News

A University of Waterloo press release.

Many view the first Earth Day as the beginning of the modern environmental movement. Water Institute member Sarah Burch, Canada Research Chair in Sustainability Governance and Innovation, discusses its relevance more than 50 years on. She is the executive director of Waterloo's Interdisciplinary Centre on Climate Change and a lead author of the recently released report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the UN body that assesses the science related to our changing climate.  

The University of Central Florida, in Orlando, is set to host the 9^th International Conference on Water Resources and Environment Research (ICWRER 2022) under the stellar leadership of Professor Ni-Bin Chang. From April 25^th to 27^th, many delegates from around the globe are expected to participate in the online conference with the theme: Bridging the gaps of interdisciplinary sustainability solutions for complex water and environmental systems.

Climate change poses significant and increasing risks to water security in urban settings. Addressing this complex challenge requires collaboration and the incorporation of expertise across various disciplines.

Philippe Van Cappellen, Professor, Faculty of Science, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Canada Excellence Research Chair Laureate in Ecohydrology, has been awarded the J. Tuzo Wilson Medal, the Canadian Geophysical Union's (CGU) greatest honour.

As part of the Fourth Year Design Project and Capstone 2022, the team “Wastes to Treat Wastes Inc.” from Environmental Engineering received the ESTEN Foundation award by placing 1^st in Canada, with an award value of $1,500.

The team members are Raghda Said, Sharon Thomas, Siyanthi Balakrishnan, Nafisa Ahmed (from left to right in the team photo) for their project “Wastewater Treatment for an Apartment Building in Mafoluku, Lagos, Nigeria.”

On Friday, April 1, graduate students in cohort 8 of Waterloo’s Collaborative Water Program (CWP) completed their final program milestone. The 2022 milestone convened six student groups with a diverse group of water practitioners in six thematic workshop sessions: pollution and remediation, drinking water and wastewater treatment, climate change and infrastructure, ecology and ecohydrology, hydrology and modelling, and governance and policy.

The Water Institute (WI) and the Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology (WIN) are pleased to announce that four research teams have been awarded funding in their inaugural joint seed grant competition.

This combined seed grant program was created to stimulate new inter-disciplinary collaboration, facilitate interaction with international authorities, encourage new areas of research and support development of research proposals.

Thank you to students from the Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge Region in grades 4-7, who participated in the Students of the Water Institute Graduate Section (SWIGS) 2022 Water and You art contest!

We received so many wonderful submissions which promoted this year’s United Nations World Water Day theme: Making Groundwater Visible.

Meet this year's winners:

The Water Institute and Students of the Water Institute Graduate Section (SWIGS) hosted their annual World Water Day Celebration on Tuesday, March 22.

In a mix of virtual and in-person events, eight high-profile groundwater experts and two environmental justice advocates addressed hundreds of attendees around Canada and beyond.

Amid rising oil prices stemming from sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, the Canadian government is pressing Michigan to end its opposition to the transnational Line-5 pipeline. Water Institute member professor Grant Gunn explains the environmental concerns regarding the pipeline being situated at the bottom of lakes that annually freeze over.