Thursday May 19 at 1pm ET

François-Nicolas Robinne, a research scientist at the Canadian Forest Service, shares his expertise utilizing wildfire and freshwater data to identify watershed risks on May 19th.

Webinar description: ​Water security risks are at an all-time high, as various aspects of global change combine to wreak havoc on communities and ecosystems around the world. For the past 10 years, wildfires have emerged as an additional threat to sustainable water supplies; Canada, a fire-prone country well-known for its mighty rivers, is now taking a stronger stance to address this issue. Building risk knowledge conducive to sound policies is not an easy task, especially for emerging risks for which data, scope of study, and a well-defined terminology might be lacking. Focusing on wildfire-watershed risks, Robinne will review the existing risk terminology and suggest appropriate uses so that studies on this topic are properly framed. He will also discuss the importance of data, especially data openness, for the creation of much-needed baseline knowledge. Finally, Robinne will address several gaps and opportunities to advance wildfire-watershed risk research in Canada in the near-future.

Emma Blackburn, a recently graduated Master's student, forWater member, and part of the Water Science, Technology & Policy group at the University of Waterloo, presents her work on biofiltration and techno-ecological nature-based solutions.

Webinar description: Climate change-exacerbated landscape disturbances, such as wildfires and floods, are increasingly challenging drinking water treatment. They result in more runoff and lead to more variable and deteriorated source water quality. Dissolved organic matter (DOM) can be especially challenging to treat because it can be smaller and more aromatic after disturbance. "Green" or nature-based solutions are increasingly proposed to address these challenges; however, they have not yet been defined, making it difficult for stakeholders to communicate priorities. Additionally, their resilience in response to landscape disturbances have not yet been investigated.

This research presents a framework to evaluate green technologies in the water industry and its implications specifically to drinking water treatment.  Biological filtration treatment resilience was investigated post-disturbance, specifically post-wildfire, because wildfire disturbances result in especially severe consequences for water quality. This work provided a proof-of-concept demonstration that biological filtration can buffer elevated source water DOM after wildfire, although its resilience may be challenged under certain conditions.

Kelsey Kundert, Senior Project Process Engineer at the City of Calgary, and Nik Knezic, current PhD candidate at the University of Waterloo, won first and second place in the American Water Works Association Academic Achievement Awards for best Master’s thesis, respectively. This award is part of an international competition with theses submitted from around the globe.

Kundert submitted his thesis focused on coupled chemically-assisted filtration (CCAF) investigating approaches for increasing filter resilience and performance during drinking water treatment. He was solely supervised by Dr. Monica Emelko. Knezic, who was co-supervised by Dr. Mike Stone and Dr. Monica Emelko submitted his thesis on the addition of coagulant for managing sediment-associated phosphorus bioavailability to prevent cyanobacterial blooms in drinking water reservoirs.

Both award-winners studied with the Water Science, Technology & Policy research group at the University of Waterloo and are members of the forWater Network, a pan-Canadian interdisciplinary network focused on drinking water source water protection in forested landscapes. The two researchers indicated that the unique cross-disciplinary focus of the WaterSTP group and the forWater Network supported their innovative research projects resulting in their award.

“The Academic Achievement Award encourages academic excellence by recognizing contributions to the field of public water supply. All masters theses and doctoral dissertations that are relevant to the water supply industry are eligible.”
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The competition is represented by many of the top universities. The awards will be presented at the AWWA Annual Conference and Exposition in San Antonio, Texas June 12-15, 2022, during the plenary session on Monday, June 13. Both award-winners receive complimentary conference registrations, a plaque, and a $3,000 or $1,500 US award, respectively.

​The forWater Forum will bring together the forWater Network to build on 4+ years of cross-theme collaborations and synergies.

The forWater Forum agenda included:

• Highlights from Network updates & insights
• Presentations on key synthesis pieces from across the Network
• Young professionals (HQP) reflecting on their research impact

Chris Williams the former Highly Qualified Professionals (HQP) Coordinator reflects on his 4+ years working with the forWater Network.

As many of you may know by now, I am (sadly) leaving my role as the HQP coordinator with the forWater Network. I have accepted a position as the Regional Aquatic Specialist for the BC Public Service in the Kootenay Boundary Region. While I am excited for the new opportunity a little closer to my home in the Okanagan, it is tough to know I will no longer have as much interaction with the forWater community.

I will especially miss working with the bright group of students who have come through the Network, some of whom I have not even had a chance to meet in person. However, I am very grateful we were able to get together for a couple of in-person ST3 weeks before the pandemic.