Helen Jarvie

Professor and University Research Chair in Global Water Quality, Sustainability and Environmental Change.
Dr. Jarvie

EV1-313, ext. 41313
hjarvie@uwaterloo.ca
 

Helen undertakes research on eutrophication and water quality impairment: a complex environmental sustainability challenge, which is amplified by accelerating changes in climate and land use.

Research Interests:

Helen’s major research focus is river biogeochemistry, and the effects of nutrients (phosphorus and nitrogen) from agriculture and wastewater. These nutrients can stimulate excessive growth of nuisance and sometimes harmful algae, impairing water quality and ecology – a process known as ‘eutrophication’. Helen's research helps to prioritize land and water management to reduce nutrient inputs and restore river health and function, with the aim of improving the resilience of water bodies to environmental change.

Helen is a Visiting Professor in Fluvial Sciences at the University of Arkansas, USA; in Environmental Chemistry at Plymouth University, UK; and in Water Quality Science at the University of Tokyo, Japan. Helen is also an Honorary Fellow at the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology.

Further information about Helen’s research can be found at: https://uwaterloo.ca/scholar/hjarvie/research

Selected publications (For a list of publications, please see Helen Jarvie’s Google Scholar page)

  • Jarvie, H.P., Worrall, F., Burt, T.P. Howden, N.J.K. (2025) A 150-year river water quality record shows reductions in phosphorus loads but not in algal growth potential. Communications Earth & Environment. 6, 62. https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-024-01978-4
  • Jarvie, H.P.; Macrae, M.L.; Anderson, M.; Celmer-Repin, D.; Plach, J.; King, S.M. (2022) River metabolic fingerprints and regimes reveal ecosystem responses to enhanced wastewater treatment. Journal of Environmental Quality 51, 811–825. https://doi.org/10.1002/jeq2.20401
  • Jarvie, H.P.; Pallett D.W.; Schäfer, S.M.; Macrae, M.L; et al. (2020) Biogeochemical and Climate Drivers of Wetland Phosphorus and Nitrogen Release: Implications for Nutrient Legacies and Eutrophication Risk. Journal of Environmental Quality 2020, 49, 1703–1716. https://doi.org/10.1002/jeq2.20155
  • Gospodyn, L., Jarvie, H., Williams, M., Plach, J., Macrae, M. (2026). Separating flow components in tile drainage and streamflow in a headwater agricultural catchment. Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies, 63, 103081. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrh.2025.103081
  • White, A.B., Brua, R.B, Friesen, A. Jarvie, H.P., Yates, A.G. (2026) Spatial patterns in long-term nutrient concentration and stoichiometry trends in northern Prairie rivers. Biogeochemistry 169 (1), 7. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10533-025-01302-y
  • Worrall, F., Howden, N.J.K., Burt, T.P., Jarvie, H.P. (2025). Changes in chlorophyll-a in English rivers over the last 49 years Journal of Hydrology, 134394. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2025.134394
  • White, A.B., Brua, R.B, Painter, K., Jarvie, H.P., Yates, A.G. (2025). Prairie stream nutrient stoichiometry across space and time: Influence of discharge, season, and crop type. https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.70117
  • Shober, A.L., Simpson, Z.P., Jarvie, H.P., Macrae, M.L., Kleinman P.J.A. et al. (2025). Toward a transdisciplinary and unifying definition of legacy phosphorus Journal of Environmental Quality 54 (4), 882-892. https://doi.org/10.1002/jeq2.20659
  • Noyes, I., Koiter, A., Jarvie, H.P., Plach, J.M., Lobb, D.A., Glasauer, S., Macrae, M.L. (2025) Potential phosphorus mobilization from riparian vegetation following freezing. Journal of Environmental Management 2025, 370. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.122710
  • Tye, A.M., Jarvie, H.P., Spears, B.M.; Dise, N.B. et al. Riverine concentrations and export of dissolved silicon, and potential controls on nutrient stoichiometry, across the land–ocean continuum in Great Britain. Journal of Hydrology 2024, 640, 131738. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2024.131738