PhD
I am looking for a PhD student to investigate interaction between stormwater and GHG sequestration and aquatic fluxes. This is a funded position as part of a yet-to-be announced major project on influencing developer and home buyer behaviour to maximize the climate adaptation potential when building and designing new urban areas. We are going to to maximize the use of stormwater to sequester carbon and we're going to show home buyers the long term benefits when decisions are made at the planning stage to address this key issue. Other researchers are based in the School of Planning, in the Department of Geography and Environmental Management, and the Department of Biology, so the ideal candidate will work well as part of a team on an interdisciplinary 'wicked' water problem. The project will involve field measurement of urban hydrologic processes and numerical modelling. Experience with the EPA Storm Water Management Model (SWMM) would be beneficial, as would exposure to advanced data acquisition tools such as drones and lidar. The student will also be part of the River Hydraulics Research Group where we are interested in problems related to river degradation and metamorphosis in response to land-use/climate change, river restoration using gravel augmentation and wood management, and process-scale understanding of flow and sediment transport through non-uniform channels.
We strive to provide a supportive training environment with a wide range of collaboration and internship opportunities. Many of my current and past students have had successful internships with watershed conservation authorities, municipal governments, private consulting firms as part of their research. The job market for students from the group is very strong, and almost all students remain in the field whether it be in the private sector, government organizations, or academia. For this position, students who aspire to a position in academia are preferred, but the student will have a range of mentorship opportunities. The student will be based in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (uwaterloo.ca/civil-environmental-engineering/), one of the largest and well-respected such departments in Canada and one with a research focus on sustainable cities and communities. The selected student will also be expected to complete two graduate courses in the Collaborative Water Program as part of the Water Institute at the University of Waterloo (uwaterloo.ca/water-institute/). This institute is a key part of the strategic emphasis on water research at UW, with over 150 faculty members and 300+ graduate students. The CWP graduate courses offer a novel learning opportunity to approach water issues from a transdisciplinary perspective with other professors and students at the university.
We recognize that systemic barriers that have led to the underrepresentation of certain groups in fluvial hydraulics and structural engineering. Individuals from underrepresented groups including persons with disabilities, racialized minorities, individuals from LGBTQ2+, and women will therefore be given every consideration to encourage their participation in this interesting research field.
Please contact Bruce MacVicar (bmacvicar@uwaterloo.ca) if you are interested in this position.
