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This article empirically examines the ways in which Initial Teacher Education in Scotland and Alberta, Canada, seeks to 'get students in', 'get them out and into the workforce', 'get on with teaching future teachers' and how it should 'get on with students'. Using Adams' (2016) policy heuristic, which posits that policy can be discerned in three realms: frame; explanation; and formation, this paper considers the middle realm: that of policy explanation. Here, attempts to position policy through public pronouncement, policy directive, mandate and/or missive are examined in the context of ITE in Scotland and Alberta. By analysing policy explanations, the paper marks out how both jurisdictions should begin to attempt to craft ITE located in career-long, professional learning and development that understands and acknowledges tensions between ITE and later teacher-education phases. Finally, the paper makes a tentative proposal as to what such ITE might hope to achieve and how it might contribute to a well-developed workforce, so that both locations and other jurisdictions might orient initial teacher development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past decades, concerns regarding the local and cumulative impacts of oil sands development have been increasing. These concerns reflect the industry's emissions, land disturbance, water use, and the resulting impacts to Indigenous Rights. Effective environmental management is essential to address and ultimately manage these concerns. A series of ambient regional monitoring programs in the oil sands region (OSR) have struggled with scope and governance. In the last 10 years, monitoring has evolved from a regulatory‐driven exercise implemented by industry into a focused, collaborative, multistakeholder program that attempts to integrate rigorous science from a multitude of disciplines and ways of knowing. Monitoring in the region continues to grapple with leadership, governance, data management, scope, and effective analysis and reporting. This special series, "A Decade of Research and Monitoring in the Oil Sands Region of Alberta, Canada," provides a series of critical reviews that synthesize 10 years of published monitoring results to identify patterns of consistent ecological responses or effects, significant gaps in knowledge, and recommendations for improved monitoring, assessment, and management of the region. The special series considered over 300 peer‐reviewed papers and represents the first integrated critical review of the published literature from the region. This introductory paper of the series introduces the history of ambient environmental monitoring in the OSR and discusses historic and ongoing challenges with the environmental monitoring effort. While significant progress has been made in areas of governance, expanded geographical scope, and inclusion of Indigenous communities in monitoring in the region, significant issues remain regarding a lack of integrated reporting on environmental conditions, public access to data, and continuity of monitoring efforts over time. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2022;18:319–332. © 2021 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC). KEY POINTS: This article introduces a special series that reviews over 300 manuscripts published over 10 years across environmental disciplines in the oil sands region of Alberta.The series is the first integrated critical review of published literature in the region.We discuss the history of ambient environmental monitoring in the region and the historic and ongoing challenges including how western science and Indigenous knowledge have been considered.While some progress has been made, significant issues remain regarding a lack of integrated reporting on environmental conditions, lack of public access to data, and discontinuity of monitoring efforts over time due, in part, to political influence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historically, tailings facilities have been designed primarily with consideration of the mine's active life. This is problematic, as the lifespan of a tailings dam may far exceed the life of the mine. Over time, it is expected that these structures will transform into a mine waste structure and then eventually a landform. In Alberta, Canada, dam owners can submit a decommissioning, closure, and abandonment (DCA) plan and completion reports to apply for the facility to be de-registered as a dam. If successful, the structure would be considered a solid waste structure and may be reclassified and regulated as a mine waste dump. The Alberta Energy Regulator expects DCAs to be accompanied and supported by risk assessments that consider long-term physical failure modes, including failure modes that may not be applicable during operations, in accordance with Manual 019. To help support the process of de-registering a tailings dam, a risk management tool, referred to as a Generalized Failure Modes Effects (G-FMEA) framework, was developed and presented in the Journal of Minerals in the Special Issue Tailings Dams: Design, Characterization, Monitoring, and Risk Assessment. The G-FMEA was designed to be used for assessing risks of an external tailings facility in closure, with the goal of assessing the long-term risk of geotechnical failure to support the process of de-registration. In Alberta, a number of tailings dams are undergoing closure and reclamation activities. This paper applies the developed G-FMEA framework to an oil sands tailings dam in Alberta to demonstrate the application of the framework. The paper assesses two specific failure modes of two different elements, including clogging of the drains and surface erosion of the berm. The failure modes are assessed over different timescales to demonstrate how the consequence, likelihood, and risk rating may change over time. The results of this process are discussed in the context of the potential for the facility to be de-registered as a dam. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alberta is located in Western Canada, and is bordered by British Columbia to the west, and Saskatchewan to the east. The province has a history of employing restorative justice practices that date back many years. Today, Alberta has many restorative justice platforms operating across the province. The present study sought to uncover the genesis of restorative justice in Alberta, and specifically, what has contributed to the growth of restorative justice in this province. To do this, we conducted a qualitative study, in which we interviewed 13 Key Informants from across Alberta. Responses to the question of what contributed to the growth of restorative justice in Alberta were coded and analyzed. The findings of this study are categorized into three major themes: Community, Justice System, and Government. Each of these themes explores several topics, such as community engagement and the push from grassroots organizations, the role of courts, RCMP, judges, and other leaders in the justice system, as well as government funding and programming. This presentation also explores the ‘restorativeness’ of specialized courts such as the Calgary Indigenous Court; a topic