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The Athabasca deposit in Alberta is the largest oil sand in the world and is a powerful source of Canadian energy. Over the last decade a lot attention has been paid to the environmental impacts of oil sands production. Primary emissions associated with oil sands activities have been the focus of past research but less is known about the reaction products of these emissions to the atmosphere. In the SOCCAR Seminar held on September 14, Dr. Liggio, a research scientist at Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Air Quality Research Division, presented his research on the formation of organic acidity and secondary organic aerosol from oil sands activities. Continue reading →