Grants and Contributions

The objective of the WIL Initiatives is to drive systemic change in the skills development system at the PSE level, to effectively align technical, foundational and “work-ready” skills of PSE students with the skills required by Canadian employers – demonstrated by an increase in incremental and sustainable WIL opportunities in sectors targeted by the program; and the continuation of collaborative and innovative partnerships. .

The key objective of the Sectoral Initiatives Program is to improve the availability and use of sectoral labour market information, national occupational standards, and accreditation and certification regimes among stakeholders; and to support better application and integration into appropriate programs and activities.

Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC) in collaboration with Canada’s defence, security and public safety communities are looking for state-of-the-art research on “moral injury” and cutting edge prevention models and treatment strategies, in support of DND/CAF personnel, healthcare workers and First Responders at the front lines of the current pandemic, in order to provide for the long-term mental health of these populations.

Qualifying United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization buffer zones as Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures within the Redberry Lake Biosphere, Saskatchewan

The interior structure and surface morphology of asteroids reflect the net result of processes contributing to their formation
and subsequent evolution. We will conduct geophysical studies using data returned by the OSIRIS REx mission to asteroid
Bennu, a small near-Earth asteroid ~500m across, focusing on the surface morphology of craters. We will investigate whether
crater interiors display different properties compared with their exteriors and whether there is any dependence of these
properties on spatial location and/or crater diameter to inform how craters probe the subsurface structure of Bennu

The OSIRIS-REx mission will return a sample from asteroid Bennu. The analysis of this sample will help determine this
asteroid’s history. This mission will enable detailed and coordinated laboratory analyses of asteroid material on samples from
asteroid 101955 Bennu that have known and well-characterized geological contexts. This research will use the Pacific Center
for Isotope and Geochemical Research at UBC to measure the bulk elemental abundances in the returned asteroid sample.
Based on the information from the spacecraft encounter, we expect that Bennu’s bulk elemental composition reflects that of
its parent asteroid and is similar to the composition of the Sun.
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Orbital remote sensing observations have provided invaluable pieces of information to build our knowledge of the composition and processes occurring in the lunar polar regions. For example, these missions have allowed to confirm the presence of cold traps and regions in topographic lows which never receive direct sunlight and confirm the presence of water ice. The VIPER rover mission will provide critical and localized observations to better interpret the orbital remote sensing observations. Here we propose to use observations from VIPER to study the local mineralogy, volatile content, and space weathering, and compare them with regional information from orbital measurements.

The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft successfully collected a sample of asteroid Bennu in October 2021 and is on its return journey to Earth to deliver the sample in September 2023.

To enable the full science value of this precious sample to be realized we will conduct a number of activities over the next three years. These include:
• Laboratory spectral analysis of meteorites that may be relevant to Bennu, specifically heated carbonaceous chondrites (to understand how primitive Bennu may be and associated implications for prebiotic chemistry on Earth)
• Examine data for the sampling site before and after sampling to understand Bennu’s internal structure and any “space weathering” effects
• Develop procedures to analyze the returned sample on a grain-by-grain basis (to maximize science return for the sample)
• Conduct the preliminary spectroscopic analysis of the returned sample to understand how varied it may be and to inform sample curation, analysis, and allocation to the scientific community.

The to-be-measured physical properties of asteroid Bennu's rocks - their strength, elasticity, seismic velocities, and
thermal conductivity - constrain aspects of its current geology and how it responds to impacts. The thermal
properties - how the asteroid absorbs, conducts, and radiates heat - influence how Bennu's orbit slowly evolves.
Bennu is comprised of rock fragments from at least one much larger parent asteroid and physical property
measurements may allow estimation of the parent's size. The University of Calgary will be concentrating on
determining the strengths, seismic velocities, and elasticity of Bennu’s returned samples

In preparation to study these precious samples we are beginning a multistage research program now focused on meteoritical and terrestrial analog materials. The fundamental purpose of this program is to establish the methods and protocols we will need to ensure not only that the maximum research benefits are gained from OSIRIS-REx material but also that the material is properly curated and that samples are preserved for future study.
The research program is divided into two fundamental areas: mineralogical and organics.