ASL Environmental Sciences Inc.
6703 Rajpur Pl V8M1Z5 Saanichton, BC, Canada

ASL's Fall Newsletter Click on the link below to view ASL's fall newsletter. Newsletter (https://aslenv.com/assets/files/ASL-Newsletter-Fall-2020.pdf )

Dr. Steve Pearce introduces the features of ASL's flagship instrument, the Acoustic Zooplankton Fish Profiler (AZFP). Along with Dr. Pearce's description of the instrument, Dr. Laura Hobbs, a zooplankton ecologist describes her field experience with the instrument in a variety of environmental settings.

ASL Announces Dannielle Eager as the 2020 Acoustic Zooplankton Fish Profiler (AZFP) Award Contest Winner ASL Environmental Sciences is pleased to announce Dannielle Eager as the winner of the fifth annual Acoustic Zooplankton Fish Profiler (AZFP) early career scientist award contest. Dannielle is presently studying at the University of Plymouth at Devon, UK at a postgraduate level in the school of Biological and Marine Science. Dannielle’s research will focus on the influence... of dynamic seamount oceanography on pelagic biota in the tropical Indian Ocean, with support from the Garfield Weston Foundation, Bertarelli Foundation and the University of the Highlands and Islands. Read full press release (https://aslenv.com/ass/files/ASL-AZFP-Award-Winner-2020.pdf )

Hydro-acoustic Studies of Eulachon Fish Distribution Related to Roberts Bank Terminal 2 Project ASL Environmental Sciences (ASL) was chosen by Hemmera Envirochem Inc. and the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority (port authority) to perform a hydroacoustic study of eulachon fish (Thaleichthys pacificus) distribution in the vicinity of Deltaport Terminals off the mouth of the Fraser River, BC. To support the development of the Dredging and Sediment Discharge Plan that will form part... of the Construction Environmental Management Plan of the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 Project (project), the port authority has committed to developing eulachon-specific mitigation that will be used during dredging activities. A pilot study was developed to examine the efficacy of hydroacoustic techniques in detecting adult eulachon. Read full press release here ( https://aslenv.com//ASL-Press-Release-Eulachon-Press-Relea)

ASL Environmental Sciences Assists with Oceanographic Data Collection for Labrador Marine Research and Monitoring In a collaborative effort with the Nunatsiavut Government and Dalhousie University to measure ice, water current and other physical and biological properties of the marine environment, ASL Environmental Sciences Inc. contributed a prototype Log Ice Profiling Sonar (LogIPS), and on February 15th 2020, the sonar was deployed on a taut-line mooring in the waters off ...Nain, Nunatsiavut, Labrador. The mooring also contained an acoustic doppler current profiler (ADCP) as well as data loggers for chlorophyll, turbidity, temperature-salinity and dissolved oxygen. The mooring was deployed through a hole cut in the sea ice, with an open-water recovery planned for later this year. The deployment was part of a project run by the Nunatsiavut Government to collect information about the sea ice environment on the Labrador coast using a variety of data sources and multimedia communication tools. Read full story here (https://aslenv.com//ASL-Press-release-Nain-LogIPS-May-2020 ) In collaboration with Nunatsiavut Research Centre https://www.facebook.com/nainresearchcentre/ https://twitter.com/NG_Research/status/1256346655386996737

ASL's Spring 2020 newsletter This issue: Machine Learning for Analyzing Data from ASL’s Echosounders Airborne Hyperspectral Survey and Mineral Mapping in South Greenland... SeaCycler Interactive Deep Ocean Observatory Adds ASL’s Acoustic Zooplankton Fish Profiler to Payload ASL Environmental Sciences, Part of the Marine Arctic Ecosystem Study (MARES) Wins 2019 Excellence in Partnering Award Update on Laura Hobbs and Roland Proud, AZFP Recovery Lake Victoria, East Africa ASL Opportunity-Masters Student Position: Fishery Acoustics Specialist ASL Wins Standing Offer for DFO Floatation Interesting Times Coming Soon - ASL to Announce AZFP Award Read newsletter here: https://aslenv.com/ass/files/ASL-Newsletter-Spring-2020.pdf

