Laurier expert alert: World Water Day

March 18, 2021
For Immediate Release

Waterloo – March 22 is World Water Day, dedicated to celebrating water and raising awareness of those living without access to safe water.

The Laurier Water Science Students Association and the Laurier Institute for Water Science are marking World Water Day through a virtual symposium on March 22 featuring speakers on topics related to the conservation and protection of water resources. The event will include faculty members and students from Laurier, as well as professionals, researchers and community members from businesses and organizations including the RARE Charitable Research Reserve, Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre and Wellington Water Watchers. Read more about the event.

Laurier has many experts available to speak about a variety of topics related to water protection and conservation.

Mary-Louise Byrne, professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, is an expert on beach and dune systems and management, particularly in protected areas on the Great Lakes. Her main research sites are at Point Pelee National Park, Pinery Provincial Park, Sandbanks Provincial Park and Sauble Beach. She is available for comment on how Ontario beaches are changing. Contact: mlbyrne@wlu.ca

Derek Gray is an assistant professor in the Department of Biology and co-director of the Laurier Institute for Water Science. He’s an expert on the short- and long-term impacts of environmental stressors, including climate change, pollution, acidification and invasive species, on aquatic ecosystems. Contact: dgray@wlu.ca

Alex Latta is an associate professor in the departments of Global Studies and Geography and Environmental Studies. He is available to speak about ecological citizenship, water governance, Indigenous rights and socio-environmental conflict around megaprojects, especially hydroelectricity and mining. He is working on several research projects in Canada’s North focused on water, infrastructure-environment interactions, climate change, and Indigenous environmental stewardship. Contact: alatta@wlu.ca 

Philip Marsh is a professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies and Canada Research Chair in Cold Regions Water Science. He uses observation, modelling and remote sensing to understand and predict the impact of climate change on the freshwaters of arctic and subarctic North America. Read his article about the impacts of collapsing permafrost on lakes, ponds and streams in the Arctic. Contact: pmarsh@wlu.ca

William Quinton, professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies and former director of Laurier’s Cold Regions Research Centre, is an expert on the hydrology of cold regions, permafrost and peatlands. He leads the Dehcho Collaborative on Permafrost and is the director of the Scotty Creek Research Station, south of Fort Simpson, NWT. The site is located in one of the most rapidly warming regions on Earth, giving researchers a unique opportunity to study the hydrological impacts of permafrost thaw. Contact: wquinton@wlu.ca

Miguel Sioui is an assistant professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies. He is an expert on Indigenous knowledges, Indigenous land-use and environmental management, particularly in eastern and northern Ontario, northern Quebec, the Northwest Territories and Yucatan, Mexico. Through his research, he is building connections between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities, researchers and governments in order to develop responsible, respectful and sustainable environmental management strategies. With the Matawa Water Futures project, Sioui is helping to bring together Indigenous and non-Indigenous knowledges in order to develop a water monitoring framework that will help Matawa First Nations prepare for climate change and future industrial development. Sioui is of Huron-Wendat descent. Contact: msioui@wlu.ca

Robin M. Slawson, professor in the Department of Biology, is an environmental microbiologist studying water quality and antibiotic-resistant pathogens. Her research primarily focuses on environmental factors, which affect pathogen persistence in our source waters. She has studied the use of constructed wetlands and riparian zones – the land along the edge of water bodies – for the remediation of wastewater and the reduction of nutrient loads, as well as microbiological aspects of drinking water treatment. Contact: rslawson@wlu.ca

Scott Smith, professor in Laurier’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, is an expert on inorganic contaminants and resource removal and recovery during wastewater treatment. His research is driven by the need to establish safe and appropriate limits for metals and nutrients in aquatic systems. Contact: ssmith@wlu.ca

Debora VanNijnatten, professor in the departments of Political Science and North American Studies, is an expert on transboundary cooperation on water management, especially of the Great Lakes, environmental and climate change policy in North America and Canadian environmental politics. Contact: dvannijnatten@wlu.ca

Jason Venkiteswaran, associate professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, studies the biogeochemical cycling of nutrients and disruption to these cycles, including from climate change, in Canadian lakes, streams and rivers. He has been studying ecosystems in the Experimental Lakes Area in northwestern Ontario for more than two decades. Contact: jvenkiteswaran@wlu.ca

Michael P. Wilkie, professor in the Department of Biology and co-director of the Laurier Institute for Water Science, is an expert in the environmental physiology and control of invasive species, such as sea lampreys, and the toxicology of waterborne pesticides to fishes. His research combines whole animal techniques with biochemical, morphological, electrophysiological, and molecular approaches to determine how different species of fish respond, cope, adapt and live in unpredictable and extreme environments. Contact: mwilkie@wlu.ca

Brent Wolfe, professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, is an expert in characterizing the hydrology of lakes and identifying drivers of hydro-ecological change. His research focuses on assessing the impact of changing climatic conditions and industrial development on northern boreal-tundra freshwater landscapes in Canada. Contact: bwolfe@wlu.ca