Lecture

Ecohydrology Seminar: Phosphorus and climate through time and sampling uncertainties in the past and present

Steph Slowinski — Wed, 27 Apr 2022 18:09:41 +0000

Ecohydrology Seminar: Phosphorus and climate through time and sampling uncertainties in the past and present Steph Slowinski Wed, 04/27/2022 - 14:09

Please join us for our first Ecohydrology seminar of 2022 from 1-2 PM in EIT 1015.

Dr. Lewis Alcott, a Hutchinson Environmental Postdoctoral Fellow at Yale University, will be giving a talk titled: Phosphorus and climate through time and sampling uncertainties in the past and present.

The evolution of Earth’s atmosphere and oceans through time had profound consequences for the biosphere. Biological or tectonic revolutions have been proposed to explain large changes, but the principal drivers remain unclear. The role of phosphorus in these events is also poorly constrained. Here we show, using a theoretical model and geochemical data, that the behaviour of phosphorus played a major role in regulating Earth’s oxygen trajectory. The model also supports a major role for climate in nutrient delivery to the global oceans and that methane likely played a large role. To attempt to address the uncertainties in the past methane cycle, the present methane cycle was investigated using an expert elicitation survey, highlighting the need for a more quantitative method to estimate spatial uncertainty of geochemical data, which is also presented here.

Miroslaw Romanowski Lecture

Tatjana Milojevic — Thu, 22 Nov 2018 15:23:45 +0000

Miroslaw Romanowski Lecture Tatjana Milojevic Thu, 11/22/2018 - 10:23

Professor Keith Hipel, from the Department of Systems Design Engineering will deliver the Miroslaw Romanowski Lecture at the University of ��ݮ��Ƶ on November 29th. His talk is titled: "Negotiations over Groundwater Contamination".

Event details and links to registration can be found here.

WaterTalk: Perspectives on the Sustainable Water Infrastructure Challenge: Engineering, Technology or Financial Crisis

Megan Ashleen Jordan — Wed, 17 Oct 2018 04:08:58 +0000

WaterTalk: Perspectives on the Sustainable Water Infrastructure Challenge: Engineering, Technology or Financial Crisis Megan Ashleen Jordan Wed, 10/17/2018 - 00:08

Join Gregory Baird, President of The Water Finance Research Foundation, as he presents "Perspectives on the Sustainable Water Infrastructure Challenge: Engineering, Technology or Financial Crisis," as part of the Water Institute's WaterTalk lecture series.

For more information about the speaker and the presentation, visit the Water Institute's page.

Please register for the event.

WaterTalk: Notes from Underground: A Groundwater Perspective on Water Resource Governance and Management

Megan Ashleen Jordan — Wed, 17 Oct 2018 04:05:09 +0000

WaterTalk: Notes from Underground: A Groundwater Perspective on Water Resource Governance and Management Megan Ashleen Jordan Wed, 10/17/2018 - 00:05

Join Dr. William Blomquist, from Indiana University - Purdue University Idianapolis, as he presents "Notes from Underground: A Groundwater Perspective on Water Resource Governance and Management," as part of the Water Institute's WaterTalk lecture series.

For more information about the speaker and the presentation, visit the Water Institute's page.

Please register for the event.

Ecohydrology Seminar Series: Dr. Lakshika Girihagama

Megan Ashleen Jordan — Thu, 04 Oct 2018 20:29:44 +0000

Ecohydrology Seminar Series: Dr. Lakshika Girihagama Megan Ashleen Jordan Thu, 10/04/2018 - 16:29

Join Dr. Lakshika Girihagama from the Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences at the University of Toronto Scarborough, as she presents "Physical circulation in the coastal zone of a large lake controls the benthic biological distribution".

There are gradients of conductivity and nutrients in the coastal zone of Eastern Georgian Bay of Lake Huron that appear to limit the spatial distribution of Dreissena mussels. Rivers flowing into Georgian Bay from the Canadian Shield are relatively low in conductivity compared to the main body of Lake Huron, and so there is an observed gradient of solute reminiscent near the river mouths. In order to understand the hydrodynamics of these freshwater estuaries (“freshtuaries”), we present modelling results using a conceptual one-dimensional model and a more complex three- dimensional hydrodynamic simulation (FVCOM) to show the mechanisms that may be responsible for calcium limitation in nearshore mussel distribution. We find that no mussels exist for specific conductivities less that 140 μS/cm. The observations show a strong positive correlation of conductivity and calcium concentration. Thus, we use conductivity as a proxy to infer the solute concentrations required for successful growth of Dreissena. Our freshestuarine models show the mixing length-scale of low conductivity waters from rivers in terms of geometry, horizontal dispersion, and the river influx. The resultant mixing length scale varies 2 – 6 km across the seasonally stratified and barotropic coastal waters in the Eastern Georgian Bay. The model predicted seasonally variable spatial position of this limiting solute concentration is in the range of 1 – 4 km from the freshtuary mouth. We will also, present results from tracer release numerical experiments in FVCOM to track transport and dispersion in river waters. Thus, our new finding shows a clear linkage between water circulation patterns setting nearshore chemical gradients, and hence species distribution gradients. This is significant because spread of Dreissena has impacts on nearshore ecology and on human infrastructure.