that is becoming especially important in recent years. This paper ends with limitations and areas for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a discursive analysis of the gendering of Alberta's K-6 Social Studies draft curriculum. It examines if and to what extent the social studies curriculum promotes a gender-less portrayal of history buttressed by a façade of diversity and inclusion. In borrowing from Carol Bacchi's theories of "what's the problem represented to be" (WPR) and policies as gendering, it focuses on the discursive positioning of gendered norms and knowledge structures within the curriculum to unearth how the curriculum cultivates traditional masculinist and settler-colonial forms of historical truth while silencing those who contradict these narratives (1999; 2017). Through paying attention to the inclusion of binary gendered representation, their contextual underpinnings, and where gendered absences are positioned, the paper uncovers how the curriculum promotes a return to historical narratives predicated on patriarchal and white thought that pose dire implications for student's conceptualization(s) of their and their province's identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a discursive analysis of the gendering of Alberta’s K-6 Social Studies draft curriculum. It examines if and to what extent the social studies curriculum promotes a gender-less portrayal of history buttressed by a façade of diversity and inclusion. In borrowing from Carol Bacchi’s theories of “what’s the problem represented to be” (WPR) and policies as gendering, it focuses on the discursive positioning of gendered norms and knowledge structures within the curriculum to unearth how the curriculum cultivates traditional masculinist and settler-colonial forms of historical truth while silencing those who contradict these narratives (1999; 2017). Through paying attention to the inclusion of binary gendered representation, their contextual underpinnings, and where gendered absences are positioned, the paper uncovers how the curriculum promotes a return to historical narratives predicated on patriarchal and white thought that pose dire implications for student’s conceptualization(s) of their and their province’s identities.

Natural Language Processing plays a vital role in our day-to-day life. Deep learning models for NLP help make human life easier as computers can think, talk, and interact like humans. Applications of the NLP models can be seen in many domains, especially in machine translation and psychology. This paper briefly reviews the different transformer models and the advantages of using an Encoder-Decoder language translator model. The article focuses on the need for sequence-to-sequence language-translation models like BERT, RoBERTa, and XLNet, along with their components. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The steep decline in the price of wind turbines and solar photovoltaics provides a possibility to decarbonize electricity deeply and affordably. This study uses the HOMER Pro energy modeling tool to model an optimized grid-connected renewable energy system for a community in southern Alberta, Canada. The study's goal is to identify the best renewable energy technology combinations that can provide electricity at the lowest levelized cost of energy (LCOE) and has lower greenhouse gas emissions as compared to the electricity produced by traditional fossil fuel. Gleichen is a small town in southern Alberta that is close to numerous commercial wind and solar projects given the region's high quality renewable resources. "Tri-brid" systems consisting of wind turbines, solar photovoltaics, and battery energy storage systems (BESS) are considered and compared based on electricity prices, net present cost, and greenhouse gas emissions savings. This tri-brid system is connected to the grid to sell excess generated electricity or buy electricity when there is less or no availability of solar and wind energy. The tri-brid energy system has an estimated LCOE of 0.0705 CAD/kWh, which is competitive with the price of electricity generated by natural gas and coal, which is 0.127 CAD/kWh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As boreal forests rapidly warm due to anthropogenic climate change, long‐term baseline community data are needed to effectively characterize the corresponding ecological changes that are occurring in these forests. The combined seasonal dynamics (SEADYN) and annual dynamics (ANNDYN) data set, which documents the vegetative changes in boreal forests during the snow‐free period, is one such source of baseline community data. These data were collected by George H. La Roi and colleagues in Alberta, Canada from 1980 to 2015 within permanent sampling plots established in the Hondo‐Slave Lake area (eight stands; 1980–2015) in central Alberta and the Athabasca Oil Sands (AOS) region (17 stands; 1981–1984) near Fort McMurray in northeastern Alberta. Various data were collected, with temporal and spatial coverage differing by data set. These data sets include, but are not limited to, cover of each identified vascular plant and bryoid (moss, liverwort, and lichen) species; forest mensuration; forest litter production; and soil temperature and moisture. Notably, permanent sampling plots were set up as a grid, which will facilitate analyses of spatial relations. These data can be used to analyze long‐term changes in seasonal dynamics and succession within boreal forest communities and serve as a baseline for comparison with future forest conditions in unmanaged, managed, and reclaimed forests. Data are released under a CC‐BY license; please cite this data paper when using the data for analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the strategies used by government-sponsored institutions dedicated to addressing systemic barriers to employment for racialized immigrants in Edmonton. The research involved conducting in-depth semi-structured interviews with service providers, employment program coordinators from different settlement and employment agencies, and a research and training centre operating in Edmonton, Alberta. The first objective is to understand the barriers racialized immigrants face through the hiring and promotion process. The second objective is to understand the support provided by those institutions and the impact of their equity policies on how they assist racialized Canadians in finding gainful employment. Lastly, this study explores the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement on the employment of racialized immigrants in Edmonton. The results show that around 50% of employment service providers acknowledged that visible minority immigrants face barriers while integrating into the labour market, including racial microaggressions in their jobs. In addition, the findings indicate a lack of programs tailored to the needs of racialized job seekers. Participants in this study reported that the Black Lives Matter movement raised awareness among employers regarding racial issues in the workplace. Hence, there is a demonstrated need for employers to undergo training to recognize and address racism in hiring, promoting, and retaining racialized employees at Canadian