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Renewable energy politics in fossil fuel-producing jurisdictions: a comparative study of Norway and Alberta
No full textNorway and Alberta, a Canadian province, are united by significant economic reliance on their respective fossil fuel industries, and a commitment to sustaining fossil fuel production in a world facing increasingly stronger decarbonization pressures. Yet, their policies for renewable electricity development diverge sharply: Norway has subsidized an offshore wind industry characterized by high costs and poor profitability outlooks, while Alberta has introduced restrictive regulations on a rapidly growing wind and solar sector that has generated jobs, investments and economic growth.
This thesis examines how electoral and fossil fuel industry interests, policymakers’ ideas, and the influence of higher-level political institutions have helped drive these diverging policy trajectories.
The findings suggest that the difference reflects a fundamental difference in decarbonization pressures, creating contexts that are more and less conducive to renewable electricity development. Norway’s stronger pressures, shaped by electoral interests and integration with EU climate policy have spurred large-scale electrification, requiring increased electricity production to meet rising demand. In this context, strong public opposition to onshore wind and the potential for offshore wind to provide transition pathways for Norway’s oil and gas supply and shipbuilding industry situate the technology as the most feasible way to advance Norway’s interests and policy goals. In contrast, Alberta faces weaker decarbonization pressures, evidenced by widespread scepticism towards anthropogenic climate change and the decentralized nature of Canadian federalism which insulates Alberta from federal and international emission targets. In turn, the election of a right-wing government with limited transition aspirations and a strong commitment to maintaining natural gas as the primary source of electricity generation has reinforced local electoral pressures, culminating in restrictive regulations on renewable electricity development. While Norway attempts to leverage offshore wind to protect national interests and achieve multiple policy objectives simultaneously, Alberta’s weaker decarbonization pressures limit the role and significance of renewables.Science, Faculty ofResources, Environment and Sustainability (IRES), Institute forGraduat
Why we fear wolves in sheep’s clothing : moral impression-violations threaten meaning
No full textWhen good people break character by committing egregious wrongs, observers often appear distressed by the revelation that someone may not be the person they seemed. Yet, research offers few accounts as to how or why they may feel negatively. The present research investigates the effects of moral impression-violations; that is, events in which seemingly moral (or immoral) actors commit unexpectedly immoral (or immoral) behaviors. I present a novel theory that moral impression-violations threaten observers’ epistemological certainty in what they know about the world and other people, threatening danger. Nine highly powered studies show that moral impression-violations lead observers to feel decreased confidence judging character, more negative moral impressions of others, and a sense of meaning violation following these events. Chapter 2 specifically investigate these outcomes and compares them relative to the effects of a moral impression-confirmation of an immoral actor committing immoral behaviors in line with previous expectations. Chapter 3 then assesses the effect of the direction of the impression-violation, finding that impression-violations that go from better to worse are more impactful than those that go from worse to better. Chapter 4 considers the uniqueness of these effects to the moral domain, finding mixed evidence that moral impression-violations may be more impactful than analogous competence ones. Finally, Chapter 5 explores how individual and cultural differences in perceivers’ backgrounds moderate the severity of effects that they experience following these moral impression-violations from better to worse. My results contribute to ongoing research showing the importance of morality in people’s understanding of others and the world around them, and shed light on why even seemingly innocuous revelations about others’ characters can feel threatening.Arts, Faculty ofPsychology, Department ofGraduat
Comparative analysis of straight and arbitrary unmanned aerial vehicle trajectory planning for corona effect detection on powerlines
No full textThe integration of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in power line inspections significantly improves efficiency and safety compared to traditional methods. This thesis explores the comparison of UAV trajectories for detecting the corona effect, characterized by ultraviolet (UV) emissions due to high-voltage discharges, which indicate potential faults in power transmission systems. The study compares the effectiveness of straight and spiral UAV trajectories using advanced algorithms to determine the most efficient inspection paths. Simulations conducted in MATLAB reveal that straight trajectories offer an estimation error as low as 0.22%, demonstrating better accuracy and efficiency for large-scale inspections. In contrast, spiral trajectories, while providing detailed data for specific areas, exhibit higher estimation errors, up to 10.31%, and are more resource-intensive. This research uniquely incorporates a mobile receiver in UAV simulations, allowing a dynamic and realistic assessment of UAV performance. The findings contribute to enhancing the reliability and safety of power lines by comparing UAV trajectories for accurate fault detection, thereby improving maintenance protocols and helping to prevent power outages. This thesis provides significant insights into the practical applications of advanced UAV technology and trajectory planning in power line inspections.Applied Science, Faculty ofEngineering, School of (Okanagan)Graduat
