Research Theme - Sustainable Development of Natural Resources
Canada
is at the forefront of natural resource development, with large
investment and growth in the energy sector, mining and forestry.
Sustainable use and protection of water resources is a pressing
challenge that requires new inter-disciplinary science and creative
partnerships between government, universities and industry to deliver
the tools needed for effective management and environmental protection
of watersheds. The Sustainable Development of Natural Resources research
theme at the Global Institute for Water Security addresses that
challenge.
A
Canadian example where our research will make a difference is in the
Alberta Athabasca oil sands – an area that faces a highly complex set of
scientific, technical and societal challenges. This area presents a
unique opportunity for the development of new science and management
practices that could significantly change the way water is used and the
way land and water are reclaimed, not just in the oil sands industry,
but in other mining operations in Canada and around the world.
Theme Objectives:
- Develop new assessment and remediation technologies by understanding the interactions between ecotoxins, the hydrological cycle and wetland ecology. Remediation techniques could include the use of engineered wetlands for wastewater treatment.
- Better understand the ecological and human toxicity of oil sands pollutants by integrating pollutant assessments across terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.
- By understanding how pollutants biodegrade and how they are sequestered, develop integrated decision-support tools for risk assessment and remediation of contaminated land and water.
- Examine the potential for the development of extraction and processing technologies that have a reduced environmental footprint.
Working group membership:
Howard Wheater, Andrew Ireson, Ingrid Pickering, Jim Hendry, John Giesy, Karsten Liber, Lee Barbour.
Theme sub-groups:
Naphthenic Acids
Canadian Light Source Synchrotron Analysis of Coke
