Research Talks

Dustin Garrick, PhD

Associate Professor and University Research Chair in Water and Development Policy, Faculty of Environment, University of Waterloo

Dustin Garrick is University Research Chair in Water and Development Policy at the University of Waterloo and Research Fellow at the University of Oxford. He works across a network of partnerships to understand the drivers of water scarcity and assess how communities and governments are responding to competition and conflict over water. His recent work focuses on thirsty cities confronting infrastructure deficits, climate risks, and loss of surrounding croplands. This research has received support and awards from research councils in Australia, Canada, the USA, and the UK. Dr. Garrick regularly serves as advisor to community groups, governments, and the World Bank and is currently leading a report mapping Canada's groundwater governance landscape, commissioned by the Gordon Foundation, and scheduled for release later in 2026.

Leigh McDermott, MESc, PEng

Director of City Utilities, Integrated Planning & Public Works, City of Waterloo and 2026 Douglas Wright Engineer-in-Residence, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Waterloo

Leigh McDermott has been the City of Waterloo’s Director of City Utilities in the Integrated Planning and Public Works Department since August 2020. Before joining the City, Leigh worked for the Region of Waterloo delivering complex capital projects for over five years, and for Stantec Consulting as the Water Sector Leader in the local area for over 10 years. Leigh started his career in the water industry with Pall Water (now part of Trojan Technologies) as Director Water Processing, responsible for membrane systems in the Canadian market for over five years.

Leigh holds a Bachelor of Engineering Science in Biochemical Engineering from Western University and a Master of Engineering Science in Chemical Engineering from Western University. He is licensed as a Professional Engineer in Ontario (Professional Engineers of Ontario) and Alberta (The Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta). 

Leigh has contributed over his career to water and wastewater industry associations and is a current member of the Water Environment Association of Ontario. He has participated in several associations, including as the previous chair of the Membrane Systems Subcommittee of the American Water Works Association’s Technical and Education Council. 

Leigh is a strong advocate of charitable work and is the President and Chair of the Board for the Nice Day Shining Charity based in Waterloo, Ontario. The charity is focused on supporting education in the fine arts and raising awareness of mental health. 

Laurie Minor

Skaabewis (ceremony helper), singer, Sundancer, Water Walker, Creative Native and Land Protector

Aanii, Boozhoo, Tansii kina weya. Giizhii-wewet Animkii Binesiikwe n’dizhnikaas. Waabsheshi n’dodem. Métis Red River Settlement miinwa Europe endeyaan. Dundalk n’doonjibaa. Métiskwe endow.

Laurie Minor’s spirit name is Loud Thunderbird Woman. She is marten clan. Her ancestors come from the Red River Métis Settlement and Europe. She is a blend of German and Welsh on her mother’s side, and Métis and English on her father’s side. Within her Métis ancestry, she has Anishinaabe (Ojibway), Nehiyaw (Cree), Siksitka (Blackfoot), Assinaboine (Lakota), Newe (Shoshone), French, and Scottish roots. She currently lives in Dundalk, Ontario, and identifies as a Métiskwe, or Métis woman.

Laurie introduces herself in this manner as a way of decolonizing herself. She uses Anishinaabemowin, the Ojibway language, and traditional introduction protocols to share her name, clan, and ancestral origins, all of which significantly shape her perspective on the world.

Learning about her Indigenous ancestry fundamentally changed her life, for which she remains deeply grateful. For the past thirty-six years, she has been reclaiming her identity, learning and unlearning alongside First Nations and Métis Elders. She is the mother of two First Nations Anishinaabe children, who learned alongside her as she reclaimed parts of herself that had been hidden.

Laurie is a fair complexioned, cisgender woman and acknowledges the privileges that accompany this identity. She is also a mother, sister, auntie, skaabewis (ceremony helper), singer, Sundancer, Water Walker, Creative Native, and Land Protector.

Her involvement in local water ceremonies and water walks began when one of her Elders, Mary Anne Caibaiosai, reminded her of her responsibility to the water—not only as a woman, but also because of her spirit name. Thunderbirds hold an intimate relationship with water, and this simple reminder had a profound impact on her life. She participated in her first water walk for the Grand River in 2020, an experience that changed her life’s trajectory.

Laurie has been facilitating Midewewin Water Ceremonies every new moon along the Grand River for over six years. All nations are encouraged to participate in this ceremony to feed, pray for, sing to, and honour the water, nibi.

She is currently completing her Master of Education (MEd) at Wilfrid Laurier University, with a focus on Decolonization Theory, Land Based Education, and storywork.

David L. Rudolph, PhD, PEng

Professor, Faculty of Science, University of Waterloo

David Rudolph is a Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Waterloo. He specializes and teaches in the areas of regional hydrogeology and groundwater protection and management. He has participated extensively with municipal authorities, including the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, in groundwater development and sustainable management strategies. 

Rural community development and wellbeing, with guest panelists:

• Dr. Karla Boluk - Redesigning and regenerating tourism with care and intentionality: Widening the inclusion lens in St. Jacobs Village (PDF)
• Dr. Feng Chang - Bridging worlds: Stories of how rural voices drive health research (PDF)
• Dr. Tejal Patel - Designing technology to support older adults manage their medications (PDF)
• Ellie Joseph & Jay Bailey - Two Row on the Grand | 10 year anniversary

Tuesday, May 20, 2025

Watch the full event recording