Brookfield was born and raised in northern Ontario in the Temiskaming Shores area. She spent a lot of time outdoors boating, hiking, swimming and playing sports. Growing up surrounded by nature and living in an area where the local economy was driven by natural resource development (mining and forestry) got her interested in environmental research.
She's a three-time Waterloo alumnus having completed her undergraduate, master's and doctoral degrees at the University of Waterloo. After completing her undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering, Brookfield studied simulation of acid mine drainage with reactive transport models with Prof. David Blowes and thermal energy transport modelling with Prof. Ed Sudicky.
After completing her PhD she worked as an Assistant Scientist for the Kansas Geological Survey, a research and service division of the University of Kansas (KU). During her 10 years with the survey she developed a research program focused on water management of agricultural systems. Her love of teaching and mentoring brought her back to the classroom, where she taught Differential Equations for Hydrology for KU’s Department of Geology, and eventually accepted a position as Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography and Atmospheric Science at KU in August 2018.
She's a hydrologist interested in the development and use of hydrological models to simulate fluid flow and transport for prediction, management and process investigation. Her current research focuses on improving the efficiency and effectiveness of models used for simulating and predicting changes in water resources in the surface and subsurface. Brookfield develops, integrates and uses a wide variety of tools, ranging from computationally demanding, fully-integrated, physically-based surface/subsurface hydrological models and multi-component reactive transport models to computationally frugal analytical solutions, to meet this objective. Her research goals stem from an interest in developing effective and efficient tools for water resource management and planning and closing the gap between cutting-edge scientific tools and those utilized by resource managers, industry, and other stakeholders.
She's also on the management board for the Hydrogeology Division of the Geological Society of America and is an editor for the Groundwater journal and the Journal of Hydrology. She's a member of many professional associations including: Geological Society of America, American Geophysical Union, International Association of Hydrogeologists, Association for Women Geoscientists and Professional Engineers of Ontario (Engineer in Training).
Outside of academia, Brookfield enjoys staying active. She enjoys running, biking, rock climbing, and still plays some team sports, like football, basketball and soccer with her kids.