Current and Past Research

Four researchers interacting amongst the crops on the rooftop farm

The Urban Farm has been supporting research since 2016, officially becoming a Living Lab in 2019 to better support and integrate research projects and priorities into our day-to-day operations.

Current projects

Natural Dye & Fibre Experiential Garden

Goals	This initiative supports faculty and students through teaching, learning and research-creation projects at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Natural dyes and fibres derived from plants have profound potential for understanding ecological, historical, social, cultural and artistic knowledge of human, plant and community relations. In particular, the Urban Farm offers a compelling context of the natural to the built environment. Plants include Indigo, Madder, Dyer's, Chamomile, Woad and Hopi Sunflower, and are foraged for courses including the Natural Dye Workshop and available to upper-level students in Fashion Capstone and MA Fashion.
Principal investigators	Rachel MacHenry (MA) and Joseph Medaglia (MA)
Project duration	May 2022 - Ongoing

Meteorological Monitoring of the Urban Farm

Goals	To install a meteorological station on the roof of the George Vari Engineering and Computing Centre to monitor temperature, precipitation, wind speed/direction, humidity, and certain types of solar radiation; to use data as a teaching tool and for other research purposes.
Principal investigator	Prof. Claire Oswald (PhD)
Project duration	August 2020 - Ongoing

Recirculation of Stored Stormwater for Irrigation of Productive Blue-Green Roofs

Goals	Currently, the excess irrigation and stormwater from the Urban Farm at TMU's blue-green roof that is not held within the growing media (green) or retention layer (blue) of the roof drains into the municipal drainage system. Although investigations over the last two years indicate that the blue-green roof significantly reduces runoff, irrigation using chlorinated municipal water is required in prolonged dry periods, and nutrients from the soil substrate are likely wasted during the runoff process. This study aims to implement and investigate a blue-green roof water recirculation system for irrigating the cultivated crops on rooftop farms, adopting the strategy to further close the water cycle.
Principal investigators	Afsana Alam Akhie (BSc) Dr. Darko Joksimovic (PhD)
Project duration	April 2023 - October 2023

Past projects

Creative in Residence

Creative in Residence

Goals	The Design Fabrication Zone partnered with the Urban Farm to present the 2023 Creative in Residence program, reflecting on the Urban Farm ecosystem as a site for creative intervention, looking to the curatorial theme of ‘decay’ as a transformative and sustaining force that fosters creativity. Over the course of 3 months the artist was guided by this theme to produce an art installation, featuring organic and inorganic waste materials from the Urban Farm, exhibited inside the greenhouse of the DCC rooftop.
Principal investigators	Ashley Lewis, Krystyne Kontos, Emily Allan
Artist	Alyssa Alikpala
Project duration	May 2023 - November 2023

Fava bean (Vicia faba) Variety Trial for Field and Rooftop Farms in Southern Ontario

Goals	Identify the most productive varieties of fava beans across different farms in Ontario.
Principal investigators	Michelle Dang, Ines Lacarne, and Sharene Shafie, (Urban Farm at TMU), Martina Schaefer (Spiral Veg Farm), Leslie Moskovits (Cedar Down Farm), Micheline Lalonde (Avling Rooftop Farm) and the Ecological Farmers' Association of Ontario (external link) .
Project duration	April 2022 - October 2022

Natural Dye Experiential Garden

Goals	Natural dyes are a way to experience ecological, historical, social cultural and artistics understandings of human, plan, land, community and ancestral relations. This pilot-led, research-creation project grows several nature dye plant species at the Urban Farm Living Lab for teaching, learning, research and creative activity.
Principal investigators	Joseph Medaglia (MA) and the Natural Dye Network in Northeast America (external link) .
Project duration	May 2022 - October 2022

