Lessons for monitoring
Reveals the importance of multi-timepoint, multi-depth sampling in lake and reservoir monitoring programs to describe cyanobacteria community dynamics.
of Best Management Practices to reduce Phosphorous loadings into Lake Erie
Assessing the most environmental and cost-effective programs of BMPs, considering both public programming costs and private farm-level costs.
Learn more about PlasticNet, a deep convolutional neural network architecture tailored for automatic recognition and classification of microplastics.
Gain unique insights into the fate and transport of groundwater chloride originating from seasonally applied road salt and the efficacy of road salt reduction strategies.
Dive deep into the significant complexities surrounding efforts to build resilience in the Red River Basin under climate change.
Read about the latest advancements in sustainable water harvesting systems achieved through the use of biomimetic surface engineering principles.
Presents a step-by-step framework for a systematic robustness evaluation of individual treatment processes and DWTPs demonstrating its application to a full-scale DWTP.
Learn more about leverage points for intervention across human, animal and environment sectors that may have potential to change system behaviours to help to mitigate AMR.
Explore the potential, limits and pathways for water markets to contribute to more sustainable and inclusive water management.
Evaluates the use of blends of adsorbents with different adsorptive properties to successfully analyze PFAS in sludge and biosolids.
Reveals the potential microfluidic platforms offer for POC monitoring of heavy metals in our water, soil, air and food.
Salinization may be an overlooked driver of downward trends of hypolimnion DO concentrations in lakes worldwide.
Provides insight into how the risk associated with impoundments has evolved and provides benchmarks for estimating the likelihood of failures and associated environmental impacts.
Promoting the value of curating, depositing and preserving microplastics data in adherence with the FAIR guiding principles.
Explores the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on basic human needs such as WASH services in Kisumu, Kenya.
Sheds light on pollution reduction costs related to manufacturing, agriculture and wastewater within the The Great Lakes Basin.
Explores a promising alternative for a fast, easy, inexpensive, in situ testing platform for detecting insecticides in water.
Examines biodegradable plastics such as PHA that offer a promising alternative to conventional plastics.
Investigates drinking water perception and consumption in Indigenous communities and the importance for public health
The first Canadian study to assess whether socially vulnerable groups bear a disproportionate burden of fluvial, pluvial and coastal flood risk.
See results of the first comprehensive study of surface water microplastic pollution in Lake Superior
Assesses the capacity in Dhaka, Bangladesh to support more collaborative approaches to water management
Take a closer look at the WAMPUM Adaptation Framework for Sea Level Rise, guided by Indigenous knowledge of the northeastern and mid-Atlantic Tribal Nations.
Explores the potential of biomolecules and nanomaterials in developing arsenic sensors
Investigates sampling methods that could prove especially useful for hard-to-reach and dangerous waters.
Understanding relationships between water security and emotional distress among urban slum dwellers in Accra, Ghana.
Investigates benefits and risks associated with country food consumption in First Nations communities of the Canadian subarctic.
Dr. Heidi Swanson, Department of Biology
Heidi Swanson (Biology) and her colleagues from the School of Public Health and First Nations partners find some northern fish are safe to eat, and contain healthy fatty acids, despite concerns that this traditional food is contaminated with mercury. The long-standing relationships this research team has built with the First Nations is not only yielding important scientific findings, but is helping to improve quality of life in the communities of the Canadian North.
Dr. Robert Case, Department of Social Development Studies
Rob Case compares the dynamics of community engagement in water activism in two Canadian communities. He finds that reactionary community engagement in the presence of the proverbial ‘bad guy’ is not enough to sustain long-term engagement. His findings are helping activist groups understand how to effectively mobilize and create positive change in the water sector.
Dr. Monica Emelko, Civil and Environmental Engineering/Dr. Alexander Wong, Systems Design Engineering
Monica Emelko (Civil and Environmental Engineering) and Alexander Wong (Systems Design Engineering) provide proof that artificial intelligence paired with fluorescent light could be used to rapidly screen water samples on-site for the number and types of harmful algae species at a reasonably low cost. This finding could have broad implications for improving how we evaluate water in a timely fashion that could pose a public health risk, such as lakes used for recreational swimming.
Dr. Prateep Kumar Nayak, School of Environment, Enterprise and Development
Like many coastal lagoons around the world, Chilika Lagoon has faced problems that have seriously degraded its social and ecological base, with long-term impacts on the lives and livelihoods of its fishers. How can a sustainable livelihood framework help clarify the challenges the Chilika face in achieving sustainable livelihood outcomes, despite well-planned strategies?
Dr. Susan Elliott, Department of Geography and Environmental Management
Studies suggest small NGOs in international development struggle to validate their impact with evidence. How can a case study of H20 4 ALL, a water-based Ugandan NGO, help us understand the unique challenges small NGOs face in successfully demonstrating their impact?
Dr. John Spoelstra, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences/ Canada Centre for Inland Waters, Environment and Climate Change Canada
Artificial sweeteners are persistent chemicals that do not degrade easily in the environment. This makes them useful for tracing water pathways. It has been widely documented that municipal wastewater treatment plants are a major source of artificial sweeteners to surface waters. But what can artificial sweeteners tell us about septic system effluents in groundwater aquifers in rural areas?
Dr. Larry Swatuk, School of Environment, Enterprise and Development
Water management is an issue that concerns all people equally. However, water resource management has historically been afflicted by a gender imbalance. The differences in the ways women and men are involved with water reflect deeply rooted, systemic power relations that have significant implications for the ways in which the resource is handled.
Dr. Daniel Henstra, Department of Political Science
Flooding is the most costly hazard for Canadian municipalities and recently became the largest source of property insurance claims. Escalating damage to property and infrastructure has prompted greater interest from municipalities in policies that share the responsibility for risk reduction and the burden of costs with other levels of government and non-governmental actors.
Dr. Sarah Wolfe, School of Environment, Resources and Sustainability
Pro-environmental campaigns provide information to encourage people to alter their behaviours, but with mixed success. Underlying anti-bottled water campaigns is the assumption that more information generates greater awareness and a corresponding decrease in bottles purchased. But research suggests that these information-driven campaigns do not always generate the anticipated behaviour changes.
Dr. Susan Elliott, Department of Geography and Environmental Management
Women and children are spending countless hours fetching water for their households, and there remain approximately 663 million people in the world that still go without. Furthermore, 2.6 billion people continue to lack access to adequate sanitation, with almost one million people practicing open defecation.
Dr. Peter Huck, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Urban development and population growth can place pressure on groundwater-based potable water supplies and stream-based wastewater treatment systems, which are common in various parts of the world. Managed aquifer recharge using highly treated effluent from municipal wastewater treatment plants is a promising strategy for indirect potable reuse, helping to meet increased water demands and associated increases in wastewater discharges.
Dr. Jeremy Pittman, School of Planning
The land and sea are inherently connected via multiple, complex social-ecological interactions that are important components of local ecologies and major factors influencing people’s livelihoods and wellbeing. This land-sea interface is influenced by policy and management decisions and the social processes and values that drive those decisions.
