News

From March 22–24, the United Nations hosted the 2023 Water Conference at UN Headquarters in New York City, the first UN Water Conference in nearly 50 years. Thousands of participants travelled from across the globe to discuss progress and make new commitments towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 – Ensure access to water and sanitation for all. Having received special accreditation from the UN General Assembly, the Water Institute supported the participation of four University of Waterloo Ph.D. students to participate in the conference. The following are their reflections on key outcomes of the conference:

The Water Institute and Society of the Water Institute Graduate Students (SWIGS) hosted their annual World Water Day Celebration on Wednesday, March 22.

For the first time since 2019, participants gathered in person, this year in the Black and Gold Room of the SLC/PAC expansion, creating a fresh new feel which complimented the UN theme of Accelerating Change!

Published by the Faculty of Science.

Water has many unique properties. An interdisciplinary team of Waterloo scientists has discovered a one-dimensional chain of water molecules could produce a quantum phase transition. This breakthrough is a key development for future water-based quantum devices.

Published by the Cheriton School of Computer Science.

PhD candidate Joel Wretborn and his colleagues Alexey Stomakhin and Steve Lesser at the New Zealand–based visual effects studio WētāDigital x Unity and Douglas McHale at WētāFX have won an Emerging Technology Award at the 21^st annual Visual Effects Society Awards for their water simulation toolset used in Avatar: The Way of Water.

A delegation from the Water Institute at the University of Waterloo, headed by Roy Brouwer, Executive Director of the Water Institute, is preparing for the UN 2023 Water Conference taking place at UN Headquarters in New York, 22-24 March.

For the past two decades, author, water expert and climate scientist Giulio Boc­caletti has been fascinated by the nexus between science and politics, and the central role water has played in civilizations and political institutions.

Originally published by the Faculty of Science.

Waterloo biologists, in partnership with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the University of Toronto, are working on a North American pilot program that uses moths as a management tool to control the invasive plant threatening Canadian wetlands.

“We’re one of the first 13 sites in North America to trial insect-based biocontrol for invasive phragmites,” says Water Institute member Dr. Rebecca Rooney. “This offers hope for chemical free invasive phragmites control.”

By Media Relations

Within the rapidly changing landscape of data providers, governments must address concerns over who collects and uses data to support the public interest. Water Institute member Dr. Peter Johnson, a geographer at the University of Waterloo, is an expert on spatial data and navigating the complexities of this evolving landscape.

Waterloo graduate student Rafaela de Freitas Maltauro, Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Geography and Environmental Management, has been awarded a scholarship honouring one of the pioneers of fluvial geomorphology.

Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs (GSPA) has announced their winners and finalists for the 2022-2023 GRADflix competition, which included a strong turnout of grad students from the water sector!

If you are not familiar with the competition, GRADflix is an annual research communication competition where participants create a video or animation no longer than 60 seconds that describes their research.