News

A research paper exploring the advantages of subsurface fertilizer placement co-authored by Water Institute members Merrin Macrae, professor from the Department of Geography and Environmental Management, and Fereidoun Rezanezhad, research associate professor from the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, has received the 2021 Outstanding Paper Award in Vadose Zone Journal.

A recent op-ed in the Globe and Mail by Water Institute member Blair Feltmate, head of the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation, and Charles Brindamour, chief executive officer of Intact Financial Corp., urges Canadians to become more climate-resilient.

The top companies were selected based on their exceptional performance in innovation, growth, management and societal impact.

The Water Institute is pleased to announce our 2021-22 line-up of WaterTalks. Be sure to mark your calendars so you don't miss any of these fantastic speakers! Also, stay tuned for announcements of other exciting events!

The 13th annual Agrifood Economics Congress was held last week 1-3 September in Cartagena, Spain, where agri-food economists, rural development, and environment experts gathered for the hybrid in-person and virtual event.

The mayor of Cartagena and the president of the Polytechnic University of Cartagena gave opening remarks, followed by Water Institute executive director Roy Brouwer, professor in the Department of Economics who was invited to deliver the congress’ first keynote address.

Roy’s presentation examined the relationship between water shortages, increasing costs of irrigation water and food prices, and how factors such as water shortages and environmental deterioration could further impact the cost of food production. 

A new study co-authored by Water Institute member Stephen Evans, professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, will help mining companies better understand the negative societal and environmental impacts of mine-waste disasters, known as tailings flows, and hopefully avoid them. 

This article originally appeared on the Faculty of Science website.

In July 1965, Herbert Fernando, his professor wife Aggie and their two children – which quickly became three – departed Sri Lanka to embark on a new life in Waterloo. Herbert was eager to begin his tenure as associate professor in a newly created Department of Biology at the University of Waterloo. Over the next 33 years, he would go on to create an incredible legacy of teaching that put student experience and student success above all else. Herbert Fernando was a tireless advocate for all student education that incorporated experiential learning outside of the classroom.

In a recently published editorial, Nature Sustainability has suggested that water research has become somewhat stagnant. While the increased pressure of publishing and the role of funding are identified as contributing factors, the editorial contends that as water studies have become increasingly quantified and technical they have become less grounded in historical context and institutional change.

This op-ed was published byThe Arizona Republicon August 29, 2021. Read it on the azcentral.com website. 

Water Institute member Nandita Basu was recently quoted in Health magazine's Mind and Body section. The professor in the Departments of Earth and Environmental Sciences and Civil and Environmental Engineering provided an overview of toxic algal blooms, what promotes their growth and their occurence is seemingly pristine water bodies.