Run timing and delays in migration patterns were examined over the years 2014-2018 in order to notice any trends in migration patterns. Results indicated that, as water temperatures increased, so did the travel time of returning adult sockeye salmon migrating between Bonneville Dam and Lower Granite Dam. Increased water temperatures were associated with migration delays, increasing them by as much as ten days more than the average in some years. Qualitative observations of fish vigor on migrating fish through fish windows also yielded signs of fungal disease on a small number of sockeye salmon during warmer water temperature outbreaks.

This study used mixed methods research to explore the use of an environmental gaming app in an academic setting to determine if it could encourage users to adopt and maintain environmentally friendly behaviours. The JouleBug gaming app was chosen because of its popularity with young people and its ability to promote sustainable lifestyles. The primary question guiding this study was: Can the use of a gamification app, designed for the smartphone and with a sustainability focus, enhance student environmental awareness and promote desirable behavioural change for the long term? The study’s positive results showed gamification can make learning fun and engage learners. The small sample size was augmented by research in other settings which confirmed the app could create positive change. More research is needed to determine the role of motivation in game playing, and whether environmental apps on their own can change behavior for the long term.

The production and consumption of red meat presents a significant threat to environmental health and sustainability at a global scale. This study evaluates community-based social marketing tools as a means of reducing red meat purchases at grocery stores. Consumer surveys and focus groups are used to explore the psychosocial aspects of consumer behaviour particular to red meat purchases, and guide the development of a community-based social marketing pilot in two Toronto grocery stores. The pilot asked consumers to publicly commit to reducing red meat purchases by one meal per week. Measuring red meat sales demonstrated that commitment is an effective means of temporarily reducing red meat purchases. Recommendations include an approach combining various social marketing tools such as information, commitment, and social diffusion in an effort to transform social norms and foster a culture of lower red meat consumption.

In British Columbia (BC), Canada, a majority of electricity is produced and distributed by the crown corporation BC Hydro, which sources 90% of their power from hydroelectric generation. However, many remote areas around the province lack connection to the electrical grid and consequently depend upon diesel generators for electricity production, resulting in negative environmental externalities and an increased cost of power. To understand present legislative, technological, and financial barriers to the use of tidal energy as a strategy to displace the use of diesel in BC, and how they may be overcome, I reviewed and analyzed existing literature, and sourced primary data from interviews with industry experts. I determined that policy is the key driver to revitalize funding and technological development. However, first, the case for tidal power must be made to policy makers by communicating both the market and non-market benefits and risks of tidal power in comparison against diesel.

Southern Alberta and the Town of High River were impacted by the most devastating floods in Alberta history in 2013 (MNP, 2015, p. 1). This research was designed to analyze how well prepared the Government of Alberta and the Town of High River were for the 2013 flooding, whether the disaster debris cleanup followed industry best-practices, and what improvements could be made for future disaster responses in the province. This research utilized a comparative analysis approach, utilizing qualitative data gathered from semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders involved in the 2013 flood debris cleanup. The results of this study indicate the Town of High River and the Government of Alberta were unprepared for the flooding in 2013, however, they quickly mobilized a response that allowed the community to recover remarkably. There were many ways the disaster response and recovery did not follow industry best-practices and major gaps exist in Alberta’s disaster management planning and disaster debris handling practices. This study can help the Government of Alberta and municipalities address these gaps before future natural disasters occur. Keywords: natural disasters, flooding, debris management