Roland Hall

Professor Hall’s research centers on improving our understanding of the roles of natural processes and human activities on hydroecological conditions of northern water-rich landscapes. He achieves this by integrating contemporary hydroecological studies with long-term records of past environmental change obtained from lake sediment cores. Sampling is typically conducted at a landscape scale. Research has targeted ecologically and culturally important deltaic (Peace-Athabasca Delta [PAD, AB] and Slave Delta [SD, NWT]), and thermokarst landscapes (Old Crow Flats [OCF, YT]; Hudson Bay Lowlands [HBL, MB]) landscapes, where insufficient understanding of influential processes has fostered controversy or impeded development of effective stewardship. The deltaic landscapes are situated downstream of major energy projects (hydroelectric dams, Alberta oil sands operations) and natural sources of contaminant dispersal, and they respond sensitively to climate-driven variations in river flow. At the thermokarst landscapes, local communities, First Nations organizations and Parks Canada Agency are concerned about effects of climate warming on the freshwater resources.

• Northern freshwater landscape

• Applied aquatic ecology

• Paleolimnology

• Multiple stressors

• Contaminants

• Hydroecology

• 1993, PhD Biology, Queen's University, Canada

• 1986, BSc Biology, Queen's University, Canada

• 2012, Northwest Territories Government’s Premier’s Award for Collaboration – Team Category

• 2007, 2012, 2018 Outstanding Performance Award, Faculty of Science

• 2006, International Visiting Scientist Award, Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research

• 2003 – 2007, Recipient of the Ontario Premier's Research Excellence Award (PREA) to support training of graduate students on the project: Ecological changes in the Mackenzie Basin Deltas: Assessing the roles of climate, hydrology and human activities on sensitive lakes and wetlands over the past thousand years

• 1996 – 1997, Postdoctoral fellowships, University of Regina

• 1994 – 1995, NSERC Postdoctoral Fellowships, Ontario Ministry of Environment's Dorset Environmental Research Centre

• 1987 – 1991, NSERC Postgraduate Scholarships

• 2023 – Present, Chair of UW's Faculty Grievance Council

• 2007 – 2012, Associate Dean of Science, Graduate Studies

• 2002 – 2007, Graduate Officer, Biology Department

• Associate Member, Wilfrid Laurier University Graduate Faculty. Chair of UW's Faculty Grievance Council

• Water Institute (Member)

• Waterloo Climate Institute (Member)

• BIOL 350 - Ecosystem Ecology
  • Taught in 2021, 2023, 2025
• BIOL 361 - Biostatistics and Experimental Design
  • Taught in 2021, 2022, 2024, 2025, 2026

* Only courses taught in the past 5 years are displayed.

• For the full list of Roland Hall's publications, please see Google Scholar.

• Neary, L.K., C.R. Remmer, T.J. Owca, C.A.M. Girard, M.L. Kay, J.A. Wiklund, A. Imran, R.I. Hall, B.B. Wolfe (2024). A synthesis of hydrological, water chemistry and contaminants research in the Peace-Athabasca Delta (Canada) to inform long-term monitoring of shallow lakes. Environmental Reviews 00: 1-19: . https://doi.org/10.1139/er-2024-0041

• Kay, M.L., L.A. MacDonald, J.A. Wiklund, C.A.M. Girard, B.B. Wolfe, R.I. Hall. (2024). ‘Paleofloodscapes’: application of sediment source fingerprinting to track flood regime change over space and time at the Peace-Athabasca Delta, Canada. Science of the Total Environment 912: 169538. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.169538

• Kay, M.L., I. Jasiak, W.H. Klemt, J.A. Wiklund, J.A. Faber, L.A. MacDonald, J.V.K. Telford, C.A. Cooke, B.B. Wolfe, R.I. Hall. (2023). Paleolimnological evaluation of metal(loid) enrichment from oil sands and gold mining operations in northwestern Canada. Environmental Research 26 (Part 1): 114439. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2022.114439.

• Klemt, W.H, R.B. Brua, J.M. Culp, K. Hicks, B.B. Wolfe, R.I. Hall. (2021). Evaluating Lower Athabasca River sediment metal concentrations from Alberta Oil Sands monitoring programs using pre-development baselines. Environmental Science & Technology 55: 8817-8828. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.1c01761.

• Imran, A., L.K. Neary, R.I. Hall, B.B. Wolfe. (2025). Overlooked and underrated: Influence of snowmelt runoff on lake-level rise rivals river floodwaters at a cold-region freshwater delta. Journal of Hydrology 663: 134036. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2025.134036.

• February 17, 2026 - The Peace‑Athabasca Delta is at risk. Here’s what we can do to evaluate the threats
• Evaluating the Threats and Mitigative Actions: Lake Monitoring Approaches for the Peace-Athabasca Delta
• January 7, 2015 - Oil sand mines not polluting Athabasca Delta with metals