Wilfrid Laurier University undertakes a holistic, interdisciplinary and ecosystem approach to the study of both Canadian and global water issues, including the effects of climate change, the sustainability of healthy aquatic and coastal ecosystems, resource management, community well-being, and the development of regulations and policy related to water use. A primary area of institutional strength at Laurier is cold regions water science, conducted in partnership with governments, Indigenous communities and leaders, and other key collaborators. Laurier facilities allow for the study of hydrology, aquatic culture and testing, biogeochemistry characterization, molecular biochemistry and imaging, and predictive modelling.

RESEARCH CENTRES AND INSTITUTES

Laurier Institute for Water Science

The Laurier Institute for Water Science (LIWS) is a multidisciplinary, collaborative undertaking among research faculty in the Faculty of Arts, the Lazaridis School of Business and Economics and the Faculty of Science.

The focus of the institute is on research in three interconnected water-related disciplines:

  • Hydrological Sciences: This includes physical, chemical, biogeochemical aspects of hydrology, climatology and hydrogeology.
  • Ecology and Biogeochemical Sciences: This includes toxicology, geochemistry, terrestrial and aquatic ecology.
  • Public Policy and Management: Issues related to this discipline include policy, economic, governance and legal aspects of water across Canada and internationally.

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Contact: Kevin Stevens (kestevens@wlu.ca), Jim McGeer (jmcgeer@wlu.ca)

Cold Regions Research Centre

The Cold Regions Research Centre was established in 1987, evolving from a large multidisciplinary, research & training, project on snow & ice hydrology in the Karakoram Himalaya of Pakistan that was based in WLU’s geography department.

While the Centre’s initial focus was on arctic & mountain glaciology & hydrology, since 1990 the scope & role of the Centre within the geography department & the university has broadened. Today the CRRC is a focus of cold regions (mountain & northern) research consulting on topics such as hydrology, climatology, glaciology, resource management, parks planning & biogeochemistry.

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Contact: Colin Robertson (crobertson@wlu.ca)

PHYSICAL FACILITIES

Laurier Institute for Water Science

The Centre for Cold Regions and Water Science (CCRWS) is a collaborative research facility that houses four research centres/groups and a variety of state-of-the-art analytical equipment.

The facility, which opened in 2013, is funded by Laurier, the Government of the Northwest Territories, the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation (MRI), and the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario).  The facility boasts a variety of analytical equipment, available to internal and external users.

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Contact: Kelly Munkittick (kmunkittrick@wlu.ca )

RESEARCH GROUPS AND LABS

Research Group Contact
Global Water Citizenship Colin Robertson (crobertson@wlu.ca)
Northern Water Futures Jenn Baltzer (jbaltzer@wlu.ca)
Sub-Arctic Metal Mobility Study Brent Wolfe (bwolfe@wlu.ca)
Matawa Water Futures Miguel Sioui (msioui@wlu.ca)
Freshwater Ecology Lab Derek Gray (dgray@wlu.ca)
Aquatic and Environmental Toxicology Laboratory Michael Wilkie (mwilkie@wlu.ca)
Chemistry Lab for Environmental Aquatic Research (CLEAR) Scott Smith (ssmith@wlu.ca)
Remote Sensing of Environmental Change Research Group Homa Kheyrollah Pour (hpour@wlu.ca)
Catchment & Lake Biochemistry Jason Venkiteswaran (jvenkiteswaran@wlu.ca)
Arctic Snow, Ice and Permafrost Hydrology Philip Marsh (pmarsh@wlu.ca)
Dehcho Collaborative on Permafrost William (Bill) Quinton (wquinton@wlu.ca)