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It’s 8:00 in the morning in the Sindh province of Pakistan, and Sajida Awan is preparing to head back into the field to conduct a full day of interviews with local farmers. The temperature is rising, it will be 50 degrees Celsius by mid-day, and it will take her at least two hours to get to her location.

Elaine Ho, PhD student in À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ’s School of Environment, Resources and Sustainability, has always had an affinity for water. As a child, Elaine was fascinated at the world beneath the surface that is so different from our own.

Facilitating and promoting interdisciplinary water research and education is a primary role of the Water Institute at the University of À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ. On a regular basis, the Water Institute brings an RBC Visiting Fellow to campus to stimulate discussion and the exploration of collaborative research opportunities with Water Institute faculty and students.

For Water Institute member James Craig, surface water modelling started out as a side project.

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 À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ 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.

One of Canada’s greatest natural resources doesn’t need mining or refining, it just needs researchers to help us leave it alone.

Glaciers can warn us about the looming dangers of climate change, but it takes a multidisciplinary scientist (with a warm jacket) to interpret the message.

Glaciers may have the reputation of moving slowly, but deep below them, unseen by humans, things are moving more quickly every day. Global warming is melting our glaciers, creating streams of icy water and slush below the surface. If this water spreads out, it can lubricate the ice above it and cause the glaciers to flow faster. While this melt and the resulting glacier flow tells scientists how fast our climate is changing, it’s up to a new breed of scientist to tell us how fast we need to act. 

Friday, February 2, marked the Ecohydrology Research Group’s sixth annual World Wetlands Day (WWD) celebration at the University of À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ. This year’s program featured research presentations, three-minute student presentations, a student poster competition, and an evening public lecture. The symposium had over 90 registrants and was attended by researchers from various universities across southwestern Ontario as well as members of the general public. The MP of À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ, Bardish Chagger, even Tweeted about the event:

A fear of dying plays a role in people buying bottled water, even though they know it may not be good for them or the planet, a study from the University of À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ has found.

The study suggests that most bottled-water advertising campaigns target a deep psychological vulnerability in humans, compelling them to buy and consume particular products. Bottled water ads specifically trigger our most subconscious fear — driving Canadians to buy billions of litres of water annually. 

A study released today in  describes how climate change played a major role in the massive catastrophic collapse of two glaciers in the Tibetan Plateau in July and September 2016.