Grant: Research Tools and Instruments

The protection of coastal environment is essential to the prosperity of Canada and the world. In Canada, both federal and local governments have been facing a number of challenges in oil spills. Spilled oil is often transported to coastal regions by wind, waves, tides, and currents, damaging the coastal ecosystems and disrupting subsistence, commercial and recreational activities. Canada is committed to keeping the marine and coastal areas clean and safe for generations to come. The best scientific advice, knowledge and tools are urgently needed to protect Canada's coasts. Understanding the transport, behavior, and fate of spilled oil in the coastal environment is crucial for risk assessment and spill responses. Both biogenic and lithogenic fine particles are rich in coastal settings. However, existing research on the interactions between coastal fine particles and oil is still limited and there is a lack of in-depth knowledge through particle-scale analyses. The requested NX high-resolution multifunctional nano-metrological scanning probe microscope (NX-NSPM) will be used to explore the interaction forces between oil and biogenic/lithogenic fine particles in the coastal environment. This entails the works to (i) characterize the surface morphology of coastal fine particles impacted by spill oil, (ii) explore the interactions between oil and fine particles in the complex coastal environment, (iii) determine the oil migration and transformation pathways impacted by fine particles, and (iv) develop best response and cleanup practices for mitigating risks from oiled shorelines with fine particles. NX-NSPM can be used to develop a set of analytical methods for characterizing the fate of oil in the coastal environment as well as mitigating the risks through appropriate cleanup techniques. The findings can also be extended to multiple costal types nationally and internationally. The proposed infrastructure associated with the existing analytical equipment at the Concordia University will form a unique environmental research facility in Canada. This investment will support a complex mixture of novel and standard R&D tools to foster innovative oil spill response techniques and collaborations across multiple disciplines, and transfer knowledge to end users. A strong research team with complementary expertise and established international reputations will conduct the related research. The requested NX-NSPM will provide students with state-of-the-art knowledge in the characterization of oil-particle aggregates. The HQPs will be trained in instrument operations, experimental design, and result analysis. The obtained skills are critical for tackling practical spill response problems. Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) will be integrated into the project implementation, HQP training, and knowledge dissemination. The project team will also work with some Indigenous communities to address their concerns on coastal protection.