Several times a month, a small drone rises above the trees at Swan Lake, following a precise path over the water. Parkgoers who enjoy walking, jogging or birdwatching might assume it鈥檚 there to capture scenic footage. Instead, the drone is part of a 快播视频-led effort to understand 鈥� and help restore 鈥� the health of an urban lake under pressure.

Swan Lake, a former gravel pit transformed into a stormwater pond and community green space, faces ongoing water quality challenges. As rainwater flows into the site from surrounding roads and neighbourhoods, it carries excess nutrients, road salt and other pollutants. Over time, this can fuel frequent algae growth, cloud the water and reduce oxygen levels, stressing fish and wildlife, limiting recreation and, in some cases, raising public health concerns.

Since April 2025, 快播视频 researchers, led by CIFAL York, have been turning concern about the lake鈥檚 health into measurable data and practical action through the Swan Lake Citizen Science Lab (SLCS Lab). The initiative brings together York research centres, including ADERSIM and the One WATER Institute, with local partners such as Friends of Swan Lake Park, a community鈥慴ased volunteer organization dedicated to protecting and improving the area鈥檚 ecological health.

鈥淐ommunities often know when something is not right with a local ecosystem, but it鈥檚 hard to act without clear, comprehensive and consistent information, as well as meaningful community engagement鈥� says Ali Asgary, director of CIFAL York and professor in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies. 鈥淭he goal of the lab is to support those concerns with reliable data that can guide real decisions.鈥�

"To assess a lake is to assess ourselves," adds Satinder Kaur Brar, director of the One WATER Institute and professor at the . "Its health card is a mirror of our environmental stewardship."

One way the lab is assessing the lake is through advanced technology, such as the use of multispectral and thermal drones operated by York research teams.

Equipped with special cameras that capture different types of light 鈥� including some invisible to the human eye 鈥� the drones can detect potential algae growth and subtle changes in water clarity as they scan the lake from above. Flying low and on demand, they provide detailed, up-to-date views of trends across the entire water body, offering a clearer picture than satellite images and a broader perspective than scattered and spot鈥慴y鈥憇pot water sampling.

The drones have already yielded valuable insights, recently shared in a York鈥憀ed, under-review study that monitored patterns from spring through fall 2025. By flying the drones roughly once a month and analyzing the findings over time, researchers were able to pinpoint where algae forms, how blooms shift across the seasons and how changes in water cloudiness are driven by biological growth rather than stirred鈥憉p sediment.

The findings confirm what many residents and park managers have long suspected: the lake is rich in nutrients and prone to recurring algae growth. The drone data, however, also reveal something new.

Conditions vary significantly from one area to another, suggesting that targeted, location鈥憇pecific interventions may be more effective than broad, one鈥憇ize鈥慺its鈥慳ll treatments applied across the entire lake. Knowing where problems emerge helps guide chemical treatments, shoreline naturalization projects and future restoration efforts 鈥� and provides a better way to measure whether those interventions are working. "Interconnecting drone data with on-ground water quality can turn ecological signals into informed action that is vital for communities," says Brar.

鈥淲hat the data made clear is that this isn鈥檛 a uniform problem,鈥� adds Asgary. 鈥淲hen conditions vary so much from one part of the lake to another, it changes how you think about solutions. This kind of information allows us to be more precise, more proactive and more strategic in environmental management.鈥�

In addition to monitoring Swan Lake, York鈥憀ed teams are working to make the data easier to interpret and use in planning. Researchers are developing AI tools to identify patterns in the drone imagery, anticipate conditions such as algae outbreaks and translate complex trends into clearer insights.

Other teams are using virtual reality and simulation to help users visualize the lake over time and explore how different interventions might affect conditions. Meanwhile, geographic information system (GIS) specialists are turning the results into interactive maps and dashboards that help the public and those involved in lake management understand what is happening across the site.

A core goal of the Swan Lake Citizen Science Lab is to encourage meaningful community engagement and shared stewardship.

鈥淔rom the start, this was never about researchers working in isolation,鈥� says Asgary. 鈥淭he goal of the Swan Lake Citizen Science Lab is to create a shared process, where community knowledge and scientific tools come together.鈥�

Local partners are not just observers; they are active partners in the research. Residents take part in field checks, help interpret findings, attend workshops and contribute to outreach efforts that share findings. Alongside them, 快播视频 students gain hands鈥憃n experience applying classroom learning to a real environmental challenge, working with researchers and resident members in a local setting.

