IAH Atlantic Canada Online Seminar Series

We hope that you enjoy the following seminars….and please excuse some of the recording glitches that plague the first few. Please check back often for updates, which we expect will occur approximately every two weeks. And if you have any comments or suggestions for future talks, please drop me a line.

Episode 7 – Tom Champion on Conceptual Model for the Charleston Joint Weapons Base

In this classical description of a hydrogeological Conceptual Model, Tom makes use of litho-facies correlation to understand a complex setting. The site is a US Air Force base in Charleston, South Carolina, with a long history of military development and use. It is characterized by the transgressive evolution of a Barrier Island System, crossed by the Cooper River and its tributaries.

Tom is a hydrogeologist with AECOM in Greenville, South Carolina. He has 35 years experience, which includes, water-resource development, groundwater remediation, and flow and transport modelling, with ample amount of hands-on drilling and field experience. In the past few years, he has focused on developing conceptual geological and hydrogeological models, often to support numerical models.

Episode 6 – Flemming Fogh Pedersen on Groundwater Protection in DENMARK

Flemming provides an excellent overview of the national groundwater protection program in Denmark, where almost 100% of the drinking water supply is sourced from groundwater. This impressive mapping and modelling effort has been in progress for the past 15 years. To date, two billion Danish kroner has been spent, and groundwater resources have been mapped across a third of the country. The rigor of this program will be an inspiration to groundwater practitioners.

Flemming has an MSc in Applied Geophysics and an MBA. He has more than 20 years of experience in groundwater mapping. He is the head of the western Denmark Water & Environment Department at ALECTIA, a private Danish consulting engineering firm. Flemming has had a long term involvement with the program that is the topic of his presentation.

Episode 5 – Fred Baechler on Evidence for Climate Change in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, CANADA

For the last 10 years, Fred has investigated the impact of Cape Breton’s changing climate on its freshwater resources. This information has then been used to aid in identifying methods of adaptation. This talk focuses on the technical aspects of what we know and don’t know about how climate is changing, and the effects on streams, lakes, wetlands, and groundwater over six different hydrological settings within the beautiful 12,000 square kilometre island known as Cape Breton. If you have never been to Cape Breton Island, Fred’s slides will have you making travel plans!

Fred is the Chief Hydrogeologist and a Senior Hydrologist for Exp Services Inc., based out of their Sydney, Nova Scotia office. He has more than 40 years of experience primarily throughout Atlantic Canada, but also in Thailand, Mexico, Europe, the United States and Greenland. Fred has been involved in a wide range of water-related projects, from the perspective of a regulator, consultant, researcher, and educator (Adjunct Professor Cape Breton University, Research Fellow Verschuren Centre).

Episode 4 – Steve Shikaze on Numerical Groundwater Models

Steve discusses numerical techniques for groundwater modelling, from a consulting perspective. In this presentation, he reviews two case studies: a water supply project in Ontario, and a lithium brine Reserve Estimate in Argentina.

Steve is a groundwater modeller with Matrix Solutions Inc. and he has a background that includes a strong mix of consulting and academic research. During my time at U Waterloo, Steve was a member of the feared UW “Groundwater Modeling Mafia”.

Episode 3 – Sam King on Particle Physics

Sam King gives an overview of current trends on Particle Physics, in a presentation of his doctoral research at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), in Switzerland.

Sam is a recent PhD graduate from the University of British Columbia, and he has a talent for taking an extremely intimidating subject, like Particle Physics and making it understandable. If you are interested to know more about the LHC Experiment and Sam’s quest for extra dimensions, you won’t want to miss this talk!

Episode 2 – James Barker on Source Zone Remediation

Jim discusses remediation technologies that target source zones containing Non-Aqueous Phase Liquids (NAPLs), such as solvents and hydrocarbons. He makes the point that even under highly controlled research conditions, it is unrealistic to expect complete source removal.

Jim recently retired as a Professor at the University of Waterloo and remains involved in research and graduate teaching as an Emeritus Professor. I had the good fortune of having Jim as my PhD Supervisor, a “few” years back.

Episode 1 – David Boutt on Climate and Hydrology Changes in the Northeast US

In this presentation, Dave analyzes long-term records of groundwater levels in the Northeastern United States, to decipher regional-scale groundwater – surface water interactions. The rich dataset contains a story of large droughts, climate connections, and significant changes in groundwater storage.

David is an associate professor of Hydrogeology in the Department of Geosciences at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. His research focuses on physical hydrology and he incorporates hydrogeological information to gain a more detailed understanding of hydrologic budgets.