News Update October 2016

John Pomeroy talks Global water Futures in the media; video published of 2016 Delta Days event; U of S and NASA team on snow school.

News

Announcements

Stable Isotopes Publication
Jaivime Evaristo and Jeff McDonnell have co-authored a new publication in Hydrological Processes, titled "Carbon, nitrogen, and water stable isotopes in plant tissue and soils across a moisture gradient in Puerto Rico." 

Watch: David Suzuki on Climate Change
A complete video recording of the recent public presentation by David Suzuki at the U of S is currently being hosted on the SENS website. The recording also features remarks from SENS Executive Director and GIWS member Toddi Steelman.

John Pomeroy talks Global water Futures in media
John Pomeroy, The Canada Research Chair in Water Resources and Climate Change, was featured alongside several other panelists at Under the Western Skies, a biennial conference on the environment.

Among other topics, he spoke on the formation of Global Water Futures, the largest university-led water research program ever funded worldwide. You can listen to that program here.

Delta Days video published
For the past three years, the School of Environment and Sustainability at the University of Saskatchewan (U of S) has been hosting Delta Days, a day to celebrate life and research in northern inland deltas.

Several themes – Awareness, Despair, Hope, Collaboration, and Action – emerged out of the presentations, exchanges and interactions of this year’s discussions, and are highlighted in a video taken during the event, which can be viewed online at the SENS website.

Teaching Opportunities for On-campus Non-Credit Courses
The College of Arts & Science and the Saskatoon Seniors Continued Learning Inc. (SSCL) are currently seeking interested faculty to help with their program of on-campus non-credit courses for seniors. This program offers a wide array of eight-unit university-level courses to residents of Saskatoon and area who are fifty-five years of age and older.  There are no textbooks, no assignments to correct, and no examinations to grade…just teaching. For full details, please see the attached document. 

GIWS & NASA Partner for Snow School
This three-day intensive field-based course will give fundamental training to students in performing and analyzing snow measurements, including depth, density, snow water equivalence, grain size and shape, stratigraphy, temperature and hardness.

The course will take place January 5 - 9, 2017,in Barrier Lake Field Station, Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada  (about 45 minutes west of Calgary) with field work at Fortress Mountain in the Canadian Rockies.

For course information, visit GIWS online or contact Matthew Sturm via email and indicate Snow School in the subject line.

Sustainable Futures North Video
In summer of 2016, 25 graduate students and 15 faculty members from around the world — including GIWS connections — attended the 13th annual summer institute of the International Comparative Rural Policy Studies Program (ICRPS) in Fairbanks, Alaska. This video offers a glimpse of the institute, our goals, and student experiences. On Oct 11, a video was publisheddetailing their experiences.

CCRN AGM preliminary agenda
The Canadian Cold Regions Network Annual General Meeting is just a few weeks away, and has sent out a preliminary agenda. Some social activities and transportation logistics between the Delta Guelph and the Arboretum are still being sorted out, so expect more information to follow.

CCUNESCO is Accepting Applications for Youth Advisory Group
The Canadian Commission for UNESCO (CCUNESCO) has positions to fill in its Youth Advisory Group (YAG). If you are between the ages of 18-30, are actively engaged in your community and connect with UNESCO’s mission and vision, submit your application now.

PARDP Currently Recruiting
The Policy Analyst Recruitment and Development Program (PARDP) is Natural Resources Canada’s (NRCan) signature accelerated development program and one of the Federal government’s leading recruitment programs for master’s and PhD level graduates. We want to recruit approximately 25 highly motivated, energetic and analytically minded people for our 2016-17 campaign. PARDP recruits will get to put their skills to work in a program that offers unbeatable professional development. For complete details, and information on how to apply, please visit PARDP online.

Striking Balance documentary, featuring GIWS members, screens at USask
Striking Balance is a documentary series that goes coast to coast in cinematic 4K — combining aerial, motion capture time-lapse, and nature photography to create a stunning picture of Canada’s Biosphere Reserves.

Learn more about Striking Balance here.

A trailer for the series can be viewed here.

GIWS research featured at Transboundary Rivers Event
Graham Strickert of GIWS recently presented research on water quality and quantity, land use change, drought and climate change at an inaugural transboundary event at the Red Deer and South Saskatchewan rivers confluence.

Approximately 30 people gathered near the Alberta-Saskatchewan provincial border to discuss shared waters, upstream and downstream dynamics, and how we might work together across borders.

A blog summary of the event, which took place on Sept. 20, can be read on the Red Deer River Watershed Alliance (RDRWA) website here.

Marjory Talbot joins GIWS as Financial Officer
GIWS is very pleased to announce that Marjory Talbot will be joining us on Monday morning as our Financial Officer. Marj is a chartered accountant and certified internal auditor whose education includes a Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting) degree from the University of Saskatchewan and several years of experience in both the private and public sectors. Marj now joins us from the U of S Controller’s Office, where she has been a Financial Analyst since 2014. We are delighted that she joins us with both on and off-campus experience, which I am sure will serve us all well. Marj will be in Room 1029 of NHRC. Please stop by and introduce yourself and welcome her to the GIWS team.

EGU Opens Call for Abstracts
The European Geosciences Union has officially put out a cal for abstracts for its upcoming general assembly, to be held in Vienna, Austria on April 23 - 28, 2017. Of particular interest are the two following sessions being convened by GIWS members: 

GIWS featured by CERC
The Canada Excellent Research Chairs (CERC) has featured GIWS research in its CERC Bulletin publication, specifically highlighting ongoing work in the Saskatchewan River Delta. The inclusion in the CERC Bulletin ran alongside a story on the CERC website, which included insight from GIWS director Howard Wheater. 

The story can be read in full here, while the CERC Bulletin can be viewed here.

U of S unveils Researcher Profile video of Markus Hecker
GIWS member Markus Hecker has been selected, alongside three other U of S professors, as a member of the College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists with the Royal Society of Canada. To commemorate the occasion, the university has filmed a short video profiling Markus and his work. The video can be viewed on the GIWS website. 

Publications

Two Papers Published by GIWS Member
Phil Loring, GIWS member and assistant professor at the School of Environment and Sustainability, has had two recent publications released online. The first, published in Facets Journaland co-authored with graduate students Megan Hinzman and Hanna Neufeld, is titled "Can people be sentinels of sustainability? Identifying the linkages among ecosystem health and human well-being." The second, published in Weather, Climate and Society (A  journal of the American Meteorological Society) is titled "Seasons of Stress: Understanding the Dynamic Nature of People’s Ability to Respond to Change and Surprise."

Short and Long-Term Precipitation Extremes
Badrul Masud, Khaliq MN and Howard Wheater have co-authored a new article published in Climate Dynamics. The publication, "Projected changes to short- and long-duration precipitation extremes over the Canadian Prairie Provinces," can be read in full here. 

Media of Interest


Before the Flood: Free National Geographic Documentary on Climate Change
National Geographic is currently streaming Before the Flood free of charge online. The film is a feature-length documentary exploring climate change with host Leonardo DiCaprio, and discussing the harrowing realities being faced by people worldwide.