We have a mission to create a growing medium with a far lower environmental footprint than the status quo peat based growing mediums. We want to accomplish this by using Typha or Cattails that absorb agricultural and human waste nutrient pollutants from watersheds, mitigating eutrophication downstream in lakes and other water bodies. Harvesting and repurposing Typha has been shown to successfully remove significant amounts of pollutant N and P from water systems by taking it out of the system. While importantly, harvested wetlands have also been shown to continue to grow to great health year after year.

We currently have access to a constructed wetland which can supply us enough Typha for at least the next year. Although we will need to expand our harvesting operations as business grows. There is an estimated 3-6 million tonnes of Typha available to be harvested annually in Manitoba and we would like to harvest at maximum, a tenth of that in the future. Much of this harvestable Typha is on crown land, private farms, and municipal property. We would like you to come up with and report on strategies necessary to reach this harvesting goal at a low cost and with minimal negative effect on the environment.

For the majority of the project, the student will be analyzing pre-established information on Typha harvesting as well as rules and regulations, and thinking of creative ways to achieve our harvesting goals. You will be in charge of:

• Reviewing reports on Typha harvesting methods and technology
• Thinking of creative ways to do large scale harvesting at low cost considering the business and regulatory aspects of operations
• Further studying the feasibility of harvesting methods and writing summaries on findings
• Analyzing municipal ditch maintenance bidding systems
• Analyzing regulation of harvest on crownlands
• Considering agreements with private landowners and reservations
• Considering logistics and overall harvesting cost

• Will be supplied with necessary background information, and we will be willing to make calls or purchase other information if needed
• We will also aid in completion of parts of the project when needed to ensure a thorough and satisfying project is completed
• Willing to contact and set up meetings with experts in the field to help with learning and improve project success
• Consistent weekly or bi-weekly check ins to gauge progress and aid with road blocks
• Availability with fast response on google chat, email or phone to resolve any issues and provide advice