Research programs dedicated to the environment, particularly water security, are a key component of McMaster University’s focus on advancing human and societal health and well-being. Many of our researchers work with local, national, and international governments to protect the global water supply.

Developing watershed management strategies

Altaf Arain, Director of McMaster University’s Centre for Climate Change, guides municipalities and conservation authorities in developing watershed management strategies to offset the effects of shifts in land use and climate change. Extensive land use changes, agricultural activities and forest harvesting in the Great Lakes region are putting pressure on this key source of drinking water.

Advancing river and stream research

Brad Fairley and Margaret Gadsby, McMaster alumni and philanthropists,  , funded a research chair dedicated to studying river formation and restoration in Hamilton and Dundas, Ont. The inaugural chair, Elli Papangelakis, will focus on fluvial geomorphology, exploring how rivers interact with their environment and evolve in response to human activities and climate change, supported by Fairley’s extensive experience in stream restoration.

Inaugural meeting of Global Water Futures held on a First Nation

McMaster hosted what is believed to be the first major science gathering on a First Nation in Canada for the inaugural meeting of Global Water Futures on the Six Nations of the Grand River to discuss critically important issues related to Canada’s freshwater resources. The meeting was an opportunity for hundreds of people from the community and across the country to come together and discuss the latest research, future scenarios, and possible solutions. Regional partnerships are a centrepiece of the work of Global Water Futures researchers, who recognize the importance of involving Indigenous ecological knowledge and leadership in solving water issues.

McMaster research team tackles water issues in First Nations communities

As part of a Global Water Futures project, Co-Creation of Indigenous Water Quality Tools, an interdisciplinary team of McMaster University researchers is working to identify sources of contaminants in drinking water sources and local aquatic ecosystems within two Indigenous communities, the Six Nations of the Grand River in Ontario and the Lubicon Cree Nation of Little Buffalo in northern Alberta.

McMaster researchers work to ensure community water supply is safe

Global Water Futures: Solutions to global water threats

McMaster University is a lead partner in Global Water Futures, a national collaboration of Canadian universities, formed to deliver leading-edge water science to manage water futures in Canada and other cold regions in which global warming is changing landscapes, ecosystems, and the water environment.

McMaster water researchers named to International Joint Commission advisory board

The International Joint Commission (IJC), a 110-year-old initiative between the U.S. and Canada to prevent and resolve disputes around the country’s shared bodies of water, appointed McMaster researchers to its Great Lakes Science Advisory Board in 2019: Karen Kidd, a professor in the Department of Biology and the School of Geography and Earth Sciences, and Gail Krantzberg, a professor with the Booth School of Engineering Practice and Technology.

Global Centre for Climate Change Impact on Transboundary Waters

The new , led by McMaster’s Gail Krantzberg and the University of Michigan’s Drew Gronewold,  will address complex international water crises, emphasizing collaboration with Indigenous populations. Funded by international organizations including NSERC, SSHRC, NSF, CSIRO, and UKRI, the centre will focus on understanding and mitigating water crises in areas spanning multiple nations. It will address climate change’s impact on water resources through diverse governance and management strategies.

Canada-U.S. collaborations on Great Lakes water research

Gail Krantzberg, a professor in McMaster’s Walter G. Booth School of Engineering Practice and Technology, is an expert in Great Lakes science, policy, and governance. She has worked with local and provincial governments for decades on the issues of water security and policy. She collaborates on Canadian-American efforts to restore Areas of Concern in the Great Lakes (including Hamilton Harbour), which have invested US$22.8 billion over the last 35 years, according to an article in the Journal of Great Lakes Research. The money has been well-spent, the article finds, with every dollar toward cleanup catalyzing more than $3 worth of community revitalization.

United Nations University: Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH)

McMaster University is home to the United Nations University: Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH), which aims to create a world free of water problems where sustainable human development and environmental health and security are assured for all.

UNU-INWEH’s mission is to help resolve pressing water challenges that are of concern to the United Nations, its Member States, and all people, through:

• Improvement in human well-being through the provision of safe water and access to adequate sanitation, now recognized by the UN as a human right;
• Ensuring sustainable economic growth, achievement of peace and security, and reduction in poverty through management of water resources, access to essential water services, and promotion of ecosystem health;
• Fostering gender equity through development of opportunities for and empowerment of women and men; and
• Ensuring accountability and transparency for resources and results in all actions.

Collaborative graduate program presents students with challenges of water security

The Water Without Borders graduate program, offered by the Faculty of Social Sciences of McMaster University in collaboration with the United Nations University: International Network on Water, Environment and Health, provides the opportunity for students to tackle major issues such as water security. For example, students consider the crisis of one billion people in the world who live without access to safe water, and what international governance structures are necessary to safely steward this vulnerable resource.