While wind farms have become widely popular methods of generating energy, researchers are now looking at the impact of these large farms on wind patterns and the surrounding environment. Using large-scale simulations to better understand the way air moves across and within wind farms, researchers from UBC Okanagan and Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) in the Netherlands have developed a modelling framework that will help improve wind energy forecasts and productivity. The researchers also hope to learn how large wind farms can alter natural wind patterns. “Wind farms are getting so large that they can actually alter the structure of the incoming wind,” explains Dr. Joshua Brinkerhoff, an Associate Professor in UBCO’s School of Engineering. “This structure, which engineers call the atmospheric boundary layer, describes how the wind’s speed, temperature and pressure varies with altitude.” Not only is locating where to put a wind farm a science in itself, he explains, but fine-tuning the location of individual turbines within a grouping is paramount to power output. While software helps guide the placement of the turbines to ensure the highest yield, poorly designed wind farms will generate less power than expected, making the wind farm uneconomical. “Our modelling framework is among the first to clearly describe how wind farms alter the atmospheric boundary layer, which makes it tremendously valuable in helping engineers design better wind farms,” says Dr. Brinkerhoff. Working alongside colleagues from TU Delft, doctoral student Sebastiano Stipa travelled to the Netherlands as part of a Mitacs Globalink exchange to conduct the research. The research team has developed an open-source, finite-volume framework tailored for large-scale studies of how wind farms interact with the atmosphere. The modelling framework, called the Toolbox for Stratified Convective Atmospheres (TOSCA), is designed to conduct extensive simulations of the turbulence created by big wind farms in realistic atmospheric conditions. TOSCA, explains Stipa, can address at least two of the significant challenges currently facing wind energy by simulating boundary layer turbulence over large areas and the simulation of an entire wind farm under realistic atmospheric flow conditions. “The results of this research will lead to a better understanding of potential wind farm power estimates and an increase in their energy outputs,” says Stipa. “This new modelling framework can serve as a roadmap for the industry.” Dr. Brinkerhoff notes the computer modelling can help when wind farms are being established, especially to forecast whether they can create energy efficiently. “The main outcome is that our model can capture the interaction between large wind farms and the oncoming wind,” he adds. “To date, this hasn’t been captured properly, leading to overestimation of how much power a wind farm will produce. This kind of overestimation is financially disastrous for the wind farm operators.” Mitacs Globalink, UL Renewables and the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada supported the research. Computational resources were provided by the Digital Research Alliance of Canada and Advanced Research Computing at the University of British Columbia. Read the full report at: wes.copernicus.org/preprints/wes-2023-40 The post Powerful answers to energy questions may be blowing in the wind appeared first on UBC Okanagan News.