For CIFAL York, which is affiliated with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research, the work at Swan Lake is a pilot that could inform other communities facing similar pressures on small urban lakes and wetlands.

鈥淭he impact here is very tangible,鈥� says Asgary. 鈥淭hrough drones, data and collaboration, we鈥檙e building a deeper understanding of how this ecosystem functions and how it can be protected over time. That kind of shared knowledge is what allows stewardship to last.鈥�

Find out more about the SLCS Lab, and see it in action, in the video below.

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Faculty of Science Professor Cora Young and Associate Professor Trevor VandenBoer were recognized through the NASA Group Achievement Award for their contributions to the Atmospheric Emissions and Reactions Observed from Megacities to Marine Areas (AEROMMA) campaign, a joint effort between NASA and the The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to study air quality and climate interactions across North America.

The award is reserved for those who have made exceptional contributions to NASA's mission and scientific endeavours.

AEROMMA combined aircraft, ground-based measurements and satellite observations to study how contemporary emissions from cities and oceans affect air quality and climate. NASA and NOAA approached York to lead the Toronto supersite, one of several measurement hubs established in major North American cities to contribute to the campaign's airborne data.

Young served as scientific lead, coordinating a team of 25 to 30 researchers; VandenBoer served as logistical lead, overseeing the physical transformation of York's rooftop laboratory 鈥� on the Petrie Science and Engineering Building 鈥� to host the research.

Also involved were York colleagues Mark Gordon, associate professor at the , and Rob McLaren, professor emeritus in the Department of Chemistry.

Collaborators came from across Canada and internationally, including Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) and the University of York in the U.K.

York graduate and undergraduate students had the opportunity to work on the project with those visiting researchers.

"Our ability to bring together this strong team of researchers allowed us to ensure it was worthwhile for AEROMMA to include Toronto," says Young. "Otherwise, we would have missed out on this unprecedented opportunity to learn about modern air quality here."

The 2023 summer AEROMMA project unfolded during a period of intense wildfire smoke across the region, an unplanned development that offered a rare opportunity for study.

"Wildfires will exacerbate air quality issues," says VandenBoer. "Understanding the chemistry of wildfire plumes arriving in the city is going to be critical to informing the public on when and how to protect their respiratory health."

The existing Air Quality Health Index is not well-suited to wildfire conditions because the smoke differs from the other drivers of urban air pollution.

One of the first papers to emerge from the project, now in its final round of peer review, found that wildfire smoke changed chemically as it travelled, changing how health and climate impacts are understood and communicated.

York researchers have also been in dialogue with the team behind ECCC鈥檚 2024 快播视频 of Winter Air Pollution in Toronto (SWAPIT). Together, the summer and winter datasets create a year-round picture of urban air quality in Canada鈥檚 largest city that could inform policy on everything from wood-burning smoke to the atmospheric impacts of road salt.

The work also validated NASA鈥檚 TEMPO satellite, a space-based instrument tracking air pollution across North America. Measurements from York鈥檚 site, alongside NASA research aircraft and ECCC sites, were essential in confirming the satellite鈥檚 early readings, helping move the tool into practical use for ongoing air-quality monitoring and research.

For York graduate students, the initiative created opportunities to build international networks. VandenBoer says students helped host collaborators by familiarizing them with York鈥檚 facilities and procedures, and in some cases were involved with operating, maintaining and responding to issues with visiting researchers鈥� instruments.

Those connections continued beyond the project. Graduate student Yashar Ebrahimi-Iranpour later spent two weeks collaborating at NOAA鈥檚 Chemical Sciences Laboratory, while graduate student Na-Yung Seoh went on to join an international University of York-led campaign in Cape Verde.

AEROMMA involved a range of York collaborators, including facilities staff, operations teams and University leadership.

"It's a York community undertaking," says VandenBoer. "A lot of people wanted to support us, and for no other reason than that's just the type of community that we have."

Young points to why the work is imperative today.

"There are a lot of chemicals being emitted into the environment we can't see or smell or taste," she says. "Just because we can't detect them with our own senses doesn't mean they're not a problem. We need to keep on top of it."

With files from Mzwandile Poncana

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Announced March 27 at York鈥檚 Markham Campus, Natural Resources Canada will invest $28.9 million in 12 projects across the country to build and deploy clean energy technologies through its Energy Innovation Program.

