April 2, 2018
IEESC Ph.D. student Yao Yao is studying the impacts of the oil and gas industry on Western Canadian soils. He has several research interests related to soil pollution. To clean up produced water from oil production, Yao worked on a mobile treatment system that can be mounted onto a vehicle for immediate treatment on-site. To understand what happens underground during the winter, he studies how the seasonal and diurnal freeze and thaw cycle on the prairies affects the interactions of oil and soil. He is also interested in soil cleanup technologies using the Canadian Light Source synchrotron to enhance the soil remediation process. According to Yao, contaminants can persist in soil and groundwater systems, posing a long-term threat to the environment and public health. Effective remediation technologies and approaches are needed to clean up contaminated subsurface environments.
Yao’s research is supported by Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, Canada Foundation for Innovation, Canada Research Chair Program, Canadian Light Source, and Petroleum Technology Research Centre.