workplaces. Interviewees recognized that the COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted racialized employees and newcomers. They recommended that Canadian companies establish educational programs that emphasize the importance and benefits of racial diversity, equity, and inclusion in the hiring process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For ground-nesting birds such as waterfowl, estimating nest survival is a crucial step in assessing population dynamics, and marking nests facilitates continuous monitoring. A conventional method for marking ground nests is to use an inconspicuous rod at the nest bowl and a wooden lathe 10 m away. Nests are visually marked to allow for greater efficiency when revisiting nests and to facilitate subsequent nest searching sessions. Anecdotal evidence suggests that common ravens (Corvus corax) and American crows (C. brachyrhynchos) might learn to recognize these nest markers, resulting in artificially inflated rates of nest predation. In 2017 in central Alberta, Canada, we compared fates of nests marked with the conventional lathe-rod combination versus only a rod. We also tested the prevalence of corvid predation of marked nests in areas with and without high observations of corvid activity, using data from a study of dabbling duck (Anas spp.) nest survival. Our results suggest that marking nests with a lathe can increase predation by corvids and that nests marked with a rod only were more likely to hatch. Evaluation and use of alternate nest-marking methods would be beneficial for future studies of ground-nesting birds in areas where corvids are common. Our work highlights the importance of re-evaluating the efficacy of well-established field methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article introduces the special issue of REPCS dedicated to the analysis of the restructuring of higher education in Alberta, Canada. It describes the acceleration of the processes of commodification of education and research and the corporatization of institutional governance under the government that took office in April 2019. The Alberta case is situated within the political economy of this petro-state, governed by a right-wing populist party, as well as in relation to the global trends in post-secondary education driven by neoliberal regimes. Further, the article highlights the cracks in the foundations of modern universities that have deeper historical origins than neoliberalism, and that are widening as the governance and raison d'etre of these institutions are challenged by global socio-ecological crises and Indigenous-led decolonization and climate justice movements. Drawing upon firsthand knowledge, as a participant in the struggles at the University of Alberta, as well as extensive research into the government's restructuring agenda and the impacts on the post-secondary sector, the author outlines proposals for reform of the legislative framework governing the relationship between universities and the state, as well as the internal governance of the institution, and assesses the current terrain of agency for such transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Historically, tailings facilities have been designed primarily with consideration of the mine’s active life. This is problematic, as the lifespan of a tailings dam may far exceed the life of the mine. Over time, it is expected that these structures will transform into a mine waste structure and then eventually a landform. In Alberta, Canada, dam owners can submit a decommissioning, closure, and abandonment (DCA) plan and completion reports to apply for the facility to be de-registered as a dam. If successful, the structure would be considered a solid waste structure and may be reclassified and regulated as a mine waste dump. The Alberta Energy Regulator expects DCAs to be accompanied and supported by risk assessments that consider long-term physical failure modes, including failure modes that may not be applicable during operations, in accordance with Manual 019. To help support the process of de-registering a tailings dam, a risk management tool, referred to as a Generalized Failure Modes Effects (G-FMEA) framework, was developed and presented in the Journal of Minerals in the Special Issue Tailings Dams: Design, Characterization, Monitoring, and Risk Assessment. The G-FMEA was designed to be used for assessing risks of an external tailings facility in closure, with the goal of assessing the long-term risk of geotechnical failure to support the process of de-registration. In Alberta, a number of tailings dams are undergoing closure and reclamation activities. This paper applies the developed G-FMEA framework to an oil sands tailings dam in Alberta to demonstrate the application of the framework. The paper assesses two specific failure modes of two different elements, including clogging of the drains and surface erosion of the berm. The failure modes are assessed over different timescales to demonstrate how the consequence, likelihood, and risk rating may change over time. The results of this process are discussed in the context of the potential for the facility to be de-registered as a dam.

Objective: The goal of this study is to understand the attitudes and beliefs towards mandatory vaccination policies in Alberta, Canada in September 2021, during the fourth wave of COVID-19. Methods: 9400 posts between 1st September and 30th September 2021 were collected from the subreddit r/Alberta with Pushshift.io. Posts and comments were manually screened to determine their relevance to research objectives, and then coded using inductive coding and iterative qualitative analysis methods. Results: Inductive coding methods yielded five key themes: 1) opinions related to autonomy and consent, 2) concerns about COVID-19 vaccine passport enforcement, 3) concerns about government, 4) concerns about the logistics of passports, and 5) opinions relating to the necessity of passports to prevent lockdowns. Conclusion: Overall, the data presented favorable opinions towards an Albertan vaccine passport within r/Alberta. Anti-vaccine and anti-mandate opinions were often less extreme than those present in the literature, although this may be due to r/Alberta subreddit moderators removing those more extreme comments. Most reservations were due to issues of bodily autonomy, though concerns about the government and logistics also played a meaningful role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this article is to gain insight into the ways in which M'etis youth describe, understand, and express their identity and how this relates to their overall health and well-being. There has been a lack of opportunity for M'etis to identify and control depictions of themselves. As part of a larger intergener-ational digital storytelling research project, this research under-took a community-engaged, arts and strengths-based approach using semi-structured interviews and digital stories with M'etis from Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta to identify how they have come to understand what it means to be M'etis today in Canada. The findings of this study reaffirm an explicit connection between M'etis youth's identity and their overall health