These investments support efforts to reduce emissions and modernize Canada鈥檚 energy systems as clean technologies advance.

York's project, led by Associate Professor Marina Freire鈥慓ormaly at Lassonde, is one of four initiatives funded in the Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage stream which supports early research on capturing, moving, story and reusing carbon dioxide.

Freire-Gormaly will focus on developing a carbon capture technology that replaces heat鈥慽ntensive systems with electrochemical and light鈥慸riven processes. By using advanced materials, the technology aims to cut energy use, reduce operating costs and improve performance.

鈥淭his funding allows us to move promising carbon capture ideas from the lab and scale them up, closer to real鈥憌orld use,鈥� says Freire鈥慓ormaly. 鈥淚t supports York鈥檚 role in developing practical, low鈥慹nergy solutions that can help reduce emissions.鈥�

The project, titled 鈥淒evelopment and scale-up of novel solid C02 capture photoelectrochemical active sorbents,鈥� began in 2023 and will continue until March 2027 with a focus on creating and testing new solid materials that absorb carbon dioxide when exposed to light and electricity, instead of through thermal processes.

Freire鈥慓ormaly and her team of researchers 鈥� including co-applicant Assistant Professor Solomon Boakye-Yiadom and other collaborators at York's Faculty of Science 鈥� have developed new electrode materials using copper, aerogels and specialized coatings to improve performance.

Researchers are using a small, custom-built lab to accurately measure how much carbon dioxide is captured. Findings will help evaluate costs, environmental impacts and carbon emissions, and help determine how sustainable and practical the innovative solvent-based pathway would be at an industrial scale.

鈥淭hese innovations are crucial towards a net-zero energy transition for all Canadians,鈥� says Friere-Gormaly.

Tim Hodgson, minister of energy and natural resources, says the project reflects Canada鈥檚 goal to scale up clean energy and responsibly grow the nation鈥檚 conventional energy industry.

鈥淲e are investing to provide reliable, affordable and clean power across the country that will propel our economic growth, protect affordability for Canadian families and make Canada a low-risk, low-cost, low-carbon energy superpower.鈥�

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Created in collaboration with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), the initiative brings together researchers, community organizations and international partners to build knowledge and capacity to respond to the global water crisis.

With Shooka Karimpour, associate professor at the , as academic director, the academy supports learning, strengthens global dialogue and bridges water knowledge with decision-making and public policy.

"Water insecurity means different things for different groups and different demographics," says Karimpour.

While some water challenges are shared internationally, she says, the academy also works to highlight local issues 鈥� from changing ice patterns in Canada to the impact of drought on specific communities elsewhere in the world.

That dual focus shapes everything the academy does. Its free online courses are open to learners worldwide at no cost. Offerings include 鈥淥n Thin Ice: The Impacts of Climate Change on Freshwater Ice鈥� and 鈥淎n Introduction to Indigenous Relationships to Water on Turtle Island,鈥� among others.

The courses aim to build practical knowledge of water systems, governance and sustainability at both local and global scales 鈥� whether the learner is a student, a community organizer or a policy professional.

In 2024, the academy engaged nearly 8,000 participants from 147 countries through courses, events and partnerships including United Nations conferences, international research collaborations and public exhibitions.

One of its most recent collaborations illustrates how that work translates beyond the classroom. For World Water Day 2026, the Global Water Academy partnered with the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto to present a Microplastics Discovery Station. This brought York scientists directly to the public to demonstrate how microscopic plastic particles move through aquatic ecosystems. Visitors examined water samples, identified microplastics and engaged with researchers first-hand.

For Karimpour, the event captured something central to the academy's mission: moving water science from the digital space into hands-on, in-person public engagement with communities.

There is also work happening with community-based organizations to surface stories and solutions that connect research to lived experience.

A with water activist Swani Keelson and the non-profit Global Water Promise examined how water insecurity in Ghana affects women's physical and mental health 鈥� and how limited access to clean water compounds broader inequalities, including period poverty and barriers to education.

"We are providing them with a platform and opportunity to share not only global water insecurity issues, but also innovative solutions that have been developed to mitigate this problem," says Karimpour. "Our goal is to raise awareness and ultimately inspire collective action."

That combination of training, storytelling and public programming reflects how the work aligns with York's broader sustainability agenda.

