Dept of Earth & Environmental Sciences
Centre for Environmental and Information Technology (EIT)
200 University Ave. W
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G1
Phone: (519) 888-4567
Welcome
Earth and Environmental Sciences combines geology with studies in surface and groundwater, as well as the engineering properties of rocks and soils. We invite you to learn more about our internationally recognized research from helping communities protect groundwater resources to understanding the mysteries of geologic processes deep within the Earth.
As active researchers, we offer our students a hands-on learning experience in addition to innovative degrees and programs, such as TERRE NET, Canada’s first nationally funded program designed to connect the next generation of sustainable mining professionals.
Our unique Earth Sciences Museum and its K-12 outreach program give us the chance to share our passion with the community.
News
- July 1, 2018Early ocean anoxia may have led to first mass extinction event
A new study by an international collaboration involving Earth and Environmental Sciences Professor Brian Kendall suggests the world’s first mass extinction event 540 million years ago was caused by a widespread loss of dissolved oxygen in the Earth’s oceans.
- May 28, 2018Phosphexᵀᴹ wraps up field testing as a $10 million George Barley Water Prize contender
Today, the University of Waterloo PhosphexTM team wraps up its field tests where they’ve demonstrated their technology’s ability to remove phosphorus from Holland Marsh in Bradford, Ontario.
- Apr. 19, 2018Water Institute announces latest Seed Grants
Four interdisciplinary teams led by University of Waterloo researchers are set to advance water research in creative, unconventional ways. New approaches to detect and manage micropollutants, techniques that predict the impacts of climate change on snow and lakes, and new modelling techniques will be explored through $69,000 in Water Institute seed grants.
Events
- Jan. 25, 2019MSc Defense: Brittney Glass
Examining Hydrogeological Processes in Freezing Soils Using Remote Geophysical and Numerical Techniques
- Jan. 25, 2019Department Seminar: Dr. Jacqueline Goordial
Vital signs in the low energy microbial world: linking physiology to ecosystem function
Dr. Jacqueline Goordial
Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, East Boothbay, MaineMicroorganisms are the most diverse and abundant lifeforms on Earth, but less than 1% have been cultured in the laboratory for study. Thus, our knowledge of the metabolic potential of the vast majority of microorganisms is based primarily on genomic and metagenomic sequencing. Compounding these unknowns is evidence that bacteria commonly exist in prolonged states of low metabolic activity or non-growth states in environmental settings. This gap in our knowledge necessitates uniting physiology and molecular microbiology to understand the roles that bacterial communities play in biogeochemical cycling and ecosystem function.
- Feb. 4, 2019World Wetlands Day 2019
The Ecohydrology Research Group is excited to present our seventh annual research symposium in celebration of World Wetlands Day at the University of Waterloo!