Anticipating disaster : uncertainty, heritage, and place-making in Vancouver, Canada
No full textWithin a generation, residents of Vancouver, Canada have come to realize that their city faces a major seismic threat with uncertain timing for which they are not fully prepared. Simultaneously, Vancouver is confronting a housing crisis, a drug toxicity crisis, and a climate emergency that has intensified wildfires, heat waves, and flooding. This dissertation explores how a convergence of crises on differing timescales affects planning and governance, along with the values that undergird these decisions. Specifically, how do place-based values inform processes of planning for disaster recovery in Vancouver? My research engages with multidisciplinary literatures on disasters, heritage, affect, anticipation, and governance to explore both formal and informal avenues of planning and place-making. Through policy analysis, neighbourhood walks, participant-observation, and interviews with community-based groups in the Vancouver neighbourhoods of Dunbar and Grandview and with local professionals in the heritage and disaster fields, I follow the ways that people anticipate future disasters and act to preserve what they value.
This ethnography demonstrates how my interlocutors’ efforts constitute a holistic form of disaster recovery planning, building a sense of community around shared values to face an uncertain future. By studying the connections between people, heritage, and place, I establish heritage as an emplaced expression of values with a relationship to materiality that goes beyond the physical and is always both changing and threatened by change. Heritage values circulate within a moral economy of place, connected to processes of development, displacement, and belonging that give rise to neighbourhoods that are at once cherished, inequitable, and at risk. The seismic, social, and climatic risks facing Vancouver are neither evenly expressed nor addressed, as varying disaster temporalities affect place-making practices through what I call anticipatory crisis governance, a policymaking framework in which planning for an uncertain future is inflected through present crises. Conversely, my interlocutors demonstrated values-based techniques of imagining ‘otherwise’ for future disaster recovery – harnessing the speculative nature of disaster planning to envision alternatives for building or restoring a community. Though rooted in Vancouver, this ethnography suggests ways of envisioning post-disaster recovery that can positively affect many communities – urban and rural – today.Arts, Faculty ofAnthropology, Department ofGraduat
Taking advantage of common assumptions in policy optimization and reinforcement learning
No full textThis work considers training conditional probability distributions called policies, using simulated environments via gradient-based optimization methods. It begins by investigating the effects that complex model classes have on settings where a policy is learned through the imitation of expert data which is gathered through repeated environmental interaction. Next, it discusses how to build a gradient based optimizer which is tailored specifically to policy optimization where querying gradient information is expensive. We then consider policy optimization settings which contain imperfect expert demonstration, and design an algorithm which utilizes additional information available during training to improve the policy performance at test time and the efficiency of learning. Lastly, we consider how to generate behavioral data which satisfies hard constraints by using a combination of learned inference artifacts and a special variant of sequential Monte Carlo.Science, Faculty ofComputer Science, Department ofGraduat
Alternative polyadenylation at Mest
No full textImprinting, an epigenetic phenomenon where only one allele of a gene is expressed depending on its parental origin, plays a significant role in mammalian development. The sub-proximal MMU6 imprinting domain, particularly, includes the paternally expressed gene Mest and the maternally expressed genes Copg2 and Klf14. In addition to the mature mRNA, Mest has a much longer isoform produced via alternative polyadenylation, termed MestXL. Mest is a candidate gene for the growth restriction Silver-Russell syndrome (SRS), since maternal uniparental disomy for the chromosomal region containing MEST (mUPD7) has been identified in 5-10% of SRS patients and because Mest knockout mice exhibit a growth restriction phenotype. The tissue-specific switch from Mest to MestXL formation seems to be linked to differential expression of the downstream gene Copg2. Copg2, which is adjacent and antisense to Mest/MestXL, is normally biallelically expressed. However, in tissues where MestXL is produced, such as the developing central nervous system, Copg2 shows preferential maternal expression, suggesting a potential regulatory role for MestXL in this process since it is exclusively expressed form the paternal allele.
