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McMaster Centre for Climate Change

Annual Progress Report 2016

Burke Science Building, Room 323

McMaster University

1280 Main Street West

Hamilton, ON L8S 4K1

Ph: 905-525-9140 ext. 23313 | E-mail: [email protected]

Web: climate.mcmaster.ca

Twitter: @MAC_Climate | Facebook: McMasterClimateCentre

mailto:[email protected]

http://climate.mcmaster.ca/

McMaster Climate Centre Annual Progress Report: 2016

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Table of Contents

OUR SPONSORS ...................................................................................................................................................... 2

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ......................................................................................................................................... 3

ABOUT US .................................................................................................................................................................. 5

OUR TEAM ................................................................................................................................................................. 5

GRANTS AND AWARDS ....................................................................................................................................... 6

OUR PARTNERS ....................................................................................................................................................... 7

PROMOTING RESEARCH AND COLLABORATIONS .................................................................................. 8

Seed Research Grant Program .............................................................................................................................. 8

Other Research Activities .................................................................................................................................... 12

PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS ................................................................................................................... 17

RESEARCH PRESENTATIONS ........................................................................................................................... 22

PUBLIC LECTURES & ACADEMIC SEMINARS ............................................................................................. 24

Big Ideas Better Cities - Low Carbon Climate Resilient Cities Symposium, 2016 ....................................... 24

Academic Lecture ................................................................................................................................................. 29

Fall Public Lecture ................................................................................................................................................ 31

Collabrative Seminars and Events: .................................................................................................................... 33

COMMUNITY OUTREACH ................................................................................................................................. 35

High School Outreach .......................................................................................................................................... 35

Learn CC Initiative ............................................................................................................................................... 36

McMaster’s Water Week ..................................................................................................................................... 36

iClimate - Video Competition ............................................................................................................................. 37

MAC green/ GEC Engineering Conference ...................................................................................................... 38

Mapping the Global Dimensions of Policy - Student Conference ................................................................. 38

iSci Class Field Trip to Turkey Point Flux Station ........................................................................................... 39

MCCC MEMBERS IN THE NEWS ...................................................................................................................... 40

MCCC PLANS FOR THE NEXT YEAR ............................................................................................................... 42


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Our Sponsors

This project is funded in part by the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) Blue Water Initiative,

made possible by a generous gift from the RBC Foundation.


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Executive Summary

We would like to thank Climate Centre members for their support and collaboration

throughout 2016. The past year has been very productive and successful.

We enhanced our research activities and collaborations amongst the Centre members,

by awarding two Research Seed Grants with the help of the McMaster Office of the Vice

President for Research and International Affairs. We will continue with Seed Grant

support in 2017 and will hold a competition to award three Travel Grants. We also

support our graduate students through the iClimate initiative, for which students, both

graduate and undergraduate, create and present short videos about their research,

which in-turn can be used for public outreach.

The Centre hosted the Big Ideas Better Cities - Low Carbon Climate Resilient Cities

Symposium on 19 April 2016. This full day event was a part of Big Ideas, Better Cities

Initiative and series of events showcasing how McMaster research can help cities

respond to 21st century challenges. Minister of Environment and Climate Change

Ontario, Honourable Glen Murray was the keynote speaker, who was introduced by

McMaster President Dr. Patrick Deane. Mayor of Burlington, Mr. Rick Goldring was

among the inaugural speakers. Symposium speakers and participants discussed the

challenges cities are facing due to environmental changes, and the opportunities

available to advance climate resilient solutions that can help mitigate and adapt to

climate change in order to make our cities more healthy and livable.

The Centre organized two well attended public lectures, one in June and the other in

October. Our Fall public lecture focused on the risks of floods in Southern Ontario and

across Canada. It included a panel discusson highlighting urban flooding and drainage

issues and understanding Canadian households and business decision making in high

flood risk areas. We co-sponsored a number of important academic events, such as the

McMaster Water Week, Social Science Global Dimensions of Policy 5 Conference, MAC

green and GEC engineering conference. We also collaborated with the United Nations

University, Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH) in their Water

and Climate Dialogue Lecture Series.


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The Centre continued high school outreach activities where McMaster graduate and

undergraduate students showcase their work and engage with grade 11-12 students in

local high schools. With the help of a McMaster FWI grant, the Centre established a

high school weather station network in the Hamilton-Burlington region, which includes

four weather stations installed at Brebeuf, Bishop Tonnos, Sir John A Macdonald and

Westmount high schools. This Weather Network will have great potential to facilitate a

number of hands-on activities for the local high school students and contribute to the

understanding of local weather conditions and climate change impacts.

We collaborated with the City of Hamilton to promote environment and climate related

knowledge and encourage collaborative city and community actions, as conceived

under the Hamilton Community Climate Action Plan. The Centre also collaborated in

the Ontario Climate Consortium (OCC) activities, where McMaster is among key

partner universities supporting OCC.

Once again, we are very grateful to the RBC Foundation, McMaster Office of the Vice

President, Research and Faculty of Science for their support and generous funding. We

thank the School of Geography and Earth Sciences for housing us and managing our

expenses and budget. We are grateful to all for these supports.

We look forward to the new year and will continue to foster our Centre’s growth

through collaborations and joint initiatives. Thank you.

M. Altaf Arain

(The Centre Director)


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About Us

The mission of the McMaster Centre for Climate Change (MCCC) is to promote and

facilitate education, research, and interdisciplinary collaborations, with a focus on

climate change impacts on water resources, environment, ecosystems and human

health. The Centre promotes multidisciplinary research by bringing together the

expertise of researchers from different McMaster Faculties, including Faculties of

Science, Engineering, Social Science, Health Sciences and Business and external

collaborators as listed in the Partners section.

The Centre researchers focus on seven different theme areas, which include:

1) Ecosystem impacts and adaptations

2) Water resources and hydroclimate

3) Paleoclimate and isotopes

4) Infrastructure impacts

5) Physical climate and modelling

6) Human health and societal impacts

7) Remediation, resilience and public policy


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Our Team

Members of the Centre include faculty, government scientists, postdoctoral fellows,

graduate and undergraduate students, who promote and conduct research on topics

related to the Centre's mission and objectives. In total, 24 faculty members from

McMaster Faculties of Science, Engineering, Social Science and Health Sciences have

been associated with the Centre.

Since 2010, the Centre has trained 4 Postdoctoral fellows, 12 Doctoral, 25 Masters and 5

Undergraduate students as well as many student volunteers. Two international

scientists also visited the Centre from Nigeria and Germany.

Grants and Awards

Since 2010, the Centre associated faculty members secured $4.75 million research grants

and $14,400 outreach grants from Tri-Council agencies, $15,000 from McMaster

Forward with Integrity (3 grants), $15,000 from Mitacs for a postdoctoral fellowship,

$17,500 from Ontario Climate Consortium (OCC) for a PhD student and $24,000 grant

from NSERC Engage Program.


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Our Partners

The Centre actively collaborates with FloodNet, McMaster Water Network, Ontario

Climate Consortium (OCC), McMaster Sustainability Office, Institute on Globalization

and the Human Condition, McMaster Institute of Environment and Health, McMaster

Institute for Energy Studies, McMaster Institute for Transportation and Logistics, ESRI

Development Centre, the Dofasco Centre for Engineering and Public Policy, and

SHARCNET and the United Nations University, Institute for Water, Environment and

Health (UNU-INWEH). The Centre is also involved in activities of