ASL Environmental Sciences, Part of the Marine Arctic Ecosystem Study (MARES) Wins 2019 Excellence in Partnering Award ASL was part of a team of organizations called the Marine Arctic Ecosystem Study (MARES) that won the 2019 US National Oceanographic Partnership Program (NOPP) Excellence in Partnering Award. The award was presented at the 2020 Ocean Sciences Meeting in San Diego, California on February 20, 2020. The Excellence in Partnering Award is presented annually to a... NOPP project that demonstrates strong partnerships with objectives to advance our understanding of the ocean sciences. The MARES project integrates several organizations that include academic, private, tribal and state government with a focus on understanding the dynamics of the Arctic marine ecosystem in the eastern Beaufort Sea. This coordination of effort produced new insights from a broad range of sensors yielding a more complete understanding of the structure and function of this remote marine ecosystem. Read full press release (https://aslenv.com/assets//ASL-Press-release-NOPP-Award.pdf)

SeaCycler Interactive Deep Ocean Observatory Adds ASL’s Acoustic Zooplankton Fish Profiler to Payload The SeaCycler is a long-term interactive deep ocean observatory that is equipped with a large payload of oceanographic instruments. It was a key part of the VITALS project that was examining atmospheric gas exchange and deep convection in the Labrador Sea (Atamanchuk et al., 2020). In collaboration with Dr. Dariia Atamanchuk of the University of Dalhousie and Dr. Maxime Geo...ffroy of the Fisheries and Marine Institute of Memorial University of Newfoundland, an ASL Environmental Sciences’ Acoustic Zooplankton Fish Profiler (AZFP) (multi-frequency 38/70/125/200 kHz) has been added to the instrument payload to continuously record acoustic backscatter in the water column. Sea trials are being conducted in preparation for a long-term deployment of the SeaCycler in the Labrador Sea planned for September of this year. Read full story here (https://aslenv.com//ASL-Press-release-SeaCycler-March-2020)

Airborne Hyperspectral Survey and Mineral Mapping in South Greenland ASL Environmental Sciences (ASL) in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada has, following a tender process, entered into a contract with the Ministry of Mineral Resources, Government of Greenland. Under this contract ASL will process and analyze a large amount of airborne hyperspectral data in order to produce mineral maps for the Gardar Province in south Greenland. Hyperspectral remote sensing (also referred to... as imaging spectroscopy) provides image data recorded in a large number of wavelengths, many outside of the human visual range. The image data can be used in the same fashion as a laboratory spectrometer, to detect and quantitatively map spectral features specific to many minerals. By comparing on-ground hyperspectral measurements with the airborne measurements, it is possible to find areas where a given mineral has not been previously registered. Read full press release (https://aslenv.com//ASL-Greenland-Mineral-Mapping-Dec-2019 )

ASL remote sensing paper highlighted in recent feature article in the Canadian Journal of Remote Sensing Special Issue on the Arctic and Northern Monitoring and Applications. The paper title is called "Satellite-Based Time Series of Chlorophyll in Chilko Lake, British Columbia, Canada" https://lnkd.in/dKvuARa

Machine Learning for Analyzing Echogram Data ASL Environmental Sciences Inc. (ASL), University of Victoria, and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) recently completed the first phase of a collaborative research initiative to develop automated analysis tools for data collected by ASL’s multi-frequency echosounder, the AZFP (Acoustic Zooplankton Fish Profiler). This phase of the research was funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) through an Engage Grant. Following very promising results, the second phase of this initiative, co-funded by ASL and the NSERC Engage Plus Program, is now underway. Read press release (https://aslenv.com//files/ASL-NSERC-GrantPlus-Nov-2019_Fin )

Another successful beach cleanup for ASL employees and family members as they spent this last Saturday (October 26, 2019) combing the beach and area at Coles Bay Regional Park looking for debris. One of the family members mentioned that it was like treasure hunting. Several buckets were filled with tin cans, plastic bottles, and other garbage including some tires filled with foam. Special thanks to Liz Belcher of the Capital Region District (CRD) who provided our staff with all the necessary items for this clean-up effort.

ASL Provides Co-op Work Experience This past summer, ASL had the pleasure of providing a co-op educational opportunity for UVic Physics, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences student Cathryn Hale. While at ASL, Cathryn worked as an oceanographic data analyst. In a story published in the Victoria Times Colonist, Cathryn’s supervisor, Dawn Sadowy, said that The co-op program allows us to get extra help when we're busy, but it also gives students the opportunity to put their learning into practice. Cathryn had a rewarding experience stating, Honestly, I could see myself doing this kind of work in the future. We are grateful for Cathryn's work and wish her well in her future endeavours. ASL routinely provides co-op students with real-work experience in aid of career development.