This thesis explores the expression and regulation of MestXL, which induces secondary imprinting of Copg2 within the central nervous system (CNS). Although it is known that MestXL is expressed in the CNS, the specific cell types, mechanisms behind its production and effect on paternal Copg2 expression remain unclear. I leveraged RNA-seq data and established an ESC-derived cortical neuron differentiation protocol to investigate MestXL expression. To study the sufficiency of the Mest mRNA polyA signal (PAS) in MestXL production in cortical neurons, I also developed a double-fluorescent Mest primary PAS transgenic ESC line. Finally, I constructed an endogenous MestXL reporter-truncation vector, for eventual integration at Copg2 and forward genetics studies of factors involved in MestXL expression and Copg2 imprinting in F1 ESCs.
These tools and methodologies provide a foundation for understanding the regulation and function of the Mest locus, with broader implications for APA regulation and secondary imprinting.Medicine, Faculty ofMedical Genetics, Department ofGraduat
The insidious nature of defense : military-conservation alliances in the United States
No full textThe United States military is associated with extensive environmental and social harms, including the destruction of landscapes, the contamination of soil and water, and the production of significant global greenhouse gas emissions. Yet over the past three decades it has also become concerned with environmental issues, including climate change and conservation. New programs have emerged, such as the Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration (REPI) Program, which allows military bases to form partnerships with conservation organizations and other stakeholders to preserve “compatible land uses” by funding conservation and nature-based climate adaptation projects on lands bordering military bases. This thesis considers the politics of military land-use by examining the US military’s environmental and land-use management strategies. How did the US military become an institution at the forefront of nature-based solutions? And, what are the conditions which facilitate and uphold military-conservation partnerships in the United States today? Through historical research and interviews, I demonstrate how—despite an uneven history of environmental compliance and a long record of environmental destruction—the US military has institutionalized, and to some extent embraced, certain modes of environmental management in close alliance with The Nature Conservancy (TNC). Chapter 1 outlines how environmental management became understood as a problem for the US military and how the military responded to pressure from environmental interests by partnering with TNC to implement a form of environmental management that is not only compatible with military activities, but also perceived as essential to achieving broader conservation goals. Chapter 2 demonstrates the durability of these interventions by showing how this history laid the groundwork for the creation of the REPI Program, which was created in collaboration with TNC. Locating mainstream conservation within the military-industrial complex, I argue that TNC’s partnership with the military is premised on, while also reinforcing, US military hegemony. Historically and still today, conservation organizations help legitimate and naturalize militarized land-use in the United States through land-use partnerships which reinforce military lands as key sites for conservation, in turn expanding the military’s terrain of influence, widening its scope and power, and obscuring its broadly disastrous environmental footprint.Arts, Faculty ofGeography, Department ofGraduat
Understanding the impacts of the McKay creek wildfire on vegetation trajectories and St’at’imc cultural values to inform restoration of post-wildfire landscapes
No full textDevastating mega-wildfires have become the new normal throughout the interior of British Columbia, Canada, in recent years. These are the result of decades of colonial land management practices that have resulted in increased fuel loads and simplification of forest communities, the impacts of which are compounded by a changing climate. In 2021, the day after the historic heat dome, the McKay Creek Wildfire ignited 11 km north of Lillooet and ultimately burned 46,000 ha of land within St’at’imc Nation territory. We investigated the impacts of the wildfire on vegetation recovery in collaboration with the St’at’imc Nation communities of: Ts'kw'aylaxw, T'ít'q'et, and Xwísten, as well as the Lillooet Tribal Council and St'át'imc Government Services. Together we explored factors driving post-wildfire vegetation trajectories including burn severity, previous presence of