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
As Earth and environmental scientists, we regularly conduct research and course work in the lab and in the field, all over the globe. Click on these images to learn more about where our students, faculty and staff have been active.
The 2018 geological mapping field school (Earth 390) was offered at Whitefish Falls, south of Espinola, Ontario, from April 21 to 30. This was the 48th year UWaterloo taught this course at Whitefish Falls. 71 students participated.
Extensive terraces characterize the Loess Plateau in NW China in an effort to stave off erosion in this highly fertile region. Photo: Earth and Environmental Sciences Prof. Stephen Evans.
Water flowing out an inclined pipe (artesian conditions): People pictured include a geological survey researcher (red hat), the women is the mayor of Kurikka, and the director of the local water company (high-vis vest). Photo credit: Earth and Environmental Sciences Prof. Martin Ross.
Analysis of groundwater quality requires purging (i.e., pumping out of wells) to ensure representative samples are collected. Students are using pH, Eh, and specific conductance probes to monitor the quantity and quality of pumped groundwater in a measuring cup to decide when to collect a sample.
In the field, water quality analysis being done for nitrate, a common agricultural contaminant. Students use this CHEMetrics Inc. colorimetric method with glass vacu-vial ampules to determine instantly if the groundwater water is contaminated or not.
In Earth 671, Field Methods in Hydrogeology, students from UW and across Canada learn both theory and practical techniques from a team of experts from academia, industry, and consulting firms. Luana Jo (on right, from GeoSyntec Consultants) shows Alexandra Duchesne (on left, from Western University) how to collect a sample of groundwater to be analyzed for volatile organic compounds (e.g., petroleum products and chlorinated solvents).
Dr. David Lee (UW Adjunct Professor) is a world renowned expert in hydrogeology and groundwater surface water interactions and has taught part of Earth 671 for the past 3 decades. He is the developer of the water flux measuring device known as a “seepage meter” and is once demonstrating to students how to fill it prior to use.
Discharge of groundwater into surface water is what often sustains flow in streams and water levels in ponds in summer. Joanne Angai (of the University of Waterloo) is pulling out a mini-piezometer (i.e., a small well made of plastic tubing) from a lakebed that was used to determine if groundwater discharge was occurring.
Professor Brewster Conant (on left, from the University of Waterloo) shows Alison Healy (on right, University of Waterloo) how to read a water level in a mini-piezometer installed in a lakebed. Students learn how to use mini-piezometers to determine if groundwater discharges up into the surface water or if surface water is moving down into the subsurface.