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Recent Submissions

Access status: Open Access ,
Domain-Adaptive YOLOv9 for Foggy-Weather Object Detection Using Partial Spatial Self-Attention
(2026-04-15) Xiao, Ziqi; Not Applicable; Master of Applied Science; Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering; Received; Dr. Issam Hammad; Not Applicable; Dr. Hamed Aly; Dr. Jason Gu; Dr. Yuan Ma
Cross-domain object detection remains challenging because a detector trained on a labeled source domain often generalizes poorly to a target domain with different visual characteristics. This problem is especially evident under adverse weather conditions, where visibility degradation changes contrast, texture, and object boundaries while target-domain annotations are typically unavailable. This thesis develops a domain-adaptive YOLOv9 framework for foggy-weather object detection. The method combines image-level appearance adaptation with feature-level refinement. At the image level, Contrastive Unpaired Translation (CUT) is used to translate labeled source images into pseudo target-style samples while preserving the original annotations. At the feature level, a Partial Spatial Self-Attention (PSSA) module is introduced to refine deep feature representations through spatial contextual modeling over only part of the channel dimension. The proposed framework is evaluated on the Cityscapes$\rightarrow$Foggy Cityscapes benchmark. Experimental results show that both components improve target-domain performance, but their contributions are not identical. CUT produces the larger gain by reducing the appearance discrepancy between the source and target domains, while PSSA provides an additional improvement through deep feature refinement. When the two components are combined, the resulting detector achieves the best overall performance among the evaluated configurations. These results show that substantial improvement under foggy cross-domain conditions can be obtained without abandoning the inference structure of a one-stage detector. The thesis therefore provides a practical domain-adaptive detection framework that improves robustness under adverse visibility while remaining compatible with deployment-oriented YOLO-style detection.
Access status: Open Access ,
Kelp Urbanism: Eco-Industrial Architectures in the Littoral Zone
(2026-04-15) Fraser, Cole; Not Applicable; Master of Architecture; School of Architecture; Not Applicable; n/a; Not Applicable; Catherine Vernart; David Correa; Michael Faciejew
The littoral zone is a globally transformative geographic threshold. It mediates economies and ecologies across scalar boundaries and determines the extractive systems and infrastructures that shape cities and seas. Having been programmed for industrial-extractive purposes throughout modernity, the littoral zone today emerges as a critical space to reorient industrial and spatial dynamics towards ecological reciprocity. Sited in the post-industrial littoral zone of Saint John, New Brunswick, this thesis develops a design framework through which production, labour, and public space are reconsidered as outcomes of environmental and ecological design. The thesis proposes an industrial aquaculture campus on disused industrial and brownfield land, utilizing the kelp species and its cultivation-processing-manufacturing cycle as a vehicle for rethinking the organizational flows of a site. Addressing the scale of the masterplan and key processing buildings, the thesis proposes multi-functional eco-industrial architectures in littoral zones can generate new urban frameworks that reciprocally engage land and water.
Access status: Open Access ,
Improving nursery systems and clonal gametophyte seeding in Nova Scotian sugar kelp aquaculture
(2026-04-14) Tymoshuk, Kit; Not Applicable; Master of Science; Department of Oceanography; Not Applicable; Dr. Kira Krumhansl; Not Applicable; Dr. Anna Metaxas; Dr. Stephen O'Leary; Dr. Carolyn Buchwald
Kelp aquaculture has the potential to enhance sustainable marine food production and ameliorate local climate change impacts, yet variability in nursery protocols continues to limit cost-effective scaling. This thesis investigated methods to improve sugar kelp (Saccharina latissima) growth and survivorship from the nursery phase through ocean cultivation. The effects of water motion and sporing density were examined in the nursery phase, finding that flow-through systems enhanced nutrient delivery and survivorship, while lower sporing densities produced longer sporophytes. I also tested the efficacy of clonal gametophyte-based seeding. While a six-week nursery phase produced viable outplants, 1–3-week treatments failed, underscoring the need for longer, more stable conditioning before ocean exposure. During outplanting, sporophyte density influenced morphology, revealing a manipulable trade-off between density and individual size. Collectively, these findings advance the development of reliable, efficient kelp nursery practices to build regional aquaculture and support kelp restoration efforts in a warming world.