While its mandate is rooted in Sustainable Development Goal 6 鈥� clean water and sanitation 鈥� the issues it engages consistently extend into climate resilience, health, gender equity and governance. The work around the Ghana story advances SDG 5 on gender equality, while the microplastics research supports SDG 14, life below water.

"You can't really confine the impact to one SDG because water availability is such a deep issue," says Karimpour. "It really affects and falls into a lot of other SDGs as well."

Karimpour credits strong institutional support from York, including from University leadership, as central to the academy's growth. Looking ahead, Karimpour says it will continue to build new courses and partnerships, with an emphasis on reaching communities that have the most at stake in global water insecurity.

With files from Mzwandile Poncana

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Ciuying Jian (associate professor, ), Trevor VandenBoer (associate professor, Faculty of Science) and Daanish Mulla (postdoctoral fellow, ) are three of 34 delegates selected to engage in dialogue with policymakers during the 2026 Science Meets Parliament 鈥� Ontario Program (SMP-ON).

The event creates opportunities for in-depth knowledge sharing, in which delegates from the academic scientific community gain insights into the legislative process and learn how to effectively communicate research to policymakers.

This is the second year for the Ontario cohort, which is an expansion of the SMP federal program launched by the Canadian Science Policy Centre (CSPC) in 2018. It serves as a non-partisan initiative to benefit scientists, members of provincial parliament (MPPs) and Ontarians.

The three York representatives will bring research expertise in water and energy, air quality and chemical instrumentation, and human movement to the Spring 2026 delegation.

鈥淭his initiative is important because it creates a structured space for direct exchange between researchers and policymakers,鈥� says Jian, a professor of mechanical engineering. 鈥淭his type of engagement helps ensure that decisions are informed by evidence and allows researchers to better understand how policy is shaped in practice.鈥�

Jian鈥檚 research explores innovative ways to use carbon and water more effectively. Specifically, her research examines how to sustainably produce carbon-based functional materials and use them to clean wastewater and improve environmental monitoring and green energy systems. Her lab also uses computer modelling to understand the behaviour of materials and interfacial systems at a microscopic level.

She plans to highlight to policymakers the importance of supporting both applied and fundamental research and hopes to help build mutual understanding between scientists and MPPs about how each approaches complex decision-making. Jian says she will share insights learned with Lassonde and the wider York community, as well as external partners such as the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering. She will incorporate these new perspectives into her research practice moving forward, she says.

For VandenBoer, the delegation is an opportunity to help ensure that 鈥渟cience is a non-partisan entity in politics,鈥� and looks forward to scientists and MPPs working together to serve Ontarians

Atmospheric and analytical chemistry is the focus of VandenBoer鈥檚 research at York, which develops new tools to track nitrogen from use as fertilizer to grow crops to the air, as well as in the air quality of urban environments including indoor spaces. The research team working with VandenBoer studies how these chemicals travel and change from microscopic interactions at atmospheric interfaces to impacts at a global scale.

VandenBoer notes that by giving MPPs access to experts, and CSPC teaching scientists how to translate research for policy relevance, the program ensures that provincial decisions can be grounded in the best available evidence.

鈥淭he collaboration aims to benefit all Ontarians by bringing a wide range of diverse, expert voices into government to solve real-world problems,鈥� says VandenBoer, adding he plans to maintain relationships developed during the delegation.

Mulla, a postdoctoral researcher with Connected Minds at York, sees the delegation as an opportunity to ensure his research generates evidence that is scientifically rigorous, but also directly actionable for public health policy.

His research investigates how the brain and nervous system control movements. By using advanced computer models, he explores how individuals learn new skills or break old habits, with the goal of finding ways to help people learn physical tasks faster and safely.

"Visible collaboration between researchers and policymakers signals that evidence and governance are working together, not in silos,鈥� Mulla says, adding that he鈥檒l apply what he learns to his teaching and research, and will incorporate findings into lessons about science communication.

By participating in the initiative, York researchers will help strengthen connections between science and policy at the provincial level.

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Emergency management at airports is uniquely demanding because of the complex, diverse and dynamic systems involved, says Ali Asgary, professor of disaster and emergency management in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies.

With dense traffic, multiple vehicles and operations often unfolding during changing or extreme weather, coordinating airside and landside activity remains a major challenge.