Next week, after an extraordinary few days in August, classes will resume for the fall at UBC Okanagan. Students, faculty and staff are gearing up for a busy back-to-school period. More than 12,035 students are registered for classes this September and almost 3,200 are new to UBCO. Move-in day will continue as planned on Sunday, September 3 with more than 1,400 students arriving to move into their on-campus residences. Create, the new-to-UBCO student orientation, takes place Monday, September 4 and all classes will begin as scheduled and in-person on Tuesday, September 5. “This summer, more than ever, we have seen the strength, professionalism and values of the UBC Okanagan community on full display,” says Dr. Lesley Cormack, UBCO Principal and Deputy Vice-Chancellor. “When our campus was placed on evacuation order just two weeks ago, the campus rallied together to ensure everyone was able to leave the area quickly and safely. Through this adversity, we saw UBCO’s values as a compassionate community shine through once again—it’s something our incoming students can take pride and comfort in.” As UBCO looks toward the beginning of a new term, Dr. Cormack also recognizes it has been a trying time for many people. The health and safety of all students, faculty and staff is paramount and UBCO’s Campus Operations and Risk Management team continues to communicate directly with the Central Okanagan Emergency Operations team. “While classes will begin as planned and it’s clear that campus is safe to welcome students from across Canada and the world, we also acknowledge there are many people within our community still not able to return home. And we’ve all seen the devasting images of homes and properties lost to the wildfire,” she adds. “The arrival of our students to the region has always brought a renewed sense of vibrancy and of the limitless possibilities created by education. I know this will be true this year perhaps more than ever.” She notes, that the UBCO community bonded as never before with many people reaching out to offer help and support for those who were placed on an evacuation order or alert. “I continue to be impressed by the calibre and character of the people on this campus,” she adds. “When faced with adversity, we reached out and supported each other in ways that have truly amazed me.” As the campus begins to get busy as students move in and classes begin, Dale Mullings, Associate Vice-President, Students says the university has many resources for students and help is available for those who may need it. “We continue to prioritize the wellbeing of our students, whether they live on or off campus,” adds Mullings. “For example, we have a number of initiatives specific to our students and this year, due to the wildfire emergency, we initiated the student emergency fund to help those immediately affected by the wildfires, and an airport welcome booth with a complimentary shuttle Friday, September 1 through Monday, September 4.” Wellness and Accessibility Services has expanded to provide a health clinic, counselling services, wellness education, disability services and a new multifaith Chaplaincy. Many other services that support the wellbeing of our students such as our on-campus and in-community recreation programs, safe walk program, security phones across campus, a student-led Emergency First Response Team and the 24-hour campus security patrols are also gearing up for the year ahead. While classes begin next week, Dr. Cormack notes there will be accommodations for those who remain under evacuation orders and alerts and cancelled travel plans. “We will continue to work closely with those affected by the Kelowna-area wildfires to ensure they have the flexibility they require to start the school year successfully.” A valuable resource for people returning to the community is the UBCO Campus Alerts page and FAQ which can be found at: ok.ubc.ca/wildfire-response The post UBCO welcomes students to campus for start of new term appeared first on UBC Okanagan News.

Researchers from the University of British Columbia and Michigan State University (MSU) have invented a system that can quickly and inexpensively detect airborne viruses using the same technology that enables high-speed trains. The team showed that a technique known as magnetic levitation can be used to easily collect and concentrate viruses from air to help prevent future outbreaks of respiratory disease. The researchers published their work in the journal ACS Nano. “This could help identify that an environment is contaminated before a pandemic happens,” says Sepideh Pakpour, an Assistant Professor of Engineering who led the research team at UBC’s Okanagan Campus. In addition to serving as an early-warning system, the team’s new technique also could help health officials and epidemiologists better track and trace exposure to viruses in public settings. “It’s very important to have real-time management and real-time predictions in place for viruses,” says Morteza Mahmoudi, an Associate Professor in the Department of Radiology and the Precision Health Program at MSU. “What we’ve developed is a system that could help us and other stakeholders get more information about the different types of viruses in the air we breathe.” Pakpour and Mahmoudi started this project by applying magnetic levitation, or maglev, to respiratory viruses in 2018 with support from the Walsh Foundation and the New Frontiers in Research Fund. As they learned the pandemic was caused by an airborne virus, they knew they had to redouble their efforts. The team used a deactivated version of the coronavirus responsible for COVID-19 in their proof-of-concept report, along with H1N1 influenza and a virus that infects bacteria known as bacteriophage MS2. The system first collects air samples, then injects the sample into a fluid where maglev separates viruses from other particles. The isolated and purified viral contents are then passed along to other standard analytical techniques for identification in a matter of minutes. The approach is so straightforward that it could be used by nonexperts in a variety of settings such as clinics and airports, the researchers say. The team is now taking the first steps toward commercializing its technology while working to improve it at the same time. Although downstream techniques can identify which viruses are in a sample, one of the team’s future goals is refining the maglev step to distinguish between different viruses on its own. The researchers also are working to heighten their technique’s sensitivity and detect viruses in air at lower concentrations. Still, the team is excited by what it was able to accomplish in its initial work and by what it may enable other researchers to do. “Using maglev for disease detection and purifying viruses is brand new, and it could open up applications in many different fields,” Mahmoudi says. “This opens up a fundamentally new direction in analytical biochemistry.” The post UBCO researcher lifts virus detection to next level appeared first on UBC Okanagan News.

