Measuring the shake, rattle and roll in Canada’s Western Arctic Travelling and working in remote regions of Canada’s North is no easy task. Ask Natural Resources Canada seismologist Andrew Schaeffer, who ventured to the Northwest Territories (NWT) this summer to better understand earthquakes and related natural hazards. Keywords: Arctic Climate change Geosciences Natural hazards Read more
Monitoring seismic activity in Canada’s North Canada’s southwestern Arctic is of special interest to scientists exploring the interrelated roles of seismic activity, climate change and coastal erosion. Keywords: Arctic Climate change Geosciences Natural hazards Read more
Making your home more energy-efficient (Ask NRCan) We received a lot of feedback from listeners who are interested in energy efficiency and curious about what they can do to make their existing home more energy-efficient. We decided to bring back Chris McLellan from the Office of Energy Efficiency to discuss getting better performance and comfort out of your home. Keywords: Energy Energy efficiency Read more
Learning from Tragedy – The 1929 Tsunami (Ask NRCan) Marine geoscientist Calvin Campbell joins us to talk about the importance of a specific underwater landslide that caused a massive tsunami in Newfoundland back in 1929. Calvin is part of a team studying this historical landslide, and shares with us recent findings that changed our perception of the event. Keywords: Climate change Geosciences Read more
Machine Mapping Canada: training technology to complete the picture As the second-largest country in the world, Canada has a lot of territory and different types of land cover to map, including urban areas, water, desert, rock, ice and snow formations. Keywords: Geosciences Maps Read more
The gift of reading for science buffs The written word has long helped us understand science and the natural world around us. In fact, Natural Resources Canada is home to the first ever science library in Canada, dating back to 1854. Keywords: Climate change Geosciences Maps Mining Read more
Can We Predict Earthquakes? (Ask NRcan) This episode is all about earthquakes. We are joined by seismologist John Cassidy who explains what causes earthquakes, where they are more likely to occur, and he answers the big question: “can we predict them?” Keywords: Natural hazards Read more
How We Measure Glaciers (Byte-Sized Science) Scientist Mark Ednie takes us on a trip up to Nahanni National Park were he and his colleagues measure a glacier. The amount of mass that's gained through the winter is compared to the amount of ice that's lost in the summer. Keywords: Arctic Climate change Watch now
A look at butternut defence mechanisms! Recent visitors to the Rio Tinto Alcan Planetarium in Montreal have been amazed by twenty photographs resulting from Canadian scientific research. One brightly coloured image in particular is attracting attention — a microscopic image taken by Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) scientists showing a white walnut or butternut tree defending itself against an exotic pathogenic fungus. Keywords: Forestry and insects Read more
Saving Our Ash Trees (Natural Elements) For the past two decades, ash trees have been under attack by a tiny, yet formidable foe – the emerald ash borer. This invasive pest has already killed tens of millions of ash trees and shows no signs of letting up. On this episode, we are speaking with an expert that is conserving ash seeds for future restoration activities. Keywords: Forestry and insects Read more
A mystery at the core of Canada’s western redcedar Canada has the world’s largest stock of standing western redcedar, but this once-dominant species is showing disturbing signs of distress. After a few years of very dry conditions, trees on lower-elevation sites in eastern Vancouver Island are slowly dying. Scientists at the Pacific Forestry Centre are trying to get to the root of the problem. Keywords: Forestry and insects Natural hazards Read more
Incorporating Artificial Intelligence (Ask NRcan) Like many organizations, the Government of Canada is exploring ways to incorporate artificial intelligence into our work to make us more efficient and effective. On this episode, we’ll learn what artificial intelligence is, and we’ll see how it can be used to solve problems that the natural resource sectors are facing. Keywords: Energy Forestry and insects Geosciences Maps Mining Natural hazards Read more
