News

Several article have appeared recently about plastics in the oceans and Great Lakes including this one by Maryse Jobin for Radio-Canada:

Des chercheurs alarmés par la quantité de plastique dans les Grands Lacs [Scientists alarmed by quantity of plastics in the Great Lakes]

The article highlighted the alarming quantity of "micro-plastics", small filaments and beads invisible to the naked eye, which have been found accumulating in major water bodies and oceans.

Dr. Philippe Van Cappellen and Dr. Ana Lima are teaching the urban ecohydrology module of the Erasmus Mundus Ecohydrology Summer School, which is being held at the Federal University of Espiríto Santo, Vitória, Brazil, from 10 June to 23 August, 2013.

"Arsenic Bioremediation by Biogenic Iron Oxides and Sulfides" was published on 10 May 2013 in Applied Environmental Microbiology. Authors include researchers from five countries.

Omoregie, E.O., Couture, R.-M., Van Cappellen, P., Corkhill, C.L. Charnock, J.M. Polya, D.A., Vaughan, D., Vanbroekhoeven, K., Lloyd, J.R. (2013) Arsenic Bioremediation by Biogenic Iron Oxides and Sulfides. Applied Environmental Microbiology 79 (14):4325. DOI:10.1128/AEM.00683-13.

RBC Foundation visited the Ecohydrology Labs yesterday as part of their announcement to donate $1.75 million in support of the Water Institute's new graduate studies program in Integrated Water Management (IWM). The funds will create 120 scholarships over the next eight years as well as underwrite high-profile program fellows (RBC Visiting Fellows) and an annual RBC Water Scholars Program student symposium.

Dr. Kristen Mitchell invited to attend Great Lakes Land-Based Debris Workshop in Cleveland, Ohio, May 22-23, 2013

This strategic planning workshop, the first of its series, was hosted by NOAA's Marine Debris Program. Stakeholders discussed ways to address the growing problem of land-based debris in the Great Lakes. The workshop was an invitation-only event.

Dr. Fereidoun Rezanazhad is presenting his talk entitled "An automated fluctuating water table column system to study soil biogeochemistry under redox-dynamic conditions" at the 4th International Multidisciplinary EcoHydro Conference in Rennes, France, May 13-16, 2013.

Dr. Philippe Van Cappellen to speak at the Canada Excellence Research Chairs Presentations meeting at the University of Alberta, Edmonton on May 13, 2013.

Dr. Raoul-Marie Couture and colleagues from the University of Waterloo have organized and will host the symposium entitled "Biogeochemistry Across Scales" at the 4th International Canadian Chemistry Conference and Exhibition, May 26-30, 2013 in Quebec City.

The organizers would like to acknowledge Dr. Kristin Mueller's invaluable effort with the organization of the symposium.

Taylor Maavra, a PhD student within the Ecohydrology group, will also present a poster at the conference.