The Water Institute facilitates collaboration, supports excellence and promotes innovation in interdisciplinary water research and education. Today, more than 150 faculty members from all six University of Waterloo faculties and 19 departments are members of the Water Institute.
"Transformational research that transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries has deep roots at Waterloo. The Water Institute serves as a catalyst for interdisciplinary collaboration in addressing grand challenges confronting the sustainable use and management of water."
— George Dixon, Vice-President Academic & Provost, University of Waterloo
Beating the cold has taken on new meaning for University of Waterloo researchers who are working to help Canadian wastewater treatment plants become more environmentally sustainable.
One of the research group’s projects involves a problem at a plant in the southern Ontario community of Keswick that is subject to stringent discharge limits.
The following story was co-authored by Water Institute member Jeremy Pittman, assistant professor in Waterloo's School of Planning, and originally appeared in The Conversation Canada.
For one week in September, graduate students in the Collaborative Water Program (CWP) step outside of the classroom and gain hands-on learning experience from local water experts and community members in the Grand River Watershed. Bringing together graduate students from all six University of Waterloo faculties, the CWP provides a unique interdisciplinary learning environment for future water leaders.
Water Institute member Simron Singh, associate professor in Waterloo's School of Environment, Enterprise and Development, and his colleagues, are hosting a public panel on sustaining small islands in the context of global environmental change. The panel discussion will be followed by wine and cheese for participants.
As part of the Water Institute's WaterTalks lecture series, Diane Orihel, National Scholar in Aquatic Ecotoxicology and assistant professor in Biology and Environmental Studies at Queen’s University, and Alana Greaves, environmental toxicologist and a postdoctoral researcher with Queen’s University present, "The importance of ecosystem-based ecotoxicology for advancing environmental policy, with special reference to Canadian Oil Sands development."
As part of our WaterTalk lecture series Kevin Boyle, professor of agricultural and applied economics and director of the Program in Real Estate at Virginia Tech, presents, "From the Exxon Valdez oil spill to the BP Deep Water Horizon oil spill: A story of economic damages from major environmental contamination events."
