Space, the final frontier. Or is it? Although many people are fascinated by space, most are relatively unaware of how space technologies pervade their everyday life. From global positioning systems (GPS) and satellite communications to weather forecasting and monitoring the health of crops or the extent of sea ice, the standard of living we currently enjoy is fundamentally dependent on satellites and space technology. Space is becoming even more important in monitoring the changing climate, p...

Dr Gordon Osinski

Keynote speaker

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The Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute (ABMI) defines human footprint as the visible alteration or conversion of native ecosystems to temporary or permanent residential, recreational, agricultural, or industrial landscapes. It also includes land that is periodically reset to earlier successional conditions by industrial activities such as forestry harvest areas and seismic lines. To monitor and map human footprint across Alberta, the ABMI, in partnership with the Alberta Human Footprin...

Scott Vegter

Speaker

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From ancient cave drawings depicting hunting grounds to hand-sketched layouts of backyard gardens, humans conceptualize space through map making. Maps serve both to capture what exists on the landscape and to plan future uses by intentionally defining where specific activities can happen. Modern satellite technology creates geospatial datasets that can contribute to current and proposed land use management planning, all underpinned by the pursuit of the public good.Background

Sharlene Fritz

Speaker

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Maintaining undisturbed habitat is key to the recovery strategy of the Woodland Caribou boreal population. Seismic lines have been identified as a human footprint feature that requires specific attention for habitat restoration in part because linear features are linked to increases in the predation rates of caribou as they provide lines of sight and easy transportation routes for predators. It is estimated that there are hundreds of thousands of kilometers of seismic lines within Alberta (AB...

Jesse Viehweger

Speaker

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