At first glance when one looks at sewage sludge it can be challenging to find any redeemable value. However, researchers at UBC’s Bioreactor Technology Group see it in a whole other way. Using a combination of heat, water and phase separation, these researchers have developed a cost-effective method to concentrate phosphorous—which can be efficiently recovered by extraction—from wastewater sludge. “Phosphorous is a non-renewable, but essential, element for life and has many industrial uses,” explains Huan Liu, a doctoral student with UBCO’s School of Engineering and lead author of a new study investigating this method. Phosphorus is a natural mineral and crucial for a person’s good health, but it is also essential to food security as it is used worldwide as a commercial fertilizer, explains Liu. However, it is listed as a critical raw material because many countries rely on imports for their supply. “The uneven distribution of phosphate rock has created political and economic risks,” he says. “On the other hand, phosphorus discharge from waste sources, such as wastewater, is a major contributor to aquatic eutrophication, causing severe environmental challenges including algae blooms and dead zones in lakes.” Liu along with supervisor and Principal Investigator Dr. Cigdem Eskicioglu are investigating a promising process that integrates hydrothermal liquefaction. The process converts organic components of the municipal wastewater sludge into a petroleum-like biocrude and concentrates the phosphorous into a solid residue called hydrochar. This hydrochar can have a total phosphorus about 100 times higher than that of raw sludge, making it comparable to the phosphate rock used in commercial fertilizers. Liu describes the extraction process as mirroring what happens when you mix minerals and acids. “We were able to identify, for the first time, the kinetic reactions of phosphorus leaching from hydrochar to optimize the recovery of useful materials, such as what is needed for fertilizer,” says Liu. According to Dr. Eskicioglu, their latest findings are important for wastewater utilities aiming to develop a process to recover usable nutrients from the system. “At a time when we are seeking to be more sustainable and looking for alternative fuels, extruding useable materials from waste is essential,” she says. “Recovery and recycling is the solution that also provides the double benefit of providing a secondary source of phosphorus that can be globally distributed and also help with environmental conservation.” This latest study appears in the journal Water Research, and was funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the Metro Vancouver Industrial Research Chair Program in Advanced Resource Recovery from Wastewater. Liu also conducted six months of studies in France in collaboration with Dr. Ange Nzihou’s team at the Research Centre for Particulate Solids, Energy and Environment at the IMT Mines Albi-Carmaux engineering school. The post UBCO researchers recover vital resources from wastewater sludge appeared first on UBC Okanagan News.

Spring rain may have dampened wildfires burning in BC and Alberta, but the dangers of dry forests and swollen rivers remain. Wildfires are abundant in Alberta, while many areas in BC are on flood watch. It seems the changing climate is becoming less predictable and more volatile as each year passes. UBC Okanagan has several professors available to comment on heat, wildfires and associated issues. Phil Ainsley, Professor of Environmental Physiology, Co-Director of Centre For Heart, Lung and Vascular Health, School of Health and Exercise Sciences Areas of expertise:

• Heat and pollution and their isolated and combined influence on physiology and human health
• Effect of temperature and oxygen availability on physiology, pathology and performance
• Acclimatization, adaptation and maladaptation to environmental stress

Email: philip.ainslie@ubc.ca Call: 250-878-6171   Mathieu Bourbonnais, Assistant Professor, Earth, Environmental and Geographic Sciences Areas of expertise:

• Wildfire risk, suppression and mitigation
• Firefighting and use of satellites for wildfire detection and monitoring

Email: Mathieu.Bourbonnais@ubc.ca Call: 778-583-0272   Greg Garrard, Professor of Environmental Humanities, Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies Areas of expertise:

• Environmental literature
• Culture and climate change (including skepticism)
• The cultural ecology of wildfire
• Political polarization

Email: greg.garrard@ubc.ca Call: 250-863-2822   Kevin Hanna, Associate Professor, Earth, Environmental and Geographic Sciences Areas of expertise:

• Vulnerable infrastructure
• Risk and disaster assessment wildfire management and policy
• Climate change and risk events

