The Water Institute is thrilled to announce that David Blowes, professor in Waterloo’s Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, has been elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.
Taking action to adapt to climate change will help protect the health, well-being, and prosperity of Canadians and manage risks to communities, businesses, and ecosystems. Preparing for the effects of climate change before they happen will make our communities stronger and healthier for this generation and the next. That’s why the Government of Canada is making significant investments to help communities build their resilience to climate change as a key part of our plan to address climate change.
Three short huts with solar panels on them sprout in Bob McIntosh’s wheat field near St. Marys, Ont.
Inside the huts are monitoring equipment that goes right to the tiles that systemically move water from his farm. His farm is one of six across Ontario with the monitoring equipment that allows University of Waterloo researchers to study how water, and especially the phosphorus in it, flows off of farms.
Two of University of Waterloo’s graduate students from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, both supervised by Water Institute member Monica Emelko, were recognized this summer by the American Water Works Association (AWWA) for their research. Gemma Charlebois and Andrew Wong are the first and second place recipients, respectively, of the 2017 Academic Achievement Awards for best Master’s thesis.
Since its inception in 1957, the University of Waterloo has promoted excellence in water-related research and education. In 2009, the Water Institute was established to promote and demonstrate interdisciplinary water research and education, strengthen partnerships with leading water organizations, and communicate the impact of Waterloo’s research. During the second week of September, to kick off University of Waterloo’s Innovation week, the Water Institute will build on its foundation to promote water research by hosting Elsevier’s International Water Research Conference.
Quentin Grafton is a professor of economics and director of the Centre for Water Economics, Environment and Policy at the Crawford School of Public Policy at the Australian National University. He is also the director of the Food, Energy, Environment and Water (FE2W) Network, and in April 2010, he was appointed the UNESCO Chair in Water Economics and Transboundary Water Governance.
Jill Crumb, Sylvie Spraakman and Nicole McLellan,
For the women in ImPONDerable, AquaHacking started out as an opportunity to meet other women passionate about the challenges facing Lake Erie; none of them imagined their idea would take them to the AquaHacking summit in September.
A research publication by Water Institute member Nandita Basu and Collaborative Water Program student, Fred Cheng, was recently featured in EOS after the American Geophysical Union wrote a Research Spotlight on it. We've provided the text, written by freelance writer Sarah Witman, below.
Microplastics contribute an estimated 10,000 metric tons of plastic debris that end up in our Great Lakes every year. These tiny particles of plastic, less than five millimeters in size, can come from things like hand soap, toothpaste, makeup, and even clothing. They are particularly concerning, because their small size and buoyancy allow a number of them to slip through water treatment filters, making their way into our waterways and food chain.
Leaving wetlands in their natural state could reduce the financial costs of flooding by nearly 40 per cent, according to a report from the University of Waterloo.
Researchers at Waterloo’s Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation found that avoiding wetland loss could lead to substantial savings for Canadian communities that experience flooding.