News

Dr. Wallace Broecker, Newberry Professor of Geology in the Department of Earth Sciences at Columbia University is being awarded an honorary Doctor of Science degree form University of Waterloo at today’s convocation ceremony.

A true pioneer, Broecker is arguably one of the most accomplished living geochemists in the world. For more than half a century, his research has refined what we know about the ocean’s effects on climate change.

A new publication by members of Dr. Lingling Wu's and the Ecohydrology research groups and colleagues from the United States presents the first comprehensive data set on stable iron isotope signatures associated with the microbial cycling of iron obtained directly in sediments of a freshwater lake. 

Liu, K., Wu, L., Couture, R.-M., Li, W. and Van Cappellen, P. (2015) Iron isotope fractionation in sediments of an oligotrophic freshwater lake. Earth and Planetary Science Letter, 423, 164-172, DOI: 10.1016/j.epsl.2015.05.010.

Fereidoun Rezanezhad and Philippe Van Cappellen are hosting a two-day workshop to further develop the capacity in hydrobiogeophysics (HBGP) in the Ecohydrology Research Group.

Philippe Van Cappellen joined a delegation of the Water Institute to China. The delegation held talks with researchers and officials from Wuhan University, China University of Geosciences, Southwest University, Chongqing University, China Research Academy of Environmental Sciences (CRAES) and Hohai University.

Research Scientist, Chris Parsons and PhD Student, Alex Driedger, attended the 58th Annual Conference on Great Lakes Research, hosted by the University of Vermont in Burlington, Vermont. Alex Driedger presented his research on Great Lakes pollution entitled, "Macroplastic Debris along Shorelines of the Great Lakes".

Ecohydrology Group Members volunteered at the 20th Annual Waterloo-Wellington Children's Groundwater Festival this week at the Waterloo Region Museum in Kitchener. The group ran two stations to educate elementary school students on the importance of water circulation in the ocean ("Motion in the Ocean"), water resource conservation and land use change ("Soil Erosion"). 

Congratulations to Amanda Niederkorn, who successfully defended her MSc. thesis entitled, “Surface-subsurface hydrological exchange and nutrient dynamics in a groundwater fed stream, Bauman Creek, Ontario, Canada”. Amanda was co-supervised by Ecohydrology Group members Dr. Philippe Van Cappellen and Dr. Fereidoun Rezanezhad. Dr. David Rudolph of the University of Waterloo and Dr. Michael English of Wilfred Laurier University made up the committee. Well done, Amanda!

Philippe Van Cappellen has been featured on Research2Reality’s water research focused video (below), as a part of a larger campaign to bridge the gap between Canadian research and the public. Additional videos and focused interviews will be airing over the coming months, including nine University of Waterloo researchers discussing the future potential of their research.

Philippe Van Cappellen presents the annual Woo Lecture at the Joint CGU-AGU Meeting in Montreal on May 6. The invited lecture highlights outstanding contributions within Canadian geophysical research. Dr. Van Cappellen`s lecture was entitled, "Rivers in the Anthropocene: Global Modification of Nutrient Cycles by River Damming", co-authored by PhD Candidate, Taylor Maavara. 

Thirteen members of the Ecohydrology Research Group will be presenting their research at the Joint cgu-agu-gac-mac Assembly May 3-7 in Montreal.