invasive plants, and topographical factors, and how St’at’imc knowledges and cultural values can inform post-wildfire restoration. Our objective was to contribute to data-driven post-wildfire restoration approaches that uphold and support the sovereignty rights of Indigenous communities. Vegetation trajectories were analyzed by surveys of plots stratified by burn severity and previous known presence of invasive plants then placed using a mixed preferential approach guided by St’at’imc co-researchers. Research methods and analyses brought together Indigenous and Western scientific knowledges guided by the ‘walking on two legs’ framework, wherein each knowledge system, the ‘legs’, are guided by an Indigenous worldview. Results showed that two years post-wildfire, elevation and aspect were more significant factors in vegetation recovery and susceptibility to invasive plant invasion than burn severity or prior presence of invasive species. Native plant cover increased and non-native plant cover decreased with increasing elevation. Further analyses of plants when grouped by lifecycle, status (native or non-native), and by cultural values gave insight into recovery, suggesting that conventional functional plant groupings may overestimate recovery and underestimate plant invasion risk. Our research brings to light the importance of Indigenized, data-driven post-wildfire restoration as it provides the nuance needed to prioritize interventions across vast landscapes, while upholding Indigenous sovereignty rights in recovery processes.Forestry, Faculty ofGraduat
Fire-vegetation feedbacks in a Southeast Asian forest-savanna mosaic
No full textFire-vegetation feedbacks are critical to the dynamics of forest-savanna mosaics. Differences in fire potential between savanna (high fire potential) and forest (low fire potential) drive distinct fire regimes that enable their coexistence as landscape mosaics. In Southeast Asia, forest-savanna mosaics are vital for regional biodiversity, natural resources, and ecosystem services, yet they remain poorly documented and are increasingly threatened by degradation and homogenization.
To better understand fire dynamics across Southeast Asian forest-savanna mosaics, we collected data on fuels, microclimate, and canopy cover within a mosaic in northern Cambodia. Data were gathered during both the early and late dry seasons from 46 sites representing a range of canopy cover, fuel conditions, and times since fire. These data were then used to parameterize BehavePlus6 fire behavior prediction software to model fire potential across the mosaic and over the season.
Canopy cover moderated fire potential in two key ways: (1) the probability of ignition decreased gradually along the canopy cover gradient, and (2) the rate of spread, fireline intensity, and flame length declined sharply, reaching a fire-suppression threshold at approximately 2.2 LAI. This threshold coincided with grass exclusion, underscoring the central role of grass biomass in shaping fire dynamics within these systems. Between 1.2 LAI and 2.2 LAI, grass loads were highly variable, indicating a large influence of site-specific factors, other than canopy cover, in determining fire within this range. Fire potential increased from the early to the late dry season, driven primarily by leaf litter accumulation—a finding that contrasts with patterns observed in other mesic savannas and emphasizes the high tree cover and deciduousness of Southeast Asian savannas. Fuel moisture also contributed to intraseasonal variation in fire potential.
We recommend against indiscriminate fire suppression policies, which risk promoting high-severity fires or facilitating forest encroachment, both of which threaten mosaic stability and heterogeneity. Adaptive management strategies that consider local dynamics and the ecological role of fire are essential for maintaining the resilience and diversity of SE Asian forest-savanna mosaics.Arts, Faculty ofGeography, Department ofGraduat
Korean Canadian identities and archives : records of a family
No full textThe goal of this research is to examine the state of Korean Canadian archives. It does so by
conducting conversational interviews with the author’s three family members. Using
autoethnography, the author explores how these interviews reflect Korean Canadian identities
and how personal value is connected to what are considered records. It is suggested that the state
of Korean Canadian archives is shaped by different conceptions of identity that do not neatly fall
into a single conception of being Korean Canadian. It concludes with the notion that embracing
the personal in identity-based archives will mean embracing differences and intracommunity
tensions.Arts, Faculty ofInformation, School ofGraduat