National Hydrology Research Centre (NHRC)

The National Hydrology Research Centre (NHRC) located at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, accommodates ECCC scientific, technical and administrative staff from the Air and Water Science and Technology Directorates and the Meteorological Service of Canada.

Aquatic Contaminant and Water Hydrology and Ecology research and technical staff at NHRC undertake laboratory and field activities which generate scientific data, related information and tools aimed to assist in sustaining Canada’s ecosystems. Hydrological and ecological information gathered from studies in rivers and lakes in the Canadian North enable scientists to better understand and predict the impacts of climate variability and anthropogenic disturbances on sensitive aquatic systems. Studies focused on the impacts of climate variability on major cryospheric and hydrologic processes (e.g., ice-jam flooding), groundwater availability and sustainability, and the effects of emerging contaminants on food webs in lakes and streams, inform the development of adaptation strategies to protect key/vulnerable water resources and aquatic ecosystems. New mass spectrometric methods to identify toxic components (e.g., pharmaceuticals, naphthenic acids) in natural wetlands, soils and vegetation and the use of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy in the development of bioindicators of stressors on benthic organisms are both examples of analytical tools developed to support the assessment of cumulative effects and risks to aquatic ecosystems.

Freshwater Quality Monitoring and Surveillance scientists report on the status and trends of water quality and aquatic ecosystem health in the Athabasca/Artic Watershed basins. Extensive field activities are supported by multiple in-house laboratory facilities for field preparation, benthic invertebrate processing and identification (Canadian Aquatic Biomonitoring Network), and specialized chemical analysis.

The National Laboratory for Environmental Testing (NLET-Saskatoon) provides ISO 17025 chemical analyses to ECCC water quality monitoring and research programs. NHRC’s hydrology and ecology stable isotope lab specializes in the measurement of environmental stable isotope tracers for cumulative effects based ecological and hydrological research.

NHRC research and monitoring activities support ECCC’s obligations under the Canada Water Act, the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, and Fisheries Act through participation in government science programs including the Chemicals Management Plan, the Clean Air Regulatory Agenda, the Canadian Environmental Sustainability Indicators program, the Lake Winnipeg Basin Initiative and the Joint Canada-Alberta Implementation Plan for Oil Sands Monitoring.

11 Innovation Blvd.
Saskatoon, SK S7N 3H5
Canada

Scientists and researchers

Research Scientist - Hydrologist
Environment and Climate Change Canada

 

Image Barrie R. Bonsal
Research Scientist - Climate Impacts on Hydrology and Ecology
Environment and Climate Change Canada

 

Research Scientist - Hydrological Processes Research
Environment and Climate Change Canada

 

Research Climatologist - Precipitation processes and measurement science, land surface-atmosphere interactions
Environment and Climate Change Canada

 

Research Scientist - Cold Region Hydrology Research
Environment and Climate Change Canada

 

Image Jordyn Broadbent
Research Scientist
Environment and Climate Change Canada

 

Stable Isotope Research Chemist - Stable Isotope Specialist
Environment and Climate Change Canada

 

Research Scientist - Agricultural impacts on water quality and quantity
Environment and Climate Change Canada

 

Research Scientist - Study Leader, Interactions between microbial communities and priority substances in aquatic ecosystems
Environment and Climate Change Canada

 

Senior Research Scientist - Priority Substances Exposure
Environment and Climate Change Canada

 

Research Scientist - Bird Conservation and Management
Environment and Climate Change Canada

 

Image Marlene Evans
Research Scientist
Environment and Climate Change Canada

 

Process Hydrologist - Perform short and long term physically-based investigations of hydrological processes, water balance, energy balance and impacts of land use change and climate variability on water resources
Environment and Climate Change Canada