News

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.

Congratulations to the 11 Water Institute members who are recipients of the 2017 Outstanding Performance Awards announced by Vice-President, Academic and Provost George Dixon.

Partners for Action director Shawna Peddle spoke to the CBC on the flood survey Windsor residents are being asked to take part in. In partnership with University of Waterloo researchers and the Red Cross, residents who have suffered the onslaught of floods in the area in recent years will be surveyed. The results will inform a national FloodSmart Canada campaign and provide insight into how to protect other Canadian communities from incurring similar damage.

Congratulations to Water Institute members Laura Hug and Janusz Pawliszyn, who will receive a combined total of $2M through the Canada Research Chairs (CRC) and Canada Foundation for Innovation’s John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF).

Interdisciplinary approaches are key when investigating potential impacts from climate change on human, economic and environmental systems. Unexpected changes to the quantity and quality of water available to local communities and environments can have wide-ranging effects, including impacting public health, environmental resilience, and agricultural and food security. Four Water Institute researchers were recently awarded funding from the Canadian Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Advanced Scholars Program to build institutional capacity in select Commonwealth countries to address linkage

During World Water Day celebrations on March 22, the Water Institute and the de Gaspé Beaubien Foundation announced an exciting three-year partnership that will combine water expertise and technology to help mitigate the threats facing our Great Lakes.

Roy Brouwer, Executive Director, Water Institute; Claude Perras, Executive Director, de Gaspé Beaubien Foundation

As Ontario reviews water-taking permit charges for bottled water companies like Nestlé, Water Institute member Rob de Loë urges us to think beyond the bottle.

A diagram representing Hug's "tree of life."

Biology professor Laura Hug’s A New View of the Tree of Life is ranked one of the most-discussed journal articles of 2016, according to Altmetric’s top 100 articles of 2016 list.

Water research was among several areas to receive substantial government support this past week from Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and Canada Research Chairs (CRC) grants. The Honourable Bardish Chagger, Minister of Small Business and Tourism, and member of parliament for Waterloo, revealed seven University of Waterloo award recipients — including Water Institute members David Blowes and James R. Craig — Friday during a special announcement in the University’s Science Teaching Complex.