Provincial Engineering & Geoscience Week

4 SATURDAY, MARCH 5, 2022 PROVINCIAL ENGINEERING & GEOSCIENCE MONTH MARCH 2022 SPECIAL SECTION BY WENDY KING The adaptive demands posed by climate change are almost beyond the scope of human comprehension. T rina Semenchuk, an Engineering Intern with Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba, 24, is a next- generation engineering professional who says the future of climate change is already here and facing it is going to require shifts on a tectonic scale, both technological and cultural, to meet the challenge. Semenchuk, a recent graduate of the biosystems engineering program and a current master's student at the University of Manitoba, has been a research assistant on the BRACE Project (Building Regional Adaptation Capacity Expertise) and helped assist in developing the Environment and Climate Change Plan for Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba. "An environmental engineer works on design or technologies where they have a general positive impact on the environment," Semenchuk says. "It can include areas like remediation planning, geothermal systems design, water treatment, solid waste diversion, and sustainable building materials. It's a pretty diverse field." The BRACE program is a federal, multi-disciplinary project involving a variety of stakeholders. "A goal of the project is to make sure that engineers in the profession can design technology and infrastructure and systems that won't fail when it comes to dealing with the extreme climate change adaptation that we will be experiencing now and in the very near future," she says. "The environment and climate change plan is about defining a vision with the engineering body to see where the engineering profession is currently at when it comes to acknowledging climate change, and to figure out where it is our profession needs to go when it comes to dealing with the challenges of the environment and climate change." As a young student, engineering wasn't initially on Semenchuk's radar. But hearing about climate change rang some alarm bells. "I've been terrified of climate change ever since I was young," she says. "We began to learn about it at school and I really started to pay attention on how our weather patterns were changing from year to year." She came across a story about arid communities that were implementing technologies to reuse rainwater and help reduce water consumption. The story struck a chord with her. "I thought that would be a really valuable way to contribute to help solve climate change, so I went into engineering," she says. "The discipline I found the most helpful, the one that I'm pursuing in my master's (studies) and that I will be pursuing for the rest of my career is agricultural engineering," she says. "Agriculture revolutionized the way we lived once, and I think it can do it again." She points to the development of indoor agriculture as the vanguard of the revolution. "I want to learn about indoor agricultural practices, get those agricultural technologies to market and then help build systems that use this type of technology to bring people together," she says. Part of the appeal of indoor agricultural practices, she says, is that they free up huge tracts of land for other purposes. "I really want to help communities make sure that they have food security using agricultural technology – and with new agricultural technology we only need about 10 per cent of the current landmass that's currently being used for agriculture," Semenchuk says. "I've been embarking on an entrepreneurial journey for not very long. I'm really interested in developing agricultural technologies and bringing them to the market." Based on her experience meeting with established entrepreneurs – who she says are enthusiastically supportive to younger venturers – it's the most effective and efficient way to create change. "We really need to see that established – successful people dedicating their time to helping young people who want to make a difference succeed." She says young entrepreneurs have a vital role to play in our future. "I really think now is the time for young people to be stepping up and taking those risks," she says. "If they have a passion or an idea that they want to see happen in the world, and it comes to addressing climate change, I want them to consider becoming an entrepreneur." Time is running out, however. "I'll be honest, I don't think we are making headway," she says. "We just need to start doing the work and just start getting our systems in place. It's accelerating faster than we're able to make movement and adapt to." Semenchuk says it's time to focus on the people, the communities and the resources in our own backyards, which will require some broad and deep cultural changes. "The way we live is not sustainable. We have to give up a lot of luxury and a lot of privilege that we've been living with. We can't be engaging in these large consumer behaviours that we're used to. We really have to stop." Trina Semenchuk became interested in engineering after learning about the potential impact of climate change on the environment. Having a positive impact Engineer-in-Training embraces opportunity to help communities | Design with community in mind. | stantec.com | Photo: Stantec | Winnipeg, Manitoba Proud to Support Provincial Engineering and Geoscience Month ENGINEERING | ARCHITECTURE | ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES Engineers will play a key role in determining how we deal with by climate change and its impact on the built environment.

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