and well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 100 m thick stratigraphic section exposed at Dinosaur Provincial Park (DPP; southern Alberta) contains bentonites that have been used for more than 30 years to date DPP's rocks and fossils using the K–Ar decay scheme. Limited reproducibility among different vintages of K–Ar and 40Ar/39Ar ages inhibited the development of a high-resolution chronostratigraphy. Here, we employ and further test a recently completed U–Pb geochronology and associated age-stratigraphy model to update temporal constraints on the Park's bentonites, formational contacts, and other markers. In turn, we document rock accumulation rates and calibrate ages and durations of informal megaherbivore dinosaur assemblage zones and other biozones. Weighted mean 206 Pb/238 U ages from five bentonites range from 76.718 ± 0.020 to 74.289 ± 0.014 Ma (2σ internal uncertainties) through an interval of 88.75 m, indicating a duration of ∼2.43 Myr and an overall rock accumulation rate of 3.65 ± 0.04 cm/ka. An increase in rate above the Oldman–Dinosaur Park formational contact conforms to a regionally expressed pattern of increased accommodation at ∼76.3 Ma across Alberta and Montana. Palynological biozone data suggest a condensed section/hiatus in the uppermost portion of the Oldman Formation. Dinosaur assemblage zones exhibit durations of ∼700–600 kyr and are significantly shorter than those in the overlying Horseshoe Canyon Formation. A decreased rate in dinosaur assemblage turnovers in the last eight million years of the Mesozoic in western Canada may be explained by withdrawal of the Western Interior Seaway and the expansion of ecologically homogenous lowlands in its wake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reported lizard material from the Wapiti Formation (central-western Alberta, Canada) is limited to fragmentary remains of Kleskunsaurus grandeprairiensis and Socognathus unicuspis, a partial dentary attributed to Chamops cf. C. segnis, and a vertebra reportedly comparable to those of the much larger lizard Palaeosaniwa canadensis. P. canadensis is a Late Cretaceous North American member of Monstersauria, a Mesozoic and Cenozoic anguimorph group represented today by five species of Heloderma. Here, we document new squamate material from the DC Bonebed locality (Wapiti Unit 3; Campanian), including a right frontal identified as cf. P. canadensis and a taxonomically indeterminate squamate astragalocalcaneum. A partial skeleton from the Two Medicine Formation of Montana provisionally attributed to P. canadensis has a frontal resembling the corresponding element from the DC Bonebed in overall shape, in having narrowly separated facets for the prefrontal and postorbitofrontal, and in bearing osteoderms similar to the DC specimen's in ornamentation and configuration. The Two Medicine and DC specimens differ from a roughly contemporaneous frontal from southern Alberta referred to the monstersaur Labrodioctes montanensis. The DC specimen confirms the presence of monstersaurian squamates in the Wapiti Formation, representing the northernmost record of any definitive Late Cretaceous monstersaur to date. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge of the natural background concentrations of groundwater constituents is important for the management of groundwater resources, particularly for the assessment of groundwater contamination and the establishment of clean-up goals and regulatory target levels. In recent years, an increasing number of studies have assessed the natural background concentrations of dissolved constituents in groundwater using a variety of different methods, each with its own assumptions, advantages and limitations. The objective of this paper is to provide a methodological basis for improving the estimation of natural background concentrations of groundwater constituents. To this end, this paper critically reviews the different approaches used to determine natural background concentrations of dissolved constituents in groundwater. In addition, two regional case studies of fluoride in Canadian groundwater are presented to illustrate the estimation of background concentrations for natural groundwater constituents. The review of existing methods shows that the use of pristine groundwater samples is not possible in many cases, due to the widespread influence of human activities. The widely used pre-selection method can provide misleading results because of inadequate selection criteria and poor statistical significance associated with the reduction of the dataset. A variety of model-based methods have been developed, but these methods are all based on assumptions that cannot be verified. Relying on the user's experience and previous knowledge of the groundwater system, exploratory data analysis has many advantages and can be applied for both anthropogenic and natural constituents. The case studies show that the exploratory data analysis approach provides critical information to determine the sources of groundwater constituents and to properly delineate groundwater bodies for which background values will be established. Natural background concentrations should always be considered as theoretical values due to their spatio-temporal variability and scale dependence, and thresholds as concentration values above which further investigation is required. • Methods to determine natural background concentrations in groundwater are reviewed. • Two case studies are presented for geogenic fluoride in Canadian groundwater. • Exploratory data analysis is a powerful method to estimate background concentrations. • The delineation of groundwater bodies is key to determine relevant background values. • The sources of constituents need to be considered to determine suitable thresholds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tailings dams remain on site following mine closures and must be designed and reclaimed to meet long-term goals, which may include walk-away closure or long-term care and maintenance. The underperformance of these structures can result in significant risks to public and environmental safety, as well as impacts on the future land use and economic activities near the structure. In Alberta, Canada, the expectation is for a tailings dam to be reclaimed and closed so that it can undergo deregistration. To aid in assessing the risks of underperformance during and after closure, a Generalized Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (G-FMEA) framework was developed to assess the long-term geotechnical risks for tailings dams in Alberta, with the goal of assessing the potential success of a tailings dam closure strategy. The G-FMEA is part of an initiative to enhance closure evaluations in Alberta in a collaborative effort between industry, the regulator, and academia. The G-FMEA incorporates the element of time to account for the evolution of the system, which should be applied at the planning stage and updated continually throughout the life of the facility. This paper presents the developed G-FMEA framework for tailings dams in Alberta, including the developed risk matrix framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water is integral to Alberta’s economy, grounded in