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.
Rising global temperatures are causing harmful algal blooms in the Great Lakes which can lead to the emergence of three toxins in the water, according to the past president of the International Ozone Association. Saad Jasim, an adjunct professor at the University of Windsor, is preparing for a new research project to prevent these toxins from entering the drinking water supply.
Indigenous scholars spoke of the need for water to be better protected and appreciated in an online symposium about the natural resource Friday. During a three-hour virtual discussion, hosted by the University of Windsor's Indigenous Legal Orders Institute and Windsor Law, Indigenous community members shared their relationship with water and the ongoing fight to keep it clean. In Anishnaabe tradition, women have held the primary caretaking role in looking after water and protecting it.
Dozens of researchers from across Canada and the U.S. are embarking on a first-of-its-kind study in the Great Lakes region this week to uncover the mysteries of what lies beneath the surface during the winter months. The event dubbed the “Winter Grab” involves bi-national scientists from several institutions including the University of Windsor to fill the knowledge gaps of what takes place in the largest source of fresh water in the world year-round.
A binational team of scientists hits the offshore ice later this month to study the Great Lakes ecosystem in the winter, a first-of-its-kind data collection effort aimed at revealing new insights into one of North America’s most precious natural resources. Dubbed Winter Grab, the research project includes a University of Windsor duo and will see ice drilling, water sampling and the gathering of zooplankton (including algae) at as many as 30 different sites.
The City of Thunder Bay is increasing its rate of testing wastewater for COVID-19 as cases of the virus in the community climb. Thunder Bay is one of a number of municipalities in the province submitting wastewater samples to labs for analysis. Water samples taken taken at the Thunder Bay's municipal pollution control plant go to the Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research at the University of Windsor.
BlackBerry announced the release of a new tool that will help address flood risk and clean water monitoring. The company is working with the University of Windsor on the project -- which runs on BlackBerry's AtHoc critical event management platform -- and testing it in Canada. In a statement, BlackBerry explained that Indigenous peoples across Canada are disproportionately impacted by flooding and a lack of clean water, which prompted the two organizations to join forces. The technology "provides autonomous year-round monitoring and an intelligent early warning system, collecting and processing large amounts of sensor data, and generating alerts based on the data insights."
