A message from NAIT Applied Research:
Lynn Smith's childhood memories are crystal clear. Growing up in Peavine Métis settlement, 56 kilometres north of High Prairie, she and her friends could drink directly from the crisp, clean streams and creeks that criss-crossed the boreal forest. "There was never an issue with it," she says.
Three decades later, the picture has grown murky.
"Those same creeks and streams either don't exist or they're smelly or their colour is all wrong," says Smith, now regional planning coordinator with the Peavine consultation department. Residents stick to tap water, processed by the technician at the local treatment plant. "He's a miracle worker," says Smith.
What has also changed over the years is Peavine's economic circumstances. Mainly, the settlement sits on heavy oil deposits that have attracted industry. Like any development, extraction of oil changes the land. While Smith had seen and smelled as much, she'd had no way to quantify it – until she met a NAIT staff member at a public advisory meeting held in the community by a forestry company, sparking an idea for Smith.
"I guess that's where this whole project was born," she says.
In partnership with applied researchers at the polytechnic, a new project focused on land stewardship may prove essential in striking the balance between growth and sustainability.
Starting in spring 2022, interns from Peavine have travelled to NAIT to analyze soil and water samples for contaminants from sites of concern. Since then, they've been followed by four other Métis and First Nations communities that host resource extraction.
The aim isn't to point fingers, Smith says. She knows the benefits industry brings to her community, and to Alberta as a whole. But she also knows that local activity will increase. Data, Smith hopes, will form the basis of discussions that will help guide development in a sustainable way.
"We just need to be included – from the conception of a project to putting it to bed, and after," says Smith. "The reason I say that is because we live here."
Read the rest of Scott Messenger's story in techlifetoday to find out what it means to share data in a good way and what the future might hold.