Researchers have known for decades that orcas across the North Pacific have harmful pollutants in their system.
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Published on: 11 Oct 2023
This was the worst year for Canadian wildfires on record and though fire season is not yet over, we can already start to see and look at some of the impact of fires on our ecosystems across the country. One population particularly affected by the fires this summer is birds.
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Published on: 20 Sep 2023
Sollio Agriculture has partnered with McGill University to test the benefits of PurYield, a new coated fertilizer which enhances nutrient uptake by plants. Researchers will compare it to commonly used uncoated urea fertilizer to assess its impact on corn grain growth, yield, and quality, as well as greenhouse gas emissions. Previous trials showed a 30% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. The new study aims to validate these environmental benefits over five years, with funding from Sollio and a grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.
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Published on: 26 Jul 2023
The number of American kestrels has dropped sharply. That goes against the trend for birds of prey, broadly seen as a conservation bright spot.
Hypotheses about the decline abound. In a newly published special issue on kestrels in The Journal of Raptor Research, Dr. Smallwood and David Bird, an emeritus professor of wildlife biology at McGill University in Montreal, list seven possible factors for kestrel declines that they argue merit more research, in no particular order.
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Published on: 28 Jun 2023
"A Mars orbiter has detected a wide lake of liquid water hidden below the planet’s southern ice sheets. There have been much-debated hints of tiny, ephemeral amounts of water on Mars before. But if confirmed, this lake marks the first discovery of a long-lasting cache of the liquid." (Science News)
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Published on: 25 Jul 2018
Researchers demonstrate for the first time the potential of existing technology to directly detect and characterize life on Mars and other planets. The study, published in Frontiers in Microbiology, used miniaturized scientific instruments and new microbiology techniques to identify and examine microorganisms in the Canadian high Arctic — one of the closest analogs to Mars on Earth.
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Published on: 19 Jan 2018
Despite ongoing global pollution, researchers have discovered that levels of mercury in seabirds off the coast of B.C. have remained relatively stable over the past 50 years. Surprisingly, mercury in seabirds is now actually slightly lower. This might appear to be good news, but unfortunately it is due to a decline in fish stocks near the surface which has forced seabirds to change their diet, and in the process to feed in areas low in bacteria (known as sulfate-reducing bacteria) which act to control the levels of mercury in their bodies.
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Published on: 16 Dec 2016
The Royal Canadian Geographical Society recently stunned many Canadians by choosing the grey jay over the common loon as the organization’s candidate to become Canada’s national bird. The announcement was made on Nov. 16, 2016, at the College of Fellows’ Annual Dinner in the Canadian War Museum. Op-ed by David M. Bird, Emeritus Professor of Wildlife Biology, Montreal Gazette.
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Published on: 28 Nov 2016
Professor Elena Bennett, of the Department of Natural Resource Sciences and the McGill School of Environment, is the recipient of a E.W.R. Steacie Memorial Fellowship! The Fellowships are awarded by NSERC to enhance the career development of outstanding and highly promising university faculty who are earning a strong international reputation for original research.
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Published on: 16 Feb 2016
Insecticides that are sprayed in orchards and fields across North America may be more toxic to spiders than scientists previously believed.
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Published on: 6 Aug 2015
Even jumping spiders have personalities scientists have discovered. A "shy" individual will not make the same choices as a "bold" individual. This means that some individuals, because of their personality type, will capture more prey than others, and will therefore have a larger effect on local ecosystems.
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Published on: 6 Aug 2015