agriculture, power generation, extractive industry, tourism, and recreation. In 2003, the Government of Alberta released the Water for Life Strategy (the Strategy) amidst growing public concerns over multiple impacts on provincial water resources. The Strategy is a framework document guiding the development of watershed plans across the provincial landscape to be implemented by Watershed Protection and Advisory Committees (WPACs). This paper explores the extent to which First Nations in Alberta were included in the government’s development of the Strategy and in the implementation of the Strategy by the WPACs. Our research data was gathered through key informant interviews with WPAC personnel as well as content analysis of relevant planning documents from provincial and WPAC sources. The research results point to an absence of First Nations inclusion in both the development of the provincial water Strategy as well as the implementation of the Strategy through the WPAC policies and plans. The results also identify institutional gaps and opportunities by which the provincial government and the WPACs may engage more effectively and inclusively with Indigenous communities. From our analysis, we recommend a series of institutional arrangements to advance far greater inclusion of Indigenous voices and recognition of Indigenous peoples as rights-holders, in watershed planning in Alberta.

Marine mudstone of Coniacian age (c. 89.51-86.49 Ma) was deposited on a storm-dominated ramp spanning the foredeep of the Cretaceous Western Canada Foreland Basin. Marine flooding surfaces define 18 allomembers that thin over 300 km, from c. 140 m in the proximal foredeep to c. 20 m close to the forebulge crest. The broadly conformable succession of allomembers is partitioned into five 'tectono-stratigraphic units' by low-angle unconformities that bevel off c. 10 to 20 m of strata over 'arches' that have a length scale of c. 50-100 km and are bounded by relatively linear zones of flexure. Depositional history involved two alternate modes: 'Background' deposition of subtly-tapered allomembers took place on a planar sea floor, subject to regional flexural subsidence, with sea-level modulated by Milankovitch-scale (c. 125 kyr) eustatic cycles. 'Flexural' events deformed the strata into troughs and arches across narrow zones of flexure. Arch crests were bevelled off, probably by submarine wave erosion. Eroded sediment did not accumulate in troughs but was advected beyond the study area by storm-driven processes. Cycles of deposition, warping and erosion were repeated five times on an average timescale of 600 kyr. Arches and troughs do not coincide with Precambrian basement structures, and their origin remains enigmatic. Changes in in-plane stress may have effected the localized vertical motion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geographic inequalities in water distribution can lead to relatively small regions driving or buffering changes in water availability in major watersheds. This research provides a baseline quantification of water distribution in Alberta, Canada, and evaluates changes in water yield, streamflow timing, and climate from 1976 to 2015. Annual water yields for 77 contributing watershed areas were calculated and assessed for trends, and 45 unregulated watersheds were evaluated for changes in key streamflow timing metrics. Mountain headwaters supply 22–38% of annual flow of major rivers, while plains watersheds provide relatively low annual yield. Annual yield and precipitation decreases dominated northern watersheds, with increases in southern watersheds, and mixed trends in central watersheds. Later spring freshet timing and earlier onset of the low flow season were detected for most watersheds, leading to more water over a shorter duration when paired with increasing yield, and water losses in late summer-autumn when paired with decreasing yield. Yield and flow timing metrics are strongly related to precipitation with temperature as a secondary driver, except freshet timing, which is driven by spring temperature. This study provides comprehensive information about geographic drivers of changing water distribution and quantifies the disparity between regions of water surplus and deficit. Les inégalités spatiales de la distribution de l'eau peuvent conduire à ce que des régions de taille relativement limitée puissent contrôler ou retarder la disponibilité de l'eau dans de bien plus grands bassins versants. Nos recherches ont permis d'établir l'état de l'art de la distribution de l'eau et sa quantification dans la province de l'Alberta, au Canada. Elles évaluent également les modifications des débits, de leur évolution temporelle et du climat de 1976 à 2015. Les exports en eau annuels de 77 bassins versants contributeurs ont été calculés, et l'occurrence de tendances temporelles y a été recherchée. Par ailleurs, les variations qui ont pu affecter les métriques de la distribution temporelle des débits liquides ont été évaluées dans 45 bassins versants dépourvus de barrages. La partie amont et montagneuse des bassins versants apporte 22 à 38 % du débit annuel des principales rivières, tandis que les zones de plaine de ces mêmes bassins génèrent une part relativement faible de ces mêmes apports. La baisse des exports d'eau annuels et des précipitations domine dans les bassins versants du nord de la province, tandis que des augmentations de ces mêmes variables ont été observées dans les bassins versants du sud et que des tendances mixtes ont été relevées dans les bassins versants du centre de la province. L'occurrence plus tardive des crues printanières dues à la fonte des neiges et le démarrage plus précoce de la période d'étiage ont été détectés dans la plupart des bassins versants, ce qui a conduit à ce que davantage d'eau soit transportée au cours d'une période plus courte lorsqu'une hausse globale a été observée. Au contraire, lorsqu'une baisse globale a été remarquée, une baisse des exports en eau a particulièrement été observée à la fin de l'été et à l'automne. Les métriques de la chronologie de l'évolution des apports en eau et des débits sont fortement liées aux précipitations tandis que les températures ne jouent qu'un rôle secondaire, sauf pour la période d'occurrence de la crue de printemps liée à la fonte des neiges, qui est fortement contrôlée par la température qui règne à cette période de l'année. Cette étude fournit des informations particulièrement exhaustives sur les facteurs de contrôle spatiaux de l'évolution de l'apport en eau et quantifie les disparités entre les régions marquées par un excédent d'eau et celles qui sont en déficit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How would the usage of Indigenous languages contribute to overcoming the epistemological gap between Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Environmental Impact Assessments? This article examines incommensurabilities that arise in Sakha-Russian and Cree-English translations of EIA through the translations of the most common words in samples. Without being embedded in Indigenous languages, TEK and other knowledges are easily decontextualized, and results in the loss of layers of meaning. This study adopted a linguistic anthropological approach