Antarctic subglacial lakes and their impacts on ice stream dynamics

Megan Ashleen Jordan — Mon, 01 Oct 2018 21:08:15 +0000

Antarctic subglacial lakes and their impacts on ice stream dynamics Megan Ashleen Jordan Mon, 10/01/2018 - 17:08

Join Dr. Christine Dow from the Department of Geography & Environmental Management as she presents "Antarctic subglacial lakes and their impacts on ice stream dynamics" at Wilfrid Laurier's Paul Martin Centre.

Refreshments provided.

More Information

The presence of water at the bed of the Antarctic ice sheets is known to be a first order control on ice dynamics. In many regions, distribution and flux of this water is complicated by multi-year storage in subglacial lake basins. With more lakes and pockets of stored water being identified every year from surface altimetry measurements and radio-echo sounding, it is apparent that constraining the impact of this water is an important step for determining the drivers of Antarctic ice dynamics.

Using a numerical modelling approach, I examine the controls on subglacial Antarctic lake growth and drainage within ice streams. I also assess whether the drainage of these lakes has an impact on the dynamics of the ice stream. To achieve this, I use GlaDS, a 2-D finite element subglacial hydrology model, which incorporates development of a coexisting distributed and efficient drainage system. The model is applied both to a synthetic system and to Recovery Ice Stream in the East Antarctic with bed topography developed from mass conservation inversion techniques. The model outputs of lake growth and drainage are compared with ICESat surface altimetry measurements.

2018 Canadian Rivers Institute Hynes Lecture

Megan Ashleen Jordan — Thu, 27 Sep 2018 19:46:43 +0000

2018 Canadian Rivers Institute Hynes Lecture Megan Ashleen Jordan Thu, 09/27/2018 - 15:46

The Water Institute and Canadian Rivers Institute are co-hosting the 2018 Hynes Lecturer, Dr. Margaret A. Palmer (University of Maryland), who will be presenting, "Restoration, watershed context, and biogeochemical processes: from streams to wetlands."

For more information about the speaker and the presentation, visit the Water Institute's page.

Please register for the event.

WaterTalk: Research Activities at the National University of Singapore Environmental Research Institute

Megan Ashleen Jordan — Thu, 27 Sep 2018 19:37:49 +0000

WaterTalk: Research Activities at the National University of Singapore Environmental Research Institute Megan Ashleen Jordan Thu, 09/27/2018 - 15:37

Join Dr. Ng How Yong, from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the National University of Singapore, as he presents "Research Activities at the National University of Singapore Environmental Research Institute," as part of the Water Institute's WaterTalk lecture series.

For more information about the speaker and the presentation, visit the Water Institute's page.

Please register for the event.

WaterTalk: Modelling River Basins as Coupled Human and Natural Systems

Megan Ashleen Jordan — Wed, 13 Jun 2018 17:22:16 +0000

WaterTalk: Modelling River Basins as Coupled Human and Natural Systems Megan Ashleen Jordan Wed, 06/13/2018 - 13:22

Join Lovell Endowed Professor Ximing Cai from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering as he presents "Modelling River Basins as Coupled Human and Natural Systems" as part of the Water Institute's WaterTalks series.

For more information about the speaker and the presentation, see the event listing on the Water Institute's website.

Please register for the event.

WaterTalk: Decoding the secrets of carbon preservation in peatlands along a boreal to tropical gradient from Minnesota to Peru

Megan Ashleen Jordan — Thu, 17 May 2018 17:16:23 +0000

WaterTalk: Decoding the secrets of carbon preservation in peatlands along a boreal to tropical gradient from Minnesota to Peru Megan Ashleen Jordan Thu, 05/17/2018 - 13:16

Join Curtis Richardson, a professor of Resource Ecology and Director of the Duke University Wetland Center, as he presents "Decoding the Secrets of Carbon Preservation in Peatlands along a Boreal to Tropical Gradient from Minnesota to Peru" as part of the Water Institute's WaterTalk lecture series.

For more information about the speaker and the presentation, visit the Water Institute's page.

Please register for the event.