Email: kevin.hanna@ubc.ca Call: 250-807-9265   Mary-Ann Murphy, Associate Professor, Social Work Sociology Areas of expertise:

• Dealing with the emotional trauma of wildfires
• Lessons from evacuees
• What to pack when evacuating
• Caring for seniors in extreme heat

Email: mary-ann.murphy@ubc.ca Call: 250-807-8705   David Scott, Associate Professor, Earth, Environmental and Geographic Sciences Areas of expertise:

• Effects of wildfire on hydrology and erosion
• Evaluation of fire site rehabilitation methods in terms of controlling erosion and sedimentation

Email: david.scott@ubc.ca Note: Dr. Scott is only available for interviews via email.   Dwayne Tannnat, Professor, School of Engineering Areas of expertise:

• Landslides, rockfalls
• Below debris field flood mitigation
• Post-wildfire debris flow mitigation

Email: dwayne.tannant@ubc.ca Call: 604-801-4301 The post UBC Okanagan experts ready to talk about floods, wildfires appeared first on UBC Okanagan News.

When Lake Country’s Nolan Koblischke heard the American government was shooting down balloons suspected of spying, he was more than a little curious. The George Elliot Secondary graduate has sent one of those balloons into the atmosphere himself as a student at UBC Okanagan. Atmospheric balloons are important tools for gathering information high above the earth in zones where people wouldn’t survive unless they wear pressurized suits. Most balloons collect climate data through radios, cameras and satellite navigation equipment—and are incapable of spying. Koblischke, a fourth-year physics student, and Leonardo Caffarello are part of a UBCO physics and engineering team that launched a balloon to the stratosphere from a space centre in the Swedish Arctic last fall. The team, sponsored by School of Engineering Professor Jonathan Holzman, launched the balloon for a physics experiment to observe cosmic rays. Koblischke said many people might be surprised at just how much you can learn from a balloon.

What are scientists learning from these atmospheric balloons?

These atmospheric balloons are a powerful and versatile tool for scientific research and exploration. Our balloon was launched in collaboration with Canadian and European agencies, so we were joined by other university and government agency teams from different countries. Each team flying on the balloon had a different research objective and experiment. For instance, an Italian team was testing solar panels in the upper atmosphere to be used on satellites, a German space agency team was studying stratospheric chemistry and a Hungarian team was testing radiation sensors. We even saw an experiment to carry a telescope for atmosphere-free observations of space. Besides these applications, most balloons are used for weather purposes.

Is this the first time your project has left the ground?

No, the group was originally formed a few years ago by Caffarello and competed against other university teams in the Canadian Stratospheric Balloon Experiment Design Challenge. The UBCO student-led project was one of two experiments selected to fly onboard a high-altitude research balloon launched by the Canadian Space Agency in August 2019. The balloon was airborne at about 120,000 feet for 10 hours. The project was working on a cosmic ray detection system and they were looking for different cosmic particles across the lower atmosphere. Caffarello has since graduated but led our team on the latest iteration of this experiment that took place in Sweden last fall.

Can you explain what you learned from the experiment last fall?

Our experiment was an innovative endeavour to detect cosmic rays in the stratosphere that Caffarello and I launched from the Esrange Space Center above the arctic circle in Sweden. We learned how to devise and construct an experiment that can withstand the severe conditions of near vacuum and extreme temperatures. We also gathered valuable data during the flight such as temperatures, pressure and images that proved that certain components of our experiment could work. Lastly, we realized that research requires perseverance and collaboration. One of the most challenging moments was when we found an issue while preparing for the launch, a sudden failure during a pressure test. We worked until 4 am for three nights in a row, culminating in an all-nighter, to brainstorm solutions and design parts on the spot. Although we did not fully fix the problem, we remained resilient and worked diligently to resolve what we could and we were successfully approved for launch.

