Whitehorse – 343 bridge builders have registered for the 23rd Annual Bridge Building contest to be held this Saturday April 9, at the Porter Creek Secondary School gym. This is up from 222 builders last year and is the highest number in the past decade.

The event, organised by Science Adventures at Yukon College and the Association of Professional Engineers of Yukon, will feature a total of 165 bridges created by students from 14 Yukon schools, home educators, plus adults in the All-Can category.

The organizing committee relaxed the rules in the All-Can category this year, although they are attributing the jump in competitors to three schools re-joining the contest this year - Hidden Valley and Takhini Elementary in Whitehorse, and Tantalus Community School in Carmacks. The All-Can category has seven entries registered.

WHITEHORSE – The presidents of the three Canadian territorial colleges welcome the $3.9 million funding extension for Northern Adult Basic Education (NABE) that was announced in the federal budget on March 22.

Since 2011/12, the Government of Canada has invested $27 million over five years to expand adult basic education in the territories. Adult Basic Education includes activities that assist adults in achieving sufficient levels of literacy, numeracy and other essential skills to obtain a job or enter vocational training.

WHITEHORSE – Organizers of the 23rd Annual Bridge Building Contest have shaken up the rules for 2016. Grade 3-12 students remain limited to teams of four people, have to create bridges using only wooden stir sticks, dental floss and white glue, and keep within strict height and anchoring restrictions Whereas those entering the popular ALL-CAN category will have much greater freedom.

ALL-CAN teams can have unlimited members, of any age, working at any level. They can use power tools, their bridges have almost no restriction on overall height, and each end of their bridge can be anchored to the testing station with up to 1000 milimeters of masking tape.

“The ALL-CAN team must still use only wooden sticks, glue and dental floss, but we are hoping that by relaxing the rules in this one category judges will see a greater diversity of bridge designs entered this year,” said Heather Dundas, coordinator, Science Adventures at Yukon College.

ROSS RIVER – Eight students at Yukon College’s Dena Cho Kê’endi campus in Ross River are learning carpentry, plumbing, electrical and heating system home maintenance skills by renovating a 40-year-old house donated by the Ross River Dena Council (RRDC). When complete, the rehabilitated Pyrite Street building will be given back to RRDC to help meet housing needs in the community.

WHITEHORSE-The BC Association of Institutes and Universities (BCAIU) has welcomed Yukon College as its newest member. Through joining the association of four universities and three institutes, the future Yukon University will obtain valuable guidance and experience of other institutions that have recently evolved to university status.

Scientists have determined that eDNA technology is both accurate and effective in detecting presence of Chinook salmon in Yukon waterways. Technology Innovation of the Yukon Research Centre, and Hemmera, a local environmental consulting company have completed the first environmental DNA (eDNA) research of its kind to detect a species that is both culturally and economically significant to Yukoners.

Scientists filtered DNA from Yukon waterways to map Chinook salmon habitat use. Water samples were collected from streams in the Upper Teslin, Nisutlin and Kusuwa Lake drainages. Results have shown a 94.9% accuracy in detecting the presence of Chinook salmon. This new technology is a great benefit to management agencies, industry, environmental assessors, and the overall health of the species.  

The Government of Yukon and the Yukon Research Centre are providing $60,000 in funding to test a biomass heating project that will address sustainable energy and waste diversion.

Biomass is organic matter that can be used as an energy source. This pilot project will explore the use of wood chips made from waste wood from the Whitehorse landfill and construction projects. This waste wood will be used to heat the buildings at Raven Recycling.

“Heating our buildings with waste wood offers Yukoners a potentially efficient energy alternative while diverting waste from the Whitehorse landfill,” said Stephen Mooney, Director, Cold Climate Innovation, Yukon Research Centre. “Yukoners need green energy sources that will work in northern applications and our research on biomass for heating and electricity will add to this knowledge thanks to our partnership with Yukon government and CanNor.”

WHITEHORSE – Yukon College congratulates Prime Minister Trudeau and U.S. President Obama on their climate change agreement announced yesterday, and calls upon the Prime Minister to back it up with a commitment to fund the science needed for the Canadian and U.S. governments to make better decisions to combat climate change.

“We are happy to see the Prime Minister and President acknowledge the need to take a science-based approach to climate change and arctic development, and given how rapidly global warming is impacting the Yukon it is critical that the Government of Canada support research that is in the North, by the North and for the North,” said Dr. Karen Barnes, Yukon College President.

WHITEHORSE-Yukon College and the University of Regina have expanded the Bachelor of Education/Yukon Native Teacher Education program (YNTEP) to include an after-degree pathway.

Qualified applicants who already possess a Bachelor’s degree in another subject may now apply to enter the Education program in the third year.

“This has been something potential applicants to the program have wanted for some time and we are pleased that our request to the University of Regina Senate to create a more flexible and diverse program has been approved,” said Dr. Andrew Richardson, Dean of Applied Arts at Yukon College.

Yukon Research Centre’s Cold Climate Innovation (CCI) and Natural Resources Canada have opened registration for the 2016 Research, Innovation, and Commercialization (RIC) Workshop on biomass.

Guests attending the Yukon Biomass Forum will hear about biomass innovations from across the country, as well as from CCI proponents who are currently working on biomass projects in the Yukon.

Biomass energy uses organic matter to heat buildings and produce power. It can divert waste wood from landfills and utilize beetle killed wood.

For more information and to register, visit yukonbiomass.ca.

The annual RIC workshop is based on technological topics that have environmental and economic benefits to Yukoners.

   Where:    Kwanlin Dun Cultural Centre

   When:     Tuesday, March 15th and Wednesday, March 16th, 2016