Bringing scientists and end-users together
The Waterloo Snowmelt Workshop 2018 was held on October 1st and 2nd in the GreenHouse social impact incubator at St. Paul's University College, funded by a Water Institute Seed Grant to principal investigators Dr. Chris Fletcher, Dr. John Johnston, and Dr. Edward Sudicky. For more information on the aims and scientific backgound of the workshop click on the image of the infographic "What are the climate change impacts on freshwater availability from melting snow and ice, and how will it affect end-users?" to access a larger version, or view our program (PDF).
Participants
Participants comprised of researchers from multiple Canadian universities, including the University of Waterloo, along with representatives from all levels of government, private industry, and NGOs from across Canada. Colleagues from Natural Resources Canada, the Government of Manitoba, and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center also joined the workshop through our online web link.
Day 1 highlights
The first day of the workshop featured a series of keynote presentations from scientists and end-users. Scientific speakers identified the current state of knowledge on climate change impacts on terrestrial snow, and the challenges and capabilities of hydrologic modelling of snowmelt runoff. The following talks focused on end-user challenges in Western Canada, the Prairies, and the Great Lakes.
Day 1 also featured a Galley Walk focused on five key areas:
What factors are limiting and/or preventing interaction between scientists and end-users?
Do you or your organization have examples of positive experience of science and end-user interaction or collaboration?
What factors are limiting and/or preventing your work on snowmelt and climate change?
Describe any challenges (scientific, political and/or commercial) that climate change poses to freshwater availability in Canada from melting snow and ice.
What factors are driving you and/or your organization to seek answers to how climate change will affect snowmelt runoff?
Gallery Walk findings
Responses to the key questions reflected the range of expertise of the participants while also highlighting some common key areas. Commitment to success and an early refinement of scientific problems, for instance, were pinpointed as central to diminishing disconnect between researchers and end-users.
The resounding response to whether participants have experienced positive researcher and end-user collaboration was "Yes!", with room for improvement. Several best practices were advised, such as leveraging existing professional groups and associations to connect researchers and end-users, outreach that involves scientists, and utilizing maps and monetization.
Participants identified lack of resources from funding and investment landscapes, the quality and availability of data, the ability to access best available information and expertise (on both sides), and the uncertainties of hyrologic modelling as science obstacles. Main scientific drivers, processes, impacts and responses included hydrological processes and the climate interface, shifting seasons, rapid melts and refreezes, groundwater recharge rates, and baseflow depletion in smaller watersheds.
Day 2 highlights
The second day of the workshop featured interactive discussions in small groups. The groups synthesized information from the Gallery Walk posters into main discussion points and research themes. Each team then presented their findings back to the larger group before coming together for a final brainstorming session and strategic planning discussion in preparation for the post-workshop phase.
Principal motivators and applications were identified in the presentations as being human vulnerability (social, economic and environmental), short-term water management (seasonal to annual), long-term water management (30-50 years), and other external factors (i.e. market drivers, human capacity development, and shifting industry and stakeholder needs) relevant to freshwater availability from melting snow and ice.
Using high-level questions identified in the Gallery Walk - such as the complexity of physical processes and the economic value of pro-active risk management - workshop participants began a process of connecting research interests and skills within the group, with the long-term goal of developing a collaborative research proposal for funding.
Acknowledgements
Thank you to all participants for contributing their expertise and insight into resources for materializing workshop findings, and to the Water Institute for making our event possible.
Image Credit ©2018 Dreamstime, View of Murtle River during high snow melt, in Wells Gray Provincial Park, BC, Canada.