鈥淓ven a small emergency at an airport can have significant political consequences and cascading impacts,鈥� Asgary says. 鈥淭hese are the dynamics that shape airport emergencies, runway incidents and large鈥憇cale disruptions to air transportation.鈥�

Asgary's research has gained renewed relevance amid the March 22 Air Canada collision between an aircraft and a fire truck on a runway at LaGuardia Airport. While investigations are ongoing, the fatal incident underscores how seconds matter during runway operations.

While it鈥檚 still too early to determine what led to the tragedy, Asgary says events often involve factors that emergency managers and aviation operators routinely study: real-time hazard assessment, workloads, communication and warning systems.

鈥淩unway incidents often involve overlapping risks, including split鈥憇econd decision鈥憁aking, heavy controller workload and limited redundancy in warning systems,鈥� he says. 鈥淲hen warning systems rely on a single communication channel, missed messages can quickly escalate into serious incidents.鈥�

Asgary is executive director of 鈥� the Advanced Disaster, Emergency and Rapid Response Simulation lab at 快播视频 鈥� where researchers and students simulate disasters and test response plans before they emerge in real鈥憌orld settings.

At ADERSIM, researchers use agent-based models to simulate aviation scenarios and examine how decisions by pilots, passengers, crew and ground emergency responders influence outcomes.

The lab incorporates virtual reality to help emergency managers visualize airport events and uses AI to analyze disruption patterns. It also explores how tools such as drones could support airside emergency response and risk assessment.

ADERSIM has also developed AeroHaz, a web-mapping application that identifies major hazards for airports worldwide to support hazard awareness and planning.

鈥淭hrough a combination of computer modelling, human鈥慽n鈥憈he鈥憀oop simulations, extended reality and AI, we can test how emergency response systems behave when multiple risks converge and conditions change rapidly,鈥� says Asgary. 鈥淭he work of ADERSIM contributes to York's leadership in disaster and emergency management.鈥�

Major runway incidents can yield lessons for emergency preparedness 鈥� but only if they are researched, documented and incorporated into revised procedures. The incident also highlights the need for more research into the technological and human factors driving airport safety.

鈥淪imulation-driven research allows emergency planners and responders to review how decisions are made, how workflows unfold in crisis situations and how to improve preparedness,鈥� says Asgary.

In addition to leading ADERSIM, Asgary is also director of CIFAL York, a UNITAR centre that connects academia with leaders and organizations to tackle global challenges through specialized training in disaster management, sustainability, health and entrepreneurship.

Together with Maleknaz Nayebi, associate professor at the and associate director of CIFAL, he is leading a project to develop AI solutions for airports to minimize risks and enhance response operations. Using AI can help predict weather conditions, coordinate workforces and more.

ADERSIM and CIFAL York also share this research through training and professional learning for airport and emergency management leaders, and through public events.

Those who are interested in learning more can attend a two-part webinar series titled Airport Operations, Passenger Management, and Technology in the Face of Geopolitical Crises. Presented by CIFAL York and ADERSIM, in collaboration with UNITAR, the event runs April 15 and 25.

CIFAL York and ADERSIM will also contribute to UNITAR鈥檚 Airports Global Training Programme, when Nayebi will host 鈥淔uture-Ready Airports: Preparedness for Mega Events Through Safety, Sustainability, and Smart Innovation鈥� on April 22 and 23 in Atlanta, Georgia.

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Led by Parmeet Singh Channe, a student, Enactus York is empowering students to tackle social and environmental challenges through award-winning entrepreneurship and ventures.

When Channe, a third-year computer science student, was growing up, he was exposed early to stark inequalities. He recalls seeing children his age working in extreme conditions instead of attending school. Those experiences instilled in him a drive to make a difference that evolved into a desire to pursue socially minded entrepreneurship and build projects to create the change he wanted to see in the world.

That motivation led him to 快播视频 and, in April 2024, to a LinkedIn post by Enactus Canada, a registered charity. Channe learned the organization empowers post-secondary students to use innovation and entrepreneurship to advance social impact. Through a network of teams at more than 78 campuses across Canada 鈥� and a global network spanning 35 countries 鈥� participants develop projects aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and compete by pitching their ventures and demonstrating outcomes on a national and international stage.

鈥淒iscovering Enactus felt like finding a platform that perfectly aligned with what I had already been trying to build: using entrepreneurship as a tool for real-world impact,鈥� says Channe.

