Water Institute members awarded Canada Foundation for Innovation's (CFI) John R. Evans Leaders Funding

Congratulations to Helen Jarvie, professor of Water and Global Environmental Change, and professor Merrin Macrae, both from the Department of Geography and Environmental Management, on being awarded funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation’s (CFI) John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF), for their project: "Multi-Element Signatures to Trace Nutrient Sources, Pathways and Processes: From Field to Watershed Scales."

The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, announced today more than $77 million will support 332 research infrastructure projects at 50 universities across the country. 

This $135,000 CFI-JELF award will expand infrastructure at the University of Waterloo Biogeochemistry Laboratories to further develop analytical capabilities in freshwater hydrochemistry. 

The infrastructure will include a TOC-TN Analyzer for measuring total carbon and nitrogen in river and lake water, a 3-channel autoanalyzer for phosphorus and nitrogen fractions, and an ICP-OES (inductively coupled plasma - optical emission spectrometer) for analysis of metals and trace elements for water source tracing.  

The new analytical equipment will underpin new research using multi-element hydrochemical signatures to trace and quantify nutrient sources, pathways and processes along the continuum from edge-of-field to the river-basin scale and to explore the ecological implications for nuisance and excessive harmful algal growth. 

This new capability will assist researchers in identifying and prioritizing nutrient sources for remediation, focusing initially within the Grand River-Lake Erie watershed.  

Read the entire recipient list and more details on the CFI’s John R. Evans Leaders Fund here.

The Grand River near Paris, ON.