News

From modelling floods and droughts to managing watersheds and tracking climate change, today’s environmental challenges require faster, more powerful computing. Now, researchers at the University of Waterloo and across Canada have a new tool to help solve them: Nibi, Waterloo’s newest high-performance supercomputer.

Water Institute members Dr. Nandita Basu and Dr. Julie Mai recently hosted a webinar showcasing the POSEIDON Water Quality Portal, a collaborative platform that uses AI to transform water quality data into actionable insights for researchers, watershed managers, and communities.

Water Institute delegation visits the University of São Paulo (USP) as part of a long-term research collaboration on water (in)security and welcomes visiting USP students to campus

Between October 15-17, 2025, Water Institute members David Rudolph, Philippe Van Cappellen, Andrea Brookfield and Executive Director Roy Brouwer joined University of São Paulo colleagues for a field visit as part of the project SACRE: Integrated Water Solutions for Resilient Cities.

The Water Institute is pleased to launch its Fall 2025 WaterTalks, a three-part speaker series showcasing fresh perspectives on some of today’s most pressing water challenges. This year’s talks will span topics from groundwater use and the water–energy–food–poverty nexus in South Asia to advancing environmental justice and strengthening resilience to hydroclimate extremes.

Dr. Bryan Grimwood, Professor in the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies (RLS) in the Faculty of Health, has been awarded approximately $380,000 in funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) to lead a new research initiative entitled Tourism, ruination, and regenerative futures that rethinks tourism’s role in landscapes marked by environmental and cultural ruination.

When devastating floods swept through Pakistan in 2022, millions were displaced, and more than 1400 lives were lost. For Malak Kamal, a graduate architecture student from Quetta, Pakistan, it was a turning point.

A recent visit to Germany’s Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) has opened new doors for collaboration between researchers at the Water Institute and colleagues at one of Europe’s top technical universities.

Understanding ice dynamics in the Yukon’s St. Elias Mountains to prepare for sea level rise and protect water resources

A study led by a University of Waterloo Water Institute researcher has learned that climate change is causing an increase in algae blooms in the United Kingdom’s River Thames despite a four-decade-long decline in phosphorus loads. The study completed a detailed analysis of the river’s 150-year water quality record to examine these trends.

The University of Waterloo has claimed the No. 1 position in Canada for water resources and climbed to 24th globally in the 2024 ShanghaiRanking’s Global Rankings of Academic Subjects—its highest position to date. Rising from 25th last year, the ranking underscores the university’s performance and reputation in water resources, a field critical to addressing escalating climate change and water security challenges worldwide.