About the Water and Environment Research Group
The Water and Environment Research Group at Brock University was established in the fall of 2016 (formerly the Water and Environment Laboratory). The geographic focus of our research is primarily northwest Canada, although other research projects are ongoing in western Canada and more locally in Ontario.
Please take a moment and browse through our website and explore our on-going research projects. If you would like to learn more about the research activities we are conducting at Brock, or are interested in graduate research, please contact Dr. Michael Pisaric ([email protected]), Dr. Kevin Turner ([email protected]), Dr. Kelly Biagi ([email protected]) and Dr. Vaughn Mangal ([email protected]). We are always searching for promising new students!
- We utilize a variety of paleoecological indicators, including pollen, stomata, particle grain size and charcoal from lake sediments and tree-ring growth records. By studying fossils preserved in lake sediment, we can study changes in vegetation, climate, and disturbance regimes over long temporal scales, but at decadal to centennial time resolution.
- Tree-ring analysis is used to study changing climatic conditions during the recent past to perhaps the last 1000 years, but at annual resolution.
- Water chemistry and isotopic tracers from water sampling campaigns are used to evaluate differences in water balance and runoff generation processes among catchments.
- Remote sensing approaches are utilized to identify temporal patterns in catchment land cover characteristics, which are integrated with ground-based assessments of hydrology, active layer and tree ring data.
- Historical context of landscape changes is complemented using paleolimnolgical analyses of lake sediment cores. Capturing evidence of past and present interactions among hydrological features, land cover and climate provide the basis to anticipate how important northern wetlands may respond in the future.
Please take a moment and browse through our website and explore our on-going research projects. If you would like to learn more about the research activities we are conducting at Brock, or are interested in graduate research, please contact Dr. Michael Pisaric ([email protected]), Dr. Kevin Turner ([email protected]), Dr. Kelly Biagi ([email protected]) and Dr. Vaughn Mangal ([email protected]). We are always searching for promising new students!