to language combined with content analysis and guided by a poststructuralist mode of analysis. We argue policies around EIA/EAs must be shifted to center Indigenous languages as the source of TEK and ensure that there is space for these languages to be used in the consultation processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Industrial control charts are used in manufacturing to quickly and robustly indicate the status of production and to prompt any necessary corrective actions. The library of tools available for these tasks has grown over time and many have been used in other disciplines with similar objectives, including environmental monitoring. While the utility of control charts in environmental monitoring has been recognized, and the tools have already been used in many individual studies, they may be underutilized in some types of programs. For example, control charts may be especially useful for reporting and evaluating data from regional surveillance monitoring programs, but they are not yet routinely used. The purpose of this study was to promote the use of control charts in regional environmental monitoring by surveying the literature for control charting techniques suitable for the various types of data available from large programs measuring multiple indicators at multiple locations across various physical environments. Example datasets were obtained for Canada's Oil Sands Region, including water quality, air quality, facility production and performance, and bird communities, and were analyzed using univariate (e.g., x-bar) and multivariate (e.g., Hotelling's T2) control charts. The control charts indicated multiple instances of unexpected observations and highlighted subtle patterns in all of the example data. While control charts are not uniquely able to identify potentially relevant patterns in data and can be challenging to apply in some monitoring analyses, this work emphasizes the broad utility of the tools for straightforwardly presenting the results from standardized and routine surveillance monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this inquiry, I explore, expose, and extrapolate upon sociopolitical and environmental absurdism as an environmental academic and educator based in Alberta, Canada—a well-known, and somewhat infamous, centre of oil and gas production and energy development in general. Moving beyond Alberta as a catalytic example, I introduce and discuss various forms of and themes within absurdist literature, theatre, and activism. In closing, I consider the theoretical and pedagogical potential of absurdism for environmental education scholarship and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Children attending childcare are vulnerable to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, and mitigation measures such as masking, distancing, enhanced hygiene are not feasible for this population. Describing outbreak growth during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in childcare centres may provide insight into how to best mitigate the risks of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases in these settings. This article describes the childcare outbreaks and associated cases in Alberta at different time periods throughout the pandemic. Methods: Our observational analysis used data on outbreaks and associated cases tracked through the Alberta Health Services Communicable Disease Outbreak Management database. We included all COVID-19 outbreaks opened in childcare facilities (March 2020 to December 31, 2021). We compared the characteristics of outbreaks and cases during each wave of the pandemic. Results: There were a total of 841 childcare outbreaks, including 4,613 cases (70.2% in children and 29.8% adults). Many characteristics of outbreaks and cases varied across pandemic waves, including attack rates (12.1%-28.7% in adults and 5.8%-16.3% in children), percent of cases in children (56.4%-77.3%), and percent of outbreaks with a child index case (34.0%-70.1%). The overall average cases/outbreak was 5.5 (range: 1-68), and case examples of large outbreaks showed that delaying testing and attending daycare while symptomatic seemed to drive higher transmission. Conclusion: Waves had different outbreak and case characteristics, for both adults and children. Transmission may happen more readily among adults and among children than between those two groups. Measures shown to be effective to reduce transmission in other settings can be implemented here, such as vaccination, strictly enforcing the exclusion of those symptomatic, and facilitating rapid testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Rural & Community Development is the property of Brandon University, Rural Development Institute and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This cross‐sectional survey reports on the experiences and impact of mothers in shared parenting arrangements and their young children ages 0–4 years across three provinces in Canada (Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario). The purpose of the study was to explore shared parenting arrangements in the context of domestic violence, and we sought to recruit mothers from a range of experiences regarding reported violence in their relationships with their ex‐partners. The online survey consisted of standardized tools to measure child development, depression, substance use, and anxiety, extent and severity of domestic violence, and coparenting. Recruiting during the pandemic was challenging, which required various recruitment strategies. The total sample included 84 mothers who completed questionnaires. Findings show that while mothers experienced various forms of domestic violence in shared parenting arrangements, experiences of coercive control were most evident. Implications are identified and discussed in relation to parenting plans, shared parenting and all forms of domestic violence including coercive control. Key points for the family court community: While shared parenting is being routinely ordered in Canadian family courts in contested custody and access situations, domestic violence is not being screened for and mothers and children are subjected to current and ongoing acts of violence and coercive controlling behaviors.With legislation changes to the Canadian Divorce Act will come policies that require attention to coercive control and practices for ensuring the safety of mothers and young children.Greater attention to screening for coercively controlling behaviors for legal and social service actors will be as important as screening for physically violence behaviors.The correlation presented here between the HITS scores and the COPAFS scores imply some of the ways in which the CoPAFS may be used in practice as a means to support (or not) decisions for shared parenting.This study begins to paint a picture of the impacts of domestic violence beyond physical violence in shared parenting arrangements that is not currently being considered in Canadian family courts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Earthquakes induced by human activities can impede the development of underground resources. Significant induced events (M5) have caused both economic and human losses. The recent ML 