News

A new publication by PhD student Taylor Maavara and her co-authors Hans Dürr and Philippe Van Cappellen in Global Biogeochemical Cycles estimates the worldwide retention of the nutrient element silicon (Si) by river damming. The authors present a new approach that combines the small data set on Si budgets for dam reservoirs with biogeochemical modeling and statistical analysis. They show that on average dams retain about 20% of the river inflow of Si into reservoirs, or 22.3x10¹² g SiO2 per year globally.

An article in the Huffington Post today (www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/07/10/plastic-pollution-oceans-litter_n_5573944.html) highlights the ubiquity of plastic debris and includes comments from Philippe Van Cappellen on the nature of the problem and what we are finding in the Great Lakes.

The article also includes the infographic below explaining a common pathway for litter to reach waterways. 

The Goldschmidt 2014 Conference took place June 8-13 in Sacramento, California. Philippe Van Cappellen and David O’Connell were in attendance. Philippe presented a keynote entitled “Biogeochemical Model Complexity, There and Back Again” with co-authors Taylor Maavara, Severin Stojanovic and Hans Dürr. David’s oral presentation was entitled “Phosphorus Retention in Sediments of an Artificially Fertilized Boreal Lake” with co-authors Nienke Ansems, Diane Orihel, Johan Wiklund, Thilo Behrends, Hannah Chessel, David Schindler and Philippe Van Cappellen.

Philippe gave a keynote presentation at the Canadian Science Writers Association Conference in Toronto (June 5-8).  In his presentation, Philippe gave a broad overview of current and emerging global water issues.  He stressed the central importance of water not only for human wellbeing and prosperity, but also for maintaining healthy ecosystems. A number of key concepts, including water scarcity, water stress, ecosystem services, environmental flows and water pricing were reviewed.

​PhD student Taylor Maavara has been awarded an NSERC Postgraduate Scholarship for up to 3 years. Congratulations Taylor! 

Eight researchers from Ecohydrology Research Group have presented their work at the 57th Annual Conference on Great Lakes Research (May 26-30, 2014) in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada; organized by the International Association for Great Lakes Research (IAGLR).

Oral: Mapping Marine Debris in the Great Lakes. A. Driedger; H. Dürr; K. Mitchell; O.  Lyandres; J. Cross and P. Van Cappellen

Oral: Landscape controls on Si concentration and the seasonal Si cycle. J. Hood and P. Van Cappellen

The 19th annual Waterloo Wellington Children's Groundwater Festival is taking place this week at the Waterloo Region Museum in Kitchener. Once again, Ecohydrology Group members are taking shifts volunteering this week to excite and educate local school children with water-related  activities.

UNESCO launched IHP’s 8^th phase (2014-2021) entitled “Water Security: Responses to Local, Regional and Global Challenges” (IHP-VIII, see: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0022/002251/225103e.pdf). IHP-VIII will be built around the following 6 interrelated Themes: 1) Water-related disasters and hydrological change, 2) Groundwater in a changing world, 3) Addressing water scarcity and quality, 4) Water and human settlements of the future, 5) Ecohydrology, engineering harmony for a sustainable world, and 6) Water education, key for water security.

Philippe Van Cappellen attended the 2014 Canadian Geophysical Union conference, a Joint annual meeting with Canadian Society of Soil Science and Mantle Convection, held on May 4-7, 2014 in Banff, Canada. Ecohydrology Research Group members are presented:

Invited talk by Philippe Van Cappellen: Soil Respiration in Wetlands - A Biogeochemical Perspective. Co-authors: Fereidoun Rezanezhad, Kim Van Meter and Nandita Basu