Monitoring the Rooftop Urban Farm Using Low-Cost Sensors

Goals	To investigate the performance of low-cost sensors and sensor networks for continuous and real-time monitoring of a productive green roof and gain a better understanding of rooftop hydrologic and thermal benefits analysis, including supervision of plant growth and temperature.
Principal investigators	Afsana Alam Akhie (BSc) Dr. Darko Joksimovic (PhD)
Project duration	April 2022 - October 2022

Hydrologic and Thermal Performance of a Full-Scale Farmed Blue-Green Roof

Goals	To compare the ecosystem services, such as the ability to mitigate urban heat island and the potential to manage stormwater, of a rooftop farm, a green roof and a conventional roof.
Final report	Hydrologic and Thermal Performance of a Full-Scale Farmed Blue-Green Roof (external link)
Principal investigators	Tamer Almaaitah (MSc), Dr. Darko Joksimovic (PhD)
Project duration	August 2020 - December 2021

Biochar as an Amendment for Engineered Green Roof Soil Blend

Goals	This study aimed to find out whether adding biochar to an engineered green roof soil blend would ameliorate the soil in order to successfully grow spray-free vegetables.
Final report	Using biochar as an amendment for engineered green roof soil blend (external link)
Principal investigator	Michelle Dang (Molecular Science (MSc) students and graduate research farm assistant), Ines Lacarne (Urban Farm lead field assistant) and the Ecological Farmers' Association of Ontario (external link)
Project duration	March 2021 - November 2021

Water–Energy–Food Nexus through Enhanced Green Roof Performance

Goals	To monitor evapotranspiration, test various growing medium amendments and irrigation in test beds using varied green roof technology assembly.
Final report	Addressing the Water-Energy-Food Nexus through Enhanced Green Roof Performance (external link)
Principal investigator	Prof. Kristiina Mai (PhD)
Research assistants	Jeremy Lytle (BEng), Luzalen Marcos (BEng), Devon Santillo (BEng) and Jeremy Wright (BEng)
Project duration	2020 to 2021

Green Roof Technology Analysis

Goals	Monitoring irrigation usage, water flow sensors, wireless soil sensors.
Principal investigator	Prof. Kristiina Mai (PhD)
Research assistants	Nabeel Ahmed (MES), Martin Fernandez (BEng), Pruthal Merchant (BEng), Devon Santillo (BEng), Bethany Santos (BEng) and Abigail Sy (BEng)
Project duration	2015 to 2019

Wireless Soil Monitoring

Investigators	Prof. Kristiina Mai (PhD), Maleeka Batool (BEng), Dau Ekubor (BEng) and Rose Esfandi (BEng)
Completed	2019

Research Study to Develop Urban Agriculture Indicators in the City of Toronto

Final report	Indicators for Urban Agriculture in Toronto: A Scoping Analysis (external link)
Investigators	Paul Coleman, health research specialist with Toronto Food Strategy, Toronto Public Health; Rhonda Teitel-Payne, co-coordinator with Toronto Urban Growers
Completed	December 2016

Monitoring of Hydrologic Performance of TMU’s Rooftop Garden

Investigators	Muhammad Ammar Khan (BEng, Department of Civil Engineering, Toronto Metropolitan University)
Completed	2016

Wireless Soil-Sensor Network for Rooftop Gardens

Investigators	M. Nabeel Ahmed (MEng, Electrical & Computer Engineering, Toronto Metropolitan University)
Completed	2016

Exploration of Agricultural Green Roofs Soils for Earthworm Populations, Nitrogen and the Possible Interactions and Practices Involved, Southern Ontario: Agricultural Green Roof Actors

Final report	Earthworm Populations in Agricultural Green Roofs and their Influence on Soil Nitrogen, Greater Toronto Area
Investigators	Caitlin Santos (MASc, Environmental Applied Science and Management, Toronto Metropolitan University)
Completed	2016

Experiences of Community Gardening Participants in Different Garden Settings

Investigators	Adrian Lue (MGeog, Department of Geography & Planning, University of Toronto)
Completed	2016