Access status: Open Access ,
THE ROLE OF ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION MECHANISMS IN POST- CONFLICT SOCIETIES: A CASE STUDY OF SOUTHEASTERN NIGERIA
(2026-04-13) Charles-Beke, Adachigoziri Daniella; Not Applicable; Master of Arts; Department of International Development Studies; Not Applicable; n/a; Not Applicable; Dr. Heather Tasker; Dr. John Cameron; Dr. Peter Arthur
This thesis examines how alternative dispute resolution (ADR) can be governed to strengthen legitimacy and stability in Southeastern Nigeria, a post-conflict region in fragile negative peace, where formal courts hold authority but lack trust, and community forums are trusted yet insufficiently safeguarded. The literature highlights ADR’s promise but often assumes that ‘local’ equals legitimate and gives limited guidance on structuring recognition. Using legal pluralism and social justice, this thesis analyses secondary scholarship, policy, and institutional documents, and draws on cases from Rwanda, Liberia, and northern Uganda for analytical comparison. Findings show that ADR’s effects depend less on cultural authenticity than on design: state control, voluntariness, authority structures, and enforceability thresholds shape legitimacy, inclusion and accountability. The thesis argues that selective legal embedding is a promising governance model: a narrow, facilitative, consent-based legal interface that gives limited recognition to community-settled outcomes without bureaucratic absorption, while recognising that recognition without social acceptance can deepen distrust. Recommendations include piloting community and state protocols in Anambra, Imo and Abia, shifting monitoring from settlement counts to legitimacy indicators, and institutionalising peace committees with safeguards against elite capture and exclusion. The thesis contributes a design-focused framework for hybrid justice that prioritises procedural legitimacy over coercion.
Access status: Open Access ,
The Water Edge as Thermal Commons: A Network of Bathing Infrastructure for Halifax
(2026-04-15) Mascarenhas Castro Lima, Camila; Not Applicable; Master of Architecture; School of Architecture; Not Applicable; n/a; Not Applicable; Catherine Venart; Julia Jamrozik; Michael Putman
The commodification of water in urban development has reduced our relationship with this element into a predominantly visual experience, weakening embodied engagement and social affordances. In response, this research uses Halifax as a prototype to explore the concept of dispersed commons: a network of public bathing programs conceived as nodes of social infrastructure and anchored by a neglected urban beach. To challenge this sensorial detachment, the project positions temperature as a primary medium of architectural investigation. In a country defined by long winters and increasingly hot summers, seasonal extremes become an opportunity to re-engage the body with water through thermal enjoyment. The principles of collage operate as a generative method, enabling the reinterpretation of program and the speculative reassembly of fragmented site conditions. Ultimately, the thesis proposes a design framework for reclaiming the edge, reframing the collective perception towards urban waters, and collaging city and ocean back together.
Access status: Open Access ,
Nature in Focus: A Photovoice Project Exploring Perspectives of Equity-Owed Youth on Challenges to Engaging with Nature in Nova Scotia
(2026-04-14) Cohen, Agustina; No; Master of Arts; School of Health & Human Performance; Received; n/a; No; Dr. Becky Feicht; Dr. Michelle Stone; Dr. Barb Hamilton-Hinch; Dr. Son Truong
Research shows that participating in nature-based activities supports youth wellbeing and resilience. However, many youth, particularly those from equity-owed communities, face barriers to accessing nature. Using photovoice methodology, the purpose of this study was to examine the challenges that youth experience when engaging with nature in Nova Scotia. Twelve youth participants (ages 17-22) took part in a focus group, photography workshop, a three-week period to take photos, two collaborative analysis sessions, and a final presentation planning session. Through a three-step participatory analysis process, participants generated codes that informed the creation of four themes, developed by the researcher using polytextual thematic analysis. By centering youth as co-researchers, this study highlights their perspectives on challenges and barriers to engaging with nature. Findings offer valuable insights for multisectoral knowledge users seeking to create more inclusive and accessible nature-based opportunities for youth across the province.