News: Alberta Land Institute

July 16, 2015

Responses To Change: Studying Reactions to Agricultural Land Conversion in Alberta's Capital Region

The Capital Region of Alberta includes Edmonton and its surrounding counties and municipalities –– an area in which conversion of land from agriculture to 'developed' is increasingly noticeable, because the population is growing at one of the highest rates in Canada. As people living in this area see a great deal of change occurring in a short period of time, what are their reactions, and how…

June 9, 2015

A Basis In Science: Modeling Crop Growth in Alberta's Irrigated Districts

How might the growth of different crops be influenced by changes in water demand? Could a specific water policy encourage or discourage the planting of certain crops, because of their water requirements? These questions could be of great importance to policymakers in Alberta’s irrigation districts, so an ALI research team is building a tool that can address them. The Alberta Land Institute research…

May 13, 2015

Living Laboratories at Impact Innovation 2015

Can plants be used to clean up hydorcarbon spills? Can we better model the likelihood of forest fires? Can we restore your wetland? One of those questions is currently at the heart of an ALI multi-year research project; the others are being explored through research supported by one of our Institute’s most valued partners: Alberta Innovates Bio Solutions –– AI Bio. AI Bio is a research agency…

May 1, 2015

Straight to the Source: Understanding Alberta’s Reservoir Management

Systems models can be incredibly useful tools for policymakers. By creating sophisticated simulations to predict what might occur under a specified set of circumstances, they help those shaping policy understand what benefits or challenges might arise if they adopt certain ideas, or if unexpected external factors intervene. The usefulness of these models can be heavily dependent on how well they are…

March 30, 2015

Unscrambling (Sub)Urban Growth

Municipal development is one of ALI’s four main areas of study, and with Unscrambling Sub(urban) Growth, Dr. Sandeep Agrawal, the Director of the University of Alberta Planning Program, is examining one aspect of that subject: the growth of cities. Currently in the midst of a one-year project funded by ALI, Dr. Agrawal is developing a ‘state of knowledge’ report to help us understand what researchers…