5.6 (MW 5.1) event near Peace River, Alberta occurs in a region of in situ bitumen recovery. We find that 3.4 cm of ground deformation was caused by reverse fault slip (∼29 cm), possibly related to Peace River Arch faulting. Events are located within the shallow basement, nearby to significant wastewater injection into Paleozoic strata. We find a statistical relationship between earthquakes and injection operations. These events were likely related to the in situ bitumen development: dominantly from wastewater disposal induced pore pressure increases, with smaller poroelastic contributions from bitumen recovery. The assessment of this earthquake as induced will likely have implications for future energy development, management, and regulation—including carbon capture and blue hydrogen. Plain Language Summary: Earthquakes can be caused by underground fluid injection; cases of M5 induced events have caused damage and harm. One of the largest recorded earthquakes in Alberta (ML 5.6) occurred in a region of underground oil sand development. Here, ground shaking and deformation information are combined into an interpreted result: that ancient faults were reactivated with reverse slip. The fault slip is largely within the crystalline basement, with a small portion extending into basal sediments. Nearby injection operations dispose of petroleum‐related wastewater in these basal sediments. This earthquake was likely triggered by the injection process: injection increases pore pressure, which diffuses laterally along permeable sediments, until encountering fractured rock, which channelizes flow into the crystalline basement—the increase of pore pressure within the fault continues until reaching a critical point for slip initiation. This event likely being induced will have important implications for future operations. Key Points: On 30 November 2022 one of Alberta's largest recorded events (ML 5.6, MW 5.1) occurred in a region of in situ bitumen recoveryA well oriented fault was reactivated with reverse slip (29 cm), causing up to 3.4 cm of ground deformationThe event was likely induced by pore pressure from disposal, with smaller poroelastic stress changes from bitumen production [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of TOPIA: Canadian Journal of Cultural Studies (University of Toronto Press) is the property of University of Toronto Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The South Saskatchewan River Basin (SSRB) is considered one of the most intensively farmed regions in Canada, with high densities of livestock and expansive areas of irrigated cropland. We measured concentrations of seven veterinary antimicrobials (VAs) in 114 surface water samples from feedlot environs and 219 samples from irrigation conveyances in the SSRB. Overall, detection frequencies in feedlot environs were 100% for chlortetracycline (CTC) and tetracycline (TC), 94% for monensin (MON), 84% for tylosin (TYL), 72% for lincomycin (LIN), 66% for erythromycin (ERY), and 23% for sulfamethazine (SMZ). For irrigation conveyances, detection frequencies for CTC and TC remained high (94–100%), but dropped to 18% for ERY, 15% for TYL, 10% for MON, and 4% for SMZ. Lincomycin was not detected in irrigation conveyance water. Maximum concentrations of VAs ranged from 1384 µg L−1 (TC) to 17 ng L−1 (SMZ) in feedlot environs while those in irrigation conveyances were 155 ng L−1 (TC) to 29 ng L−1 (ERY). High detection frequencies and median concentrations of VAs in both feedlot environs and irrigation conveyances were associated with high amounts of precipitation. However, an irrigation district (ID) with high livestock density (Lethbridge Northern) did not exhibit higher concentrations of VAs compared to IDs with less livestock, while levels of VAs in irrigation conveyances were less influenced by the degree of surface runoff. The ubiquity of CTC and TC in our study is likely a reflection of its widespread use in intensive livestock operations. Additional investigation is required to link environmental concentrations of VAs with livestock densities and increase our understanding of potential antimicrobial resistance in high-intensity agroecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Current published long-term provincial or territorial congenital anomaly data are lacking for Canada. We report on prevalence (per 1000 total births) and trends in 1997-2019, in Alberta, Canada, for selected congenital anomalies. Associated risk factors are also discussed. Methods: We used data from the Alberta Congenital Anomalies Surveillance System (ACASS) to calculate the prevalence and perform chi-square linear trend analyses. Results: From 1997 to 2019, the overall prevalence of neural tube defects was stable, at 0.74 per 1000 total births. The same was true for spina bifida (0.38), orofacial clefts (1.99), more severe CHDs (transposition of the great arteries, 0.38; tetralogy of Fallot, 0.33; and hypoplastic left heart syndrome, 0.32); and gastroschisis (0.38). Anencephaly, cleft palate and anorectal malformation significantly decreased with a prevalence of 0.23, 0.75 and 0.54 per 1000 total births, respectively. Significantly increasing trends were reported for anotia/microtia (0.24), limb reduction anomalies (0.73), omphalocele (0.36) and Down syndrome (2.21) and for hypospadias and undescended testes (4.68 and 5.29, respectively, per 1000 male births). Conclusion: Congenital anomalies are an important public health concern with significant social and societal costs. Surveillance data gathered by ACASS for over 40 years can be used for planning and policy decisions and the evaluation of prevention strategies. Contributing genetic and environmental factors are discussed as is the need for continued surveillance and research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As Alberta increases conventional solar power generation, land-use conflicts with agriculture increase. A solution that enables low-carbon electricity generation and continued (in some cases, increased) agricultural output is the co-locating of solar photovoltaics (PV) and agriculture: agrivoltaics. This review analyzes policies that impact the growth of agrivoltaics in Alberta. Solar PV-based electricity generation is governed by three regulations based on system capacity. In addition, agrivoltaics falls under various legislations, frameworks, and guidelines for land utilization. These include the Land Use Framework, Alberta Land Stewardship Act, Municipal Government Act, Special Areas Disposition, Bill 22, and other policies, which are reviewed in the agrivoltaics context. Several policies are recommended to support the rapid deployment of agrivoltaics. Openly accessible agrivoltaics research will help optimize agrivoltaic systems for the region, and can be coupled with public education to galvanize social acceptability of large-scale PV deployment. Clearly defining and categorizing agrivoltaics technology, developing agrivoltaics standards, making agrivoltaics technology-friendly regulations and frameworks, and developing programs and policies to incentivize agrivoltaics deployment over conventional PV will all accelerate the technology's deployment. Through these measures, Alberta can achieve conservation and sustainability in the food and energy sectors while simultaneously addressing their renewable energy and climate-related goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Persistence of sensitive wildlife in populated regions requires conservation strategies that address gradual expansion of development footprint and human activity. The project-based environmental assessment regime for municipal development is poorly suited to provide necessary strategic perspective, given its focus on local and short-term impacts. We used the ALCES cumulative effects model to strategically assess impacts to grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) in the Bow Valley of Alberta, Canada. Landscape simulation mapped expansion of past and potential future development footprint in the region over multiple decades. Consequences to movement connectivity for grizzly bears were estimated by applying a least cost path analysis to the landscape simulation. An index of recreational activity was derived from fitness tracking data and integrated with the landscape simulation to model change in recreational activity through time. Maps of grizzly bear connectivity and recreational activity were combined to calculate human-bear conflict risk. The analysis suggests that connectivity has been altered through displacement to upslope areas by settlement expansion, such that surrounding natural areas have become important for grizzly bear connectivity. These areas are also popular for outdoor recreation, resulting in elevated human-bear conflict risk which can be expected to increase if development and human activity continue to expand in high connectivity areas. Conservation of wildlife in populated regions will be supported by broadening the scope of environmental assessment to address cumulative effects of development footprint and human activity over large spatial and temporal scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of an observatory for examining and monitoring trends for research in the social sciences and health arose from analogy with the facilities of astronomy and the realization that close and consistent observation was essential to understand interactions among determinants of health in a community. Their theoretical foundations are largely grounded in the "population health model," an intellectual framework developed in 1974 and associated with a movement called "the new public health." We developed an observatory for an affluent, unexceptional, suburban jurisdiction ("County 20") in the province of Alberta, in western Canada, and used it to study and monitor both normative and emergent issues in environmental health. The observatory was conceived as a utility, or multi-purpose vehicle, for describing and responding to emerging community issues quickly and gathering data and qualitative findings as required. Case studies on issues of local importance allowed us to observe the dynamics of community response comprehensively, using quantitative and qualitative methods as appropriate. Valuable insights gleaned from the cases studied pertained to risk perception, the NIMBY syndrome, and reorganizing and auditing public health services. It did less well when the object of study was further removed from the community of interest, when there was no clear action item to be recommended, and when sponsors had expectations for certainty that could not be supported by available data sources. The observatory eventually was merged into a community health outreach program. The local observatory model is a practical, low-cost, and sustainable model for capturing generalizable and specifically local case study experience on a small scale but is limited in its effectiveness and by the scope of its coverage. It can be an initial step toward longitudinal and community monitoring studies on a larger scale. The observatory model can be used to elevate the level of case studies, impose rigor on analysis, and compile case studies for comparative and analytical studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physcomitrium pygmaeum is an ephemeral moss described in 1871 from a single collection from Utah, currently considered conspecific with Physcomitrium pyriforme. The interpretation of the taxon has been problematic due to its rarity in the field, the elusiveness of the type material, and an extremely scattered and inconsistent collection record. Here we present a comprehensive description and assessment of the taxon following the identification of the original material and lectotype designation, the examination of all existing herbarium specimens to the best of our knowledge, the collection of fresh material in Nevada, and the molecular barcoding of the latter using four plastid and two nuclear loci. Available information, albeit scant, suggests that this member of the North American bryoflora should be considered critically endangered following IUCN criteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Alberta's CO 2 emission from the power and industry sectors is 136 Mtpa. • The total mid CO 2 storage capacity in oil and gas fields in Alberta is 5.2 Gt. • A CCS corridor within 200 km from Edmonton is proposed which will mitigate up to 52 Mtpa CO 2 or 38% of Alberta's CO 2 emission. To enable Alberta, Canada to reduce CO 2 emissions by 30% from 2005 levels by 2030, we investigate carbon capture and storage (CCS) opportunities in Alberta, Canada by conducting a plant-by-plant evaluation of CO 2 emissions from 157 power and industrial plants and a field-by-field analysis of CO 2 storage capacity in 15,143 oil fields and 68,327 gas fields. Results show that CO 2 emissions from power and industrial plants is 136 Mtpa. Additionally, the mid CO 2 storage capacity is 41.5 Gt in gas fields and 5.2 Gt in oil fields. Oil fields also have a mid CO 2 -enhanced oil recovery (CO 2 -EOR) potential of 6,895 MMbbl. Based on these findings, this paper proposes a first-of-a-kind CCS corridor within 200 km from Edmonton, which can mitigate up to 52.4 Mtpa CO 2 or 38% of Alberta's emissions from power and industry sectors. There is a mid CO 2 storage capacity of 1.8 Gt and mid CO 2 -EOR potential of 3,550 MMbbl within this CCS corridor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Alberta operates one of the few energy-only electricity markets. This paper highlights the benefits of Alberta's market design for the incorporation of a carbon price which efficiently transmits incentives to market participants. Specific attention is paid to how carbon pricing has contributed to the shift away from coal towards natural gas and wind. The incentives created by carbon pricing have resulted in substantial new investment in wind, solar, and natural gas-fired generation capacity. • Alberta's competitive energy-only electricity market provides immediate flow-through of carbon pricing to purchasers. • The merit order and dispatch has changed dramatically, reducing coal use and increasing the frequency that it is marginal. • The price signals have led to rapid improvements in carbon intensity and total carbon emissions. • High value monetized environmental attributes have created strong incentives for expansion of wind generation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]