Sahil Bhandari

The Lab for Environmental Assessment and Policy (LEAP) in the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability (IRES) and Department of Mechanical Engineering (MECH) is an interdisciplinary research group focused on exploring linkages between environmental science and policy. Smell Vancouver is a citizen science project being conducted in collaboration with researchers in Mechanical Engineering, as well as with the BC Centre for Disease Control and Metro Vancouver. The Smell Vancouver app—or SmellVan, for short—is designed to track and map reports of odours throughout the greater Vancouver area and explore the relationship between odour, air quality, and community well-being and quality of life. Researchers on the project directly engage with the public on science, and have experience in the fields of environmental science, public health, public policy. The goal of the SmellVan project is to improve characterization (quantitative and qualitative) of odour impacts to inform regulatory and public health decisions​ for the MetroVancouver region.