After learning that a previous Enactus York chapter had dissolved during the COVID-19 pandemic, Channe became determined to resurrect it. Within a few months, he relaunched the chapter, which was officially ratified in September 2024. The group started small, with only two members. In those early days, Channe took on several roles: pursuing partnerships and funding, overseeing project development and working to recruit new members to grow the team into a thriving entrepreneurial community.

Today, Enactus York has grown to more than 90 members, supporting innovative initiatives 鈥� each driven by a purpose that reflects what first inspired Channe. 鈥淥ur goal is to create ventures that benefit lives at scale while improving people鈥檚 standard of living,鈥� he says.

In its first year, the group demonstrated its mission through award-winning projects, such as: AR Home Builder, an augmented reality app that helps rural communities to construct sustainable, resilient housing; Modular Homeless Shelters, which redesigns existing shelters with factory-built units to provide housing solutions; and Energent, an intelligent energy management platform that helps property managers reduce consumption and costs while promoting sustainability.

Three more ventures are underway this year. LiftAID connects students with non-profits, helping communities access volunteer support while providing opportunities to develop applicable skills. Easysim helps professors teach economics through realistic simulations, making education more engaging and accessible. Dragoncure is exploring ways to support triple-negative breast cancer treatment 鈥� especially in low-income countries 鈥� by developing solutions that are affordable, low-risk and aimed at reducing relapse.

Earlier this year, Enactus York took these projects to competition with team members Prabhkrit Singh (co-president of Enactus York), Mohammad Areeb (vice-president) and Samashi Munaweera (project manager of Dragoncure).

In its first appearance at the Enactus Canada Regional Exposition, the chapter earned three podium finishes: Easysim placed second in the TD Entrepreneurship Challenge, Dragoncure placed second in the Innovation & Impact Challenge and LiftAID placed third in the Desjardins Community Empowerment Challenge.

In addition to its Enactus achievements, Dragoncure also earned first place at the Hult Prize Qualifiers at 快播视频 鈥� part of a global competition that challenges student teams to pitch business ideas addressing major global problems. The qualifiers feed into national and international rounds, offering the team a chance to move on to the competition鈥檚 final stages and compete for seed funding.

While venture creation and competitions are the chapter's focus, it also serves as a hub. It organizes workshops, networking events and collaborative initiatives that provide opportunities to gain skills in market research, pitching and storytelling, project development and building partnerships. 鈥淭hese experiences not only support venture creation but also prepare students for careers in entrepreneurship and innovation,鈥� says Channe.

Looking ahead, Channe says Enactus York will participate in the Hult Prize Nationals in Montreal in April, followed by the Enactus Canada National Exposition in May, where teams compete for a chance to advance to Enactus Global.

Channe envisions the chapter growing into one of Canada鈥檚 leading student venture ecosystems. It boasts more than 10 active projects creating measurable change for thousands of individuals internationally, with Enactus York alumni leading startups and driving innovation across industries.

鈥淲e aim to contribute meaningfully to the SDGs while building a generation of students who see themselves not just as learners, but as problem-solvers and changemakers,鈥� he says.

By inspiring others to take action, Enactus York aims to create a ripple effect one person at a time. 鈥淛ust one tree can provide shade to hundreds of people in its lifetime,鈥� Channe says.

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快播视频 has launched a new public resource designed to help people better understand electric vehicle (EV) charging and make practical decisions about where and how to charge.

The initiative, led by Hany Farag, a professor in the , is supported by a $139,294 federal grant from Natural Resources Canada through its Zero Emission Vehicle Awareness Initiative, which funds education projects that support cleaner transportation.

"The hub is meant to serve a wide range of audiences, from everyday drivers and prospective buyers to building managers and municipalities planning for more charging infrastructure," says Farag.

The is an online platform that combines plain-language explainers with interactive tools. It helps users explore common questions, such as how long charging might take in different situations or what it can cost to install a faster charger at home. It is designed as a practical starting point for anyone trying to make sense of EV charging without a technical background.

The site is organized into two main parts. The first features short explainations and briefs answering common questions about charger types, home charging and why charging speeds sometimes vary. Users can also download information as PDFs. The second section is a growing set of interactive tools that help users explore real scenarios, such as a charging simulator that estimates how a vehicle's battery level changes over time during a session.

