New aemera.org site focuses on public access to environmental science and monitoring work

Edmonton – The Alberta Environmental Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting Agency (AEMERA) has launched a newly redesigned website, aemera.org, marking a new phase of AEMERA’s digital business presence, and taking an important step toward fulfilling AEMERA’s vision of becoming recognized as the comprehensive and trusted source of environmental data and information in Alberta.

“The site provides open and transparent access to information on the condition of Alberta’s environment. It provides our audience with a picture of not only what we are doing, but why we are doing it,” said Dr. Lorne Taylor, Chair of AEMERA. “Through our new web presence we want to tell the complete story of monitoring in Alberta, highlighting the work of the various departments, organizations and stakeholder groups that we collaborate and partner with. As AEMERA continues to transform the way monitoring is conducted in Alberta, we are striving to also transform the way people access information about the environment.”

The new multi-media site is designed to be interactive, dynamic and scalable, with fully searchable content and intuitive, topic driven navigation. The website takes an integrated approach by linking related and relevant information and resources to give users a fuller, more complete picture of a given topic.

The site will also allow for seamless navigation of the Alberta Environmental Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting Information System (AEMERIS) — a web mapping system and data library that provides real-time and historic data on the conditions of Alberta’s environment. Part of the overall redesign included several enhancements to AEMERIS, such as access to downloadable shape files for tailings ponds, access to industrial waste water annual reports, and additional map layers depicting treaty areas, First Nation reserves and Metis settlements.

“The newly redesigned site will allow us to better communicate about how AEMERA is monitoring, evaluating and reporting on key ambient air, water, land and biodiversity indicators in the province,” said AEMERA President & CEO Jay Nagendran. “The data and information we are providing on the new site will better inform decision-making by policy makers, regulators, planners, researchers, communities, industries and the public.”

aemera.org and AEMERIS will continue to evolve as key delivery mechanisms for AEMERA’s mandate to provide open and transparent access to scientific data and information.

The Alberta Environmental Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting Agency (AEMERA) is an arm’s length provincial agency responsible for measuring, assessing and informing the public on the condition of Alberta’s environment on key ambient air, water, land and biodiversity indicators including information necessary to understand cumulative effects.

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For more information, please contact:

Melissa Pennell

Director of Communications

AEMERA

780-644-7775 (office)

780-221-1458

melissa.pennell@aemera.org

NT4