News

Underscores value of citizen science and linking with stakeholders to refine and share research results

Nearly 95,700 Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup volunteers hauled approximately 263,000 kilograms of litter from Ontario shorelines between 2010-17. Volunteer citizen scientists have logged the amounts and types of litter they have found during their community cleanups, however this information has not often been utilized by researchers to explore notable trends over extended time periods.

The State of São Paulo, Brazil has faced severe water shortages in the recent past and may be heading towards another water crisis. During this time, the Water Institute has partnered with local stakeholders to help investigate some of the most important aspects of water security in São Paulo, and new and fortified partnerships are driving these initiatives forward.

Institutions around the Great Lakes gathered at the 2018 AquaHacking semi-finals in Toronto to present their solutions for the issues facing the Great Lakes. Competing teams were given five minutes to pitch their idea to judges throughout the afternoon at the RBC WaterPark Place.

Five of the 16 teams that competed were selected to move on to the finals in October, including a University of Waterloo team, WaterPuris, that is tackling the issue of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDC) in our Great Lakes.

There are 700 million people in 43 countries currently suffering from water scarcity. By 2025, 1.8 billion people are expected to be living in countries or regions with absolute water scarcity.

On June 17-20, Water Institute members and water experts from around the world are gathering in Toronto to discuss issues of water security at the First International Conference on Water Security.

Last week, the Water Institute gathered University of Waterloo researchers involved in the Global Water Futures (GWF) project for a university-wide meeting to share updates and meet new members of the GWF core team.

It’s 8:00 in the morning in the Sindh province of Pakistan, and Sajida Awan is preparing to head back into the field to conduct a full day of interviews with local farmers. The temperature is rising, it will be 50 degrees Celsius by mid-day, and it will take her at least two hours to get to her location.

Elaine Ho, PhD student in Waterloo’s School of Environment, Resources and Sustainability, has always had an affinity for water. As a child, Elaine was fascinated at the world beneath the surface that is so different from our own.

Facilitating and promoting interdisciplinary water research and education is a primary role of the Water Institute at the University of Waterloo. On a regular basis, the Water Institute brings an RBC Visiting Fellow to campus to stimulate discussion and the exploration of collaborative research opportunities with Water Institute faculty and students.

A Canadian Water Network expert panel which includes Water Institute member and professor in Waterloo’s Department of Biology, Mark Servos, is pushing for a more holistic and localized approach to wastewater management as the list of potential contaminants flowing to treatment plants across the country continues to expand.