"A key aim of the project is to also address common misconceptions that can make EV charging seem more complicated or intimidating than it needs to be," says Farag.

The hub reflects the University鈥檚 deep research strengths in clean energy systems 鈥� grounding EV charging within the broader electricity infrastructure that powers homes, buildings and communities. It supports diverse settings, including condos and apartment buildings, where planning becomes more complex when multiple residents charge simultaneously within a building's power capacity limits.

Some tools tailored to multi-unit and municipal planning are still in development, but progress is steady and intentional, says Farag. His team is actively engaging collaborators 鈥� including representatives from municipalities, dealerships and the EV charging sector 鈥� to ensure the hub is shaped by real-world needs.

Core development is on track for completion by June, with an official launch planned for March 2027.

The project is a York community effort, with Abdullah Al-Obaidi, postdoctoral fellow, and Ahmed Abdelaziz, PhD candidate, leading the algorithms and software development that powers its interactive tools. Paulina Karwowska-Desaulniers 鈥� executive director of York's SmartTO initiative 鈥� supports community engagement, events and outreach.

The hub is being developed in collaboration with Moataz Mohamed 鈥� director of the Mobilizing Innovation for Transportation Lab at McMaster University 鈥� and the City of Mississauga, alongside industry partners EVA Canada and RideAlike.

Three years ago, York's Keele Campus was announced as a sustainability-focused 'living lab' where faculty, students and campus staff tested next-generation electric commuter vehicle prototypes. The hub builds on that momentum 鈥� supporting smarter, more practical planning for campus charging infrastructure, helping students and visitors navigate on-campus EV charging with confidence and keeping York at the leading edge of sustainable campus innovation as EV demand grows.

Looking ahead, Farag says the team plans to build national awareness by sharing the hub鈥檚 mission and resources through workshops, partner networks and by collaborations across Canada, ensuring the impact extends beyond York's campuses.

鈥淲henever there is a chance to advertise or publicize the project for any national effort, we will definitely take that opportunity,鈥� he says.

With files from Mzwandile Poncana

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Caleb Morgan is the second York student accepted into the competitive international research internship at the National Institute of Informatics (NII) in Japan. The program offers graduate students the opportunity to conduct research at global partner institutions, enhancing international collaboration and research inquiry.

A final-year master鈥檚 of applied science candidate, Morgan will spend up to six months at NII working on AI systems that could accelerate the way scientists discover and design new tools, as well as inform real-world progress in AI applications for greener manufacturing, aerospace innovation and faster drug development.

Morgan will begin his internship in late March.

At NII, he will work under Associate Professor Mahito Sugiyama on knowledge graphs 鈥� a way of organizing information so AI models can understand individual data points and the relationships between them, much like the the relationship between list of names and a family tree.

Morgan shares an example of how this is applied in practice: in disease prediction, a knowledge graph allows a model to connect a patient's medical history to their location and a specific time period. This produces more accurate results than a model working from isolated data, says Morgan.

"If you throw data into a model without any knowledge graph, the model might learn about people and situations but not be able to relate them to each other," he says. "When we construct a knowledge graph, the model understands that this person was related to this event or this place, and that gives us a more generalized, more insightful output."

He will also work with transformer models 鈥� the same foundational architecture behind well-known AI tools like ChatGPT 鈥� to decode the language of chemical structures and materials. The goal refining AI systems to make reliable predictions even when data is scarce 鈥� a significant bottleneck in scientific research and engineering, notes Morgan.

NII's environment, he says, is what makes it the right place for this research. The institute draws researchers who develop novel AI architectures grounded in advanced mathematics 鈥� exactly the kind of computer science apporach he wants to bring back to engineering.

Morgan鈥檚 foundation for this field was cultivated at York. In the Lassonde-based Processing Structure Property Performance (PSSP) Lab, supervised by Associate Professor Solomon Boakye-Yiadom, he has been developing AI models to predict defects in metal 3D printing for high-entropy alloys 鈥� a newer class of metal blends engineered for extreme environments like aerospace and high-corrosion applications.

Representing atomic compositions as knowledge graphs has already improved prediction accuracy, he notes, and he has presented these findings at several conferences. This combined effort in research and knowledge sharing shaped his successful NII application.

Getting there took persistence, however. Morgan applied to the NII program once before and while he was not selected, he applied again with a sharper, more focused application 鈥� one that advocated for why an engineer should cross into computer science.