Cosmic rays sound dangerous

Cosmic rays can cause cancer by damaging DNA, but the chances are very small so you don’t need to lose sleep over it. Thankfully, our atmosphere blocks most of the highest energy cosmic rays, hence why we needed a balloon to get our experiment above much of the atmosphere, to try to detect more cosmic rays. You might have heard that you receive radiation when flying equivalent to a chest x-ray—cosmic rays are the reasons why.

What’s next for students at UBCO? Any more high-flying projects?

Yes, we have a student team called the UBCO StratoNeers who are currently participating in the Canadian Stratospheric Balloon Experiment Design Challenge. It’s the same competition Caffarello participated in back in 2019 The StratoNeers are testing hardware protective techniques to mitigate the occurrence of bit flips due to cosmic radiation in computer binary code. This experiment would provide new insights into protective techniques to safely store data onboard satellites, rovers and space telescopes.

Do you worry someone will shoot down your balloons?

We weren’t worried about our balloon being shot down. It did drift into Norway but thankfully the Norwegians didn’t mind. The post UBCO students look up—way up—to gather research data appeared first on UBC Okanagan News.

If the United Nations’ prediction is accurate, the world’s 8 billionth baby will be born on Nov. 15. The UN’s World Population Prospects 2022 says the earth will crest 8 billion just before India surpasses China as the globe’s most populous nation—expected in 2023. Further, the UN predicts the world’s population will peak at 10.4 billion in the 2080s. Yet, that same United Nations estimates 821 million people are undernourished, many of them being low-income consumers, women and children who are especially vulnerable. How will we feed and house all these people? What will they do for work? Who will teach them and keep the laws? What is a world to do? UBC Okanagan professors and researchers are acutely aware of the challenges that population growth presents. They are also keenly aware of the hard work necessary to navigate the planet’s growing population. Here is how their research is intersecting with population growth.

Robert Godin researches sustainable energy with a focus on the development of photocatalysts which can harness solar energy to sustainably produce high-energy chemical fuels such as hydrogen. He says technology has created something of a run-on effect with energy.

Robert Godin, Assistant Professor of Chemistry. Tel: 250 807 8438. Email: robert.godin@ubc.ca “A transition to sustainable energy in a world with 8 billion people is not only possible, but necessary. Population growth and increases in quality of life have driven the constant increase in energy demand. Yet, improved energetic efficiencies don’t balance the growth and often result in even greater energy consumption by making technology more accessible.”

Ross Hickey teaches management and economics at UBC. His research on charitable giving in Canada considers the distributional consequences of population growth. In particular, he studies how Canadians give to help others overseas.

“Population growth can be a major contributor to economic growth, but there are trade-offs: that growth may not be shared equally and the environmental costs associated with more people, goods and services may be difficult to address.” Ross Hickey, Associate Professor of Economics. Tel: 250 807 8653. Email: ross.hickey@ubc.ca

Katrina Plamondon’s contributions to a global pandemic treaty are made possible through her research into vaccine equity at UBC Okanagan. A 2020 Michael Smith Health Research Scholar, Plamondon leads national dialogue about equity and Canada’s role in global health research, with a special focus on issues of vaccine equity.

“Our collective, global health, solidarity and obligations to others beyond our own borders in the world matters. This requires us to think very differently about the planet, beyond international health.” Katrina Plamondon, Assistant Professor of Nursing. Tel: 250 807 8681. Email: katrina.plamondon@ubc.ca

Joanne Taylor is a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Postdoctoral Fellow in agricultural climate change adaptation and food security policy. Her work is at the crossroads of sustainable agriculture, climate change and population growth.

“Much of the global population is dependent on an industrialized food system that is currently at capacity and unable to fulfil global food demand due to stressors such as burgeoning population growth, inflation, inequality and catastrophic climate change which is severely impacting food security for the most vulnerable. It is imperative that agricultural adaptation is implemented and practised alongside mitigation policies as a key strategy to becoming more resilient in an increasingly extreme climate. More importantly, humanity must consider alternative food practices such as Indigenous food production and small-scale farming.” Joanne Taylor, Postdoctoral Fellow. Email: joanne.taylor@ubc.ca.

