AJM was approached by Paskwa Consultants Ltd. to perform a statistical analysis of vegetation survey data related to leafy spurge treatments on short notice. Data from eight sites, each with pre- and post-treatment surveys, were analyzed to assess the impact of different control methods on vegetation composition.

AJM conducted the following analyses:

• Comparison of leafy spurge cover;

• Comparison of functional group cover;

• Bray–Curtis Dissimilarity Analysis; and

• Shannon–Wiener Diversity Analysis.

Cenovus Energy Inc. retained AJM to develop and complete an Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act (EPEA) regulated Wetland Monitoring Program (WMP) for three of their steam assisted gravity drainage recovery projects: Christina Lake Thermal Project (CLTP), Narrows Lake Thermal Project (NLTP), and Foster Creek Thermal Project (FCTP). AJM started completion of this monitoring in 2016 and has been completing them annually since that time.  

The scope of work includes the following:  

• WMP proposal development for submission and approval by the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER);

• Site selection and establishment; 

• Annual hydrology and vegetation monitoring; 

• Data analysis; and 

• Reporting, including comprehensive monitoring reports every three years for submission to the AER. 

The purpose of the project was to develop a way to better prioritize and track vegetation treatment at oil sands facilities. AJM combined in-house biophysical and software development expertise to build a fit-for-purpose software application for field data collection and a database for data integration and management. The software component of the project consisted of: 1) development of a backend cloud database on AWS, 2) development of an iOS and Android mobile application for field data collection, and 3) development of a website where vegetation data can be visualized and managed.