"I had to steer my application to say 鈥榊es, I'm an engineer, but I want to delve into computer science to develop architectures for my domain,鈥�" he says. "I was much more intentional about the second application."

Behind the scenes, York International has been closely involved in his preparation, helping with documentation and accommodation planning in Tokyo 鈥� support Morgan says has made the process seamless.

Day-to-day at NII, his work will largely be behind a desk: writing code, reading papers and running experiments with datasets and models to test how well they can extract meaning from structured knowledge.

He will return to York later this year with new collaborations, novel methods and a sharper way of thinking.

"I'm going to have the mindset of a computer scientist and keep my domain knowledge as an engineer and be able to merge them to do new things,鈥� he says.

For York students eyeing similar opportunities, Morgan's path offers its own message.

"Be intentional, tailor your application," he says, "and don't be discouraged by rejection."

With files from Mzwandile Poncana

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Mars has been a focus of space exploration for more than six decades, with multiple international exploration expeditions studying the planet鈥檚 geology, atmosphere and potential habitability using spacecraft, rovers and orbiters.

As more missions are planned, new research from York highlights an important risk: the possibility that Earth's microbes 鈥� tiny forms of life such as bacteria 鈥� could travel aboard spacecraft and survive on Mars.

Preventing this type of contamination is a central goal of international planetary protection guidelines, which aim to avoid this contamination between Earth and other planets.

鈥淜eeping the Martian environment in pristine condition is crucial for proper scientific characterization,鈥� says Bischof, a PhD student and researcher in York鈥檚 Centre for Research in Earth and Space Science. 鈥淚f Earth microbes are able to survive on Mars, they could potentially confound Martian biomarkers, lead to false positive detections of life and/or alter the environment itself.鈥�

To better understand the risks, Bischof worked with Moores, an associate professor and planetary scientist who studies the environmental conditions of planets, to develop the Mars Microbial Survival (MMS) model. The research was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), including a Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship for Bischof and an NSERC Discovery Grant for Moores, as well as funding from NASA鈥檚 planetary protection program and 快播视频鈥檚 Research at York program.

The idea was inspired by the Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission, a joint NASA and European Space Agency effort designed to retrieve geological samples collected by the Perseverance rover and return them to Earth for analysis.

鈥淎t the time we began creating the model, the mission was expected to land on Mars in the early 2030s, so understanding the potential for contamination beforehand was important,鈥� says Bischof.

Using the bacterium Bacillus subtilis 鈥� a common soil microbe often used in research 鈥� Bischof and Moores applied their model to estimate how microbial populations might decline under Mars-like conditions such as intense ultraviolet radiation, extremely low atmospheric pressure, cold temperatures and the planet鈥檚 dry surface environment.

The researchers then used the model to analyze past Mars expeditions and landing sites, simulating how microorganisms might behave 鈥� and how long they might survive 鈥� if carried on spacecraft that land on the Martian surface.

The tool was used to examine microbes in two main locations on spacecraft: exterior surfaces, such as outer shells or exposed hardware; and interior surfaces, including instruments or sheltered components.

Their findings, published in , suggest that Mars presents harsh conditions for Earth-based microbes. Unlike Earth, the planet lacks a thick atmosphere and protective ozone layer, leaving the surface exposed to strong ultraviolet radiation from the sun.

Results showed that exterior spacecraft surfaces would likely be sterilized relatively quickly due to this radiation. In many cases, ultraviolet exposure alone would rapidly destroy most microorganisms.

However, microbes located in interior or shielded areas of spacecraft could experience different conditions and may survive for extended periods, Bischof says. The model predicts that other factors 鈥� including low atmospheric pressure and temperature fluctuations 鈥� would gradually reduce microbial populations over time, but at a much slower rate than on exposed surfaces.

The fact that some microorganisms may persist for decades on Mars, Bischof says, 鈥渋s important to consider when making policy decisions regarding the sterility of spacecraft pre-launch.鈥�

Although the Mars Sample Return mission that inspired the research is currently on hold, Bischof says the work remains highly relevant. The researchers say their innovation can inform spacecraft design and cleaning strategies by identifying components that pose the greatest contamination risk and where additional precautions may be needed.

鈥淗uman-led missions to Mars remain a high priority for NASA, and these results can be applied to any future mission landings on Mars鈥� surface,鈥� she says.

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