Lisa Tobber and her team of structural engineering researchers adopt a holistic perspective that considers the social, environmental and economic factors behind the vast engineering problems faced today. Combating natural disasters and the climate crisis takes the ingenuity and creativity of an inclusive group of diverse individuals with a range of expertise and lived experiences.

“Structural engineers will be challenged to build much-needed infrastructure to be safe, sustainable, resilient to climate disasters and earthquakes, quick to construct and economical. We need the construction industry to be innovation leaders, exploring the use of new materials, systems and tools. We also need to think about building for the future, design for the life cycle of the building and design for deconstruction.” Lisa Tobber, Assistant Professor of Engineering. Email: lisa.tobber@ubc.ca.

Nathan Pelletier is an industrial ecologist and ecological economist whose research addresses the intersection of food system sustainability measurement and management.

“Access to food of sufficient quality and quantity is a fundamental human right that is currently denied to hundreds of millions of people. Food systems are also a key driver of environmental change, as well as particularly susceptible to increasing climate unpredictability. Identifying means to sustainably feed the growing human population constitutes a profound challenge whose resolution requires research to identify and support implementation of a spectrum of technological interventions, dietary changes and redistributive efforts.” Nathan Pelletier, Associate Professor of Biology. Tel: 250 807 8245. Email: nathan.pelletier@ubc.ca. The post Global population is expected to reach 8 billion next week appeared first on UBC Okanagan News.

Engineers at UBC Okanagan have been collaborating with researchers from the University of Toronto to make a significant breakthrough in de-icing technology. Their latest research, published in this month’s edition of Nature Communications, examines a smart, hybrid—meaning passive and also active—de-icing system that works by combining an interfacial coating with an ice-detecting microwave sensor. This coating integrates the sensors into the material while enabling heat to dislodge ice without the need for a person or machine to physically melt it, explains UBCO’s Dr. Mohammad Zarifi. “Many of us have had the misfortune of sitting on a plane waiting for it to be de-iced while fretting about missing a connecting flight,” says Dr. Zarifi an Associate Professor at UBCO’s School of Engineering and report co-author. “Our new technology takes a hybrid approach by adding sensors within an ice repellent coating that can easily be added to aviation or wind turbine blades.” Dr. Zarifi explains that undesired ice accumulation is problematic with many renewable energy technologies such as wind turbines and hydroelectric dams, aviation and power transmission. Ice mitigation strategies can be divided into either active or passive methods. Active de-icing involves an external energy input used to remove the ice, typically through thermal, chemical or mechanical methods. In contrast, passive de-icing either reduces the accretion rate of ice, lowers the adhesion strength between ice and the surface or both. “Neither route towards an ice-free surface is seen as a cure-all today, as active de-icing methods utilize substantial energy but passive de-icing coatings cannot keep a surface ice-free indefinitely,” he adds. “A hybrid system that combines passive and active de-icing technologies may be an attractive solution to the ice-accretion problems.” This is why the sensor—which lives beneath the coating that will be applied to a turbine or aircraft—could be a game-changer. The sensor acts as an ice detector and prompts the embedded heaters to melt the ice automatically. This creates a substantial improvement in energy efficiency and is what sets this latest innovation apart from existing approaches, says Zahra Azimi Dijvejin, doctoral student and lead author of the study. “The hybrid approach allows the operator to quickly and accurately monitor the equipment sustainably,” she says. “The equipment won’t need to be de-iced unnecessarily—avoiding wear-and-tear and wasteful energy usage—because the sensors can determine the need.” The sensors, which are integrated into innovative materials, could keep surfaces ice-free without the need for further chemicals or energy-intensive methods. “We are moving from our experimentation phase into real-life usage, and have seen the technology hold up to harsh conditions,” explains Dr. Zarifi. “We’re currently working with Canadian turbine manufacturers to incorporate the technology for the upcoming winter.” The research, partially funded by the Department of National Defence Canada, Tekmar, Mitacs, and the Canada Foundation for Innovation, was also selected as one of the Top 50 best recently published papers in this area by Nature communications. The post Breaking the ice appeared first on UBC Okanagan News.