News Update April 2016

Howard Wheater attends international court of justice's 70th anniversary in the Netherlands; Amin Haghnegahdar talks at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research in Leipzig, Germany; U of S Cold Regions Hydrological Model Used in International Teaching

News Update April 2016

News

Announcements

U of S CRHM Used in International Teaching
The UNESCO International Hydrological Programme Course on “Professional Training on Andean Hydrology” held in Santiago, Chile, November 17-20, 2015 featured hydrological model training using U of S’ Cold Regions Hydrological Model (CRHM). The course, instructed by Dr. James McPhee of University of Chile and PhD student Yohann Videla Giering of the University of Chile, was taught to 52 students from Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Costa Rica, Mexico, Brazil, Belgium, Dominican Republic, Argentina and Germany. Dr. McPhee is a collaborator with U of S in the field of mountain hydrology and water resources. Yohann Videla Giering is now on a Chilean Government-funded exchange spending 6 months with GIWS, where he is learning how to apply the new glacier hydrology components of CRHM (developed as part of CCRN) to calculate the water resources of the Andes. 

GIWS Affiliate Accepted to NCAR Summer Program
Kabir Rasouli, a PhD candidate at the U of S Centre for Hydrology and GIWS affiliate, has been accepted to attend the Dynamical Core Model Intercomparison Project 2016, a summer school project organized by the National Centre for Atmospheric Research.

Sixth Annual Canada Excellence Research Chairs Summit
Howard Wheater was on hand at the CERC Summit at the University of Ottawa to speak on water security, climate change and other topics. The CERC Summit brings together the Canada Excellence Research Chair holders from across Canada to share the most recent advances of their research programs with the greater public.

Check out some of the highlights of Howard’s talk on the CERC Twitter account.

Delta Days Revisited
This month saw SENS hosting Delta Days, a three-day workshop involving community members (land users, elders, youth, leaders), university researchers and other partners, including input from GIWS affiliates. The unprecedented event brought together people from the Peace-Athabasca Delta (Alberta), Saskatchewan River Delta (Saskatchewan/Manitoba) and Slave River Delta (Northwest Territories) and GIWS for lively discussions, the creation of a traveling exhibit, panel forums and a film screening. Thanks to all of those who participated and helped organize this tremendously successful event!

Howard Wheater Attends International Court of Justice's 70th Anniversary
GIWS is proudly represented on an international stage, as director Howard Wheater attends the International Court of Justice’s official 70th Anniversary — a commemoration which includes a commemorative seminar and celebrations at the Peace Palace in the Hague in the Netherlands. The event, which takes place April 18-20, is to be attended by the UN Secretary General and other guests along with a reception attended by the King of the Netherlands.

GIWS Affiliate Awarded APEGS Member Grant
GIWS affiliate Holly Annand has been awarded the APEGS member grant for the University of Saskatchewan. APEGS awards two grants of $7,500 each year, one for the U of S and one for the University of Regina, for members returning to graduate studies. Annand will accept her award at the APEGS Annual Awards Banquet on May 7 in Saskatoon, 

Earth Day
The wind and cooler weather may have meant a shift indoors, but the Earth Day celebration hosted by GIWS affiliates — "Smart steps for a low-carbon future — was nonetheless a great success. CBC Saskatoon was on-hand to report on the event, which took place April 23 at the Saskatoon Farmers' Market. 

Member Interviewed for Uruguay Publication
Jaivime Evaristo has been featured in a newsletter published by the department of plant biology and college of agriculture at Universidad de la República, Uruguay. The newsletter, which is written in Spanish, can be viewed in full here.

GIWS Research Partnership to Combine Science, Arts and Culture
University of Saskatchewan and Yukon College have been awarded a Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) grant to make climate change research more relevant to northern indigenous communities. This research will combine the disciplines of both science and art to support community adaptation to climate change. The project will include participation from the Yukon School of Visual Arts, the Yukon Research Centre, and University of Saskatchewan’s Social Science Research Laboratory with northern communities to transform local knowledge and science into artistic interpretations of changing northern landscapes. For full details, a press release on the research can be viewed here. 

GIWS Member Speaks in Leipzig
GIWS member, Amin Haghnegahdar, gave an invited talk at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research in Leipzig, Germany on April 15, 2016. His talk was about "Advances in Watershed Systems Analysis and Modelling in Canada".
Members of the Watershed Systems Analysis and Modelling Lab participated actively in the European Geosciences Union General Assembly 2016, Vienna, Austria, April 17 – 22. Amin and Saman led a successful session on Sensitivity and Uncertainty Analysis featuring presentations from top scholars and young scientists in the field. Lab members also presented several works at EGU 2016. Further details can be found here.

Publications

Article on First Nations Water Policy
Lori Bradford, Lalita Bharadwaj and Karl-Erich Lindenschmidt have authored a new paper which has been published in Society & Natural Resources. The article, "Alternative Policies for Collaborative Publishing in Natural Resource Journals," can be read in full here.

Publication on Climatic, Cryospheric and Hydrological Changes in Western Canada
Chris DeBeer, Howard Wheater and Kwok P. Chun are among the authors of a new paper published in Hydrology and Earth System Sciences. The article, "Recent climatic, cryospheric, and hydrological changes over the interior of western Canada: a review and synthesis," highlights the immense and varied alterations occurring in Western Canada.