News & Events

News

April 16, 2025

Mapping Tree Roots Using GPR and Machine Learning

Justin Miron

Urban environments present unique challenges for long-term urban tree survival and vitality. Drought, temperature extremes, pollution and contaminants - such as pavement de-icing salts - soil compaction, and mechanical damage to trees, including their roots, are some of the primary factors that contribute to tree decline, morbidity, and mortality in urban areas.

April 7, 2025

Unveiling Chemical Fingerprints: Applications of Advanced Machine Learning for Environmental Forensics in Plastic Pollution

Huy Nguyen

Looking at the term “fingerprints” or “forensics” in the title of this blog, it probably reminds you about a detective TV show that you have seen or a book that you have read, for example, Brooklyn 99 or about the famous detective Sherlock Holmes. In these scenarios, the detective will search for a fingerprint of the criminal and use it to track down the identity of the one who committed the crime. Similarly, in environmental forensics, the goal is to link local pollutions to responsible local polluters before more harms are done.

March 31, 2025

Expanding Toronto’s Tree Canopy Can Build a Climate-Resilient City

Erminio Jacobelli

Urbanization has reshaped cities around the world, typically pitted against ecological and landscape connectivity. Toronto’s speedy development fragmented a great deal of natural landscapes, constraining biodiversity, and exposing the city to climate change. One choice to improve landscape connectivity is urban tree canopy expansion, which contributes to both ecological health and human well-being.

March 21, 2025

Restoration as a Entry to the Cycle of Wellbeing and Restoration Through Healthy Interior Environments

Monica Polo

Restoration, replenishment or respite- we all have words that indicate how we like to retreat and ‘fill our cup’ to be ready for the next day. We know that spending time in nature helps calm our minds and improve our response to stress and expectations. We even bring nature indoors through biophilic design, recognizing that images of nature can have a similar effect. Restoration is also part of our daily cycle of coming home. This idea of replenishment and renewal begins and ends our day in the comfort of our homes. Keeping our homes safe and healthy supports our advocacy for our own well-being.

February 24, 2025

Internal Carbon Pricing: very unsexy accounting tools for the climate transition

There are very exciting new clean technologies being developed - solar and wind power, battery storage and electric vehicles – but the solution to the climate crisis might just be some boring, unsexy accounting tools like Internal Carbon Pricing.

February 18, 2025

The Hidden Cost of Hospital Sterilization: Finding a Greener, Smarter Solution

Have you ever thought about where all the materials used to keep surgical instruments sterile end up? The reality is that hospitals generate massive amounts of waste, much of it from the sterilization process. Many hospitals currently rely on polypropylene wrap (a type of plastic) to keep surgical tools clean and safe. Some of this wrap is reusable, but much of it is single-use—meaning it's used once and then discarded. Given that hospital operating rooms alone produce up to a third of a hospital’s total waste, it’s clear that a better system is needed. That’s where hard case sterilization containers come in. These reusable aluminum and metal containers could be a game-changer, slashing waste and even saving hospitals money in the long run. But are they really as effective as the traditional sterilization wraps? That’s what my research aims to find out, using Sunnybrook Hospital as a case study.

Ensciman Events

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Recorded Workshops and Presentations

Title: How do we know climate change is real? (The Physical Science Basis)

Presenter: Yena Bassone-Quashie, PhD student, Environmental Applied Science and Management

Summary: This presentation provides a brief overview of the physical science basis for understanding climate change and global warming. It also explores evidence for anthropogenic emissions as the main cause, and briefly discusses the role of uncertainties in climate science.

Keywords: Climate change science, global warming, anthropogenic causes and supporting evidence, uncertainties

Title: Cashing in on the Ring of Fire: Its “Value” to Ontario’s EV Market and Supply Chain

Presenter: Anna Leckman, MASc student, Environmental Applied Science and Management

Summary: This presentation explores how Ontario’s Ring of Fire may play a role in Ontario’s EV supply chain development. To do so, a life cycle assessment/carbon accounting of all three scopes of emissions are used to draw conclusions. Conclusions include what role certain sites in the Ring of Fire could play both in a provincial context and a federal emissions’ targets.

Keywords: Mining, Scope 3 Emission Quantification, Carbon Accounting, Electric Vehicles, Supply Chain Analysis, Life Cycle Assessment, ESG