News

A new study found that measuring the time it takes for a radar pulse to travel from a satellite to the sea surface and back again can reveal the thickness of river ice and dates when it is safe to travel on ice roads and bridges in arctic regions.

Many northern communities in Canada rely on the network of ice roads built on frozen lakes and rivers to transport goods and for food security. However, the sustainability of these roads is at risk due to climate warming causing shorter ice seasons and thinner ice. 

One of the most commonly utilized tools for policymakers is the briefing note - a short document that summarizes an issue and makes recommendations for next steps. It is often used to articulate how scientific research can be applied to policy to resolve a particular challenge. Briefing notes are used frequently in government but also consulting agencies, non-for-profit organizations, and private business among other organizations. Learning how to write a concise, strategic briefing note can be helpful to researchers in articulating the applicability of their science but also throughout your career.

Introduction

This article was originally published on the Faculty of Science website.

Past and present members of the Faculty of Science community are saddened by the news that William David Taylor passed away on January 24, 2022. Bill had a long and distinguished career of service inside and outside the University of Waterloo. He will be remembered with great affection by the many professionals that he trained as students, and by the many colleagues who had the pleasure to work with him in research and administration.

A University of Waterloo press release.

Southern Ontario wetlands provide $4.2 billion worth of sediment filtration and phosphorus removal services each year, keeping our drinking water sources clean and helping to mitigate harmful and nuisance algal blooms in our lakes and rivers.

A new study from the University of Waterloo uses economic valuation to help us understand the importance of Southern Ontario’s wetlands for water filtration – particularly as these sensitive ecosystems continue to be lost by conversion to agriculture or urban development.

Early in the pandemic, Water Institute member, Professor Mark Servos realized that his group’s experience with wastewater and molecular biology studies with fish could be applied to measuring SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater.

Today’s water industry faces many challenges — from addressing hard-to-remove contaminants in drinking supplies to making wastewater treatment as energy-efficient as possible, cutting costs and carbon emissions. Could nanotech hold the answers?

Dr. Sushanta Mitra, executive director of the Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, believes so. “We are able to utilize the surface properties in a much, much better way than conventional technologies,” he explains. That ability to modify materials at the atomic level opens up a world of possibilities.

Kelly Skinner, associate professor in the School of Public Health Sciences and Water Institute member, was appointed a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Applied Public Health Chair in Healthy environments for climate change and food security in northern Canada.

The prestigious position, one of only seven awarded, includes $1.15 million in funding over five years for highly focused research that improves health equity for citizens in Canada and around the world.

A University of Waterloo press release.

Climate change will limit where the Winter Olympics can be held as winter changes across the Northern Hemisphere, according to a study by an international team of researchers led by the University of Waterloo.

The study, involving researchers from Canada, Austria and the United States, found that if global emissions of greenhouse gases are not dramatically reduced, only one of the 21 cities that have previously hosted the Winter Olympics would be able to reliably provide fair and safe conditions for the snow sports program of the Games by the end of this century. However, if the Paris Climate Agreement emission targets can be achieved, the number of climate-reliable host cities jumps to eight, with only six considered unreliable.

The announcement of Canada Research Chairs was made yesterday by the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry (ISED).

Among the recipients was Water Institute member James Craig, Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering and Canada Research Chair in Hydrological Modelling and Analysis, who has been renewed for five years.