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A research project conducted at Thompson Rivers University(TRU) will study ways to improve the strategies to monitor mines and environmental restoration for the 19 mines across British Columbia.
TRU's Dr. Lauchlan Fraser and Natural Resource Sciences post-doctoral fellow Dr. Heath Garris will be conducting the research funded by Genome BC alongside University of British Columbia's Dr. Sue Baldwin.
“Being able to respond to emerging issues in a timely manner is of great significance and one of the reasons that Genome BC has made funding quickly available,” said Genome BC President and CEO Dr. Alan Winter.
Genome BC, Imperial Metals, NSERC and Mitacs fund $300,000 research project led by #myTRU http://t.co/prxDYSG8ra
— TRU (@myTRU) April 20, 2015
“Genomics technologies may provide the key to both understanding the elements necessary to recreate functional ecosystems and provide sufficient benchmarks for success,” said Dr. Fraser
The research has several key objectives, including to determine the likelihood of long-term metal leaching into the watershed and improve tools for monitoring passive bioremediation in soil and water.
“Metagenomics to assess impacts of the Mount Polley Mine tailings dam breach on associated ecosystems” is the title of the project that is valued at approximately$300,000.
Mount Polley Mine (Imperial Metals), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and Mitacs are among the key contributors to the project.
“We are pleased that our university and our researchers are able to play such an important role in understanding the environmental impact of the collapse of the Mount Polley Mine,” said TRU President and Vice-Chancellor Dr. Alan Shaver.
This research is critical for a province where 30,000 jobs are employed at 19 active mines in BC and generate more than $8 billion in revenues for companies.
Photo Credit: Thompson Rivers University