Kristen Villebrun and Wendy Bush hoped they wouldn't have to pray for Chedoke Creek, but four years after they first raised alarm about the water's condition, they were part of an Indigenous full moon ceremony to do just that. About 50 people showed up near Princess Point on the dark and frigid Monday evening for the monthly ceremony, which was particularly special as it focused on Chedoke Creek. The body of water that runs into Cootes Paradise had about 24 billion litres of sewage and storm water runoff leak into it due to a gate being left open.
As a national leader — ranking in first place — UCalgary provides sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. The university aims to demonstrate exemplary stewardship of water quality and use. With water conservation built into the environment, landscaped areas across campus act as stormwater infiltration basins where rainwater can be retained.
UCalgary researchers behind the hugely successful COVID-19 wastewater monitoring program and online COVID tracker are convinced of the potential of wastewater as a public health tool, and they’re not alone. Genome Canada, through regional partner Genome Alberta, has awarded the research group $2M through their Genomic Applications Partnership Program (GAPP) to investigate the potential of wastewater monitoring to detect and track more viruses, in partnership with Alberta Health. An additional combined $4M in funding for the project was awarded by Alberta Health, Genome Quebec, and the Government of Canada.
Climate change is endangering critical mountain water sources like the Canadian Rockies snowpacks and glaciers, with potential for dire implications. To address the challenges of sustaining and managing these mountain waters, UNESCO has announced the creation of the UNESCO Chair in Mountain Water Sustainability. The chair will be hosted at the University of Calgary (UCalgary) and co-held by six international world-class water researchers, including Dr. John Pomeroy (PhD) and Dr. Corinne Schuster-Wallace (PhD) from the University of Saskatchewan (USask).
With the global push to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030, many communities across Southern Alberta are already leading the way in implementing innovative and equitable climate solutions. The new Mobilizing Alberta Climate Action Grant program out of the University of Calgary’s Office of Sustainability aims to help strengthen capacity for advancing climate action across Southern Alberta.
When the Boundary Waters Treaty governing waters straddling the U.S.-Canada border was drawn up more than a century ago, concerns such as climate change and replacing the infrastructure were totally unknown. Now, a Schulich School of Engineering professor and researcher is heading up an independent cross-border study into updating the oldest piece of legislation governing the use of water that runs between the two countries. Dr. Alain Pietroniro, PhD, is an internationally respected expert in hydrology and sustainable water systems, having spent more than three decades studying water resources engineering. Through his involvement with the International Joint Commission, Pietroniro is co-chairing a study of the treaty, to examine the options of improving access to study the shared waters of the St. Mary and Milk Rivers, which cross the Alberta-Montana border.
The Canada Research Chairs Program (CRCP) named four University of Calgary faculty members to its ranks on June 2, in recognition of their achievements and pursuit of research excellence. UCalgary is now home to 67 active Canada Research Chairs (CRCs). Three additional scholars have also had their CRCs renewed. “I’m pleased to see seven distinguished UCalgary scholars named Canada Research Chairs today,” says Dr. William Ghali, vice-president (research). “They all have ambitious research goals that will address society’s most pressing challenges. They will shape the future of their fields both through their research and their commitment to training the next generation.”
Unprecedented flooding over the past decade that has devastated hundreds of millions of people across the globe and caused billion of dollars in damage—including last year’s massive floods in British Columbia and the 2013 flood that hit Calgary—underlines the pressing need for this research. Dr. Martyn Clark (PhD), professor in the Department of Geography and Planning in the College of Arts and Science, is the team lead for USask. He will be joined by departmental colleague and Distinguished Professor Dr. John Pomeroy (PhD), along with Prof. Dr. Alain Pietroniro (PhD) of UCalgary’s Schulich School of Engineering.
