Public Lecture: Solutionscapes for sustainable food, water, energy, and climate futures
Wednesday, March 11th at 7:15pm in ECS 124
The pressures on our water systems are growing, shaped not only by climate extremes but also by how we grow food, generate energy, and use land. Around the world, there is unprecedented momentum to address climate change, biodiversity loss, and water insecurity. Importantly, many of the tools we need already exist, from sustainable farming practices and wetland restoration to circular waste management systems. The challenge is not inventing new solutions, but connecting the ones we have. When implemented in isolation, even well-intentioned interventions can create unintended trade-offs or shift problems elsewhere. This lecture introduces Solutionscapes, a way of reimagining landscapes as coordinated systems rather than disconnected efforts. Can we design landscape-scale strategies that reduce pressure on our water systems, sustain livelihoods, and advance a more just and resilient future?
Technical Seminar: From Pollution to Restoration: Warming Winters, Algal Blooms, and Pathways to Resilience
Friday, March 13th at 12:30pm in ECS 124
Excess nitrogen and phosphorus from agricultural and urban landscapes continue to drive harmful algal blooms in freshwater systems. Despite reductions in nutrient inputs in some regions, recovery has been slower and more variable than expected. Climate change aggravates the challenge, as warmer winters are increasing nutrient release from soils. In this seminar, I examine how nutrient dynamics and climate variability interact to shape water quality trajectories. Using large-scale datasets and emerging analytical approaches, I identify the controls on nutrient persistence and bloom formation, and evaluate landscape-scale interventions, including wetland restoration, that can improve water quality and provide viable pathways to resilience in a warming world.
Dr. Basu is the Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Global Water Sustainability and Ecohydrology, and she is a Professor in the Departments of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Waterloo. Dr. Basu is internationally renowned in the fields of water sustainability and ecohydrology, where her team has laid critical groundwork to address both fundamental science and applied management questions on nutrient pollution in anthropogenic landscapes. She is a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union, Former Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Hydrology, and Member of the Royal Society College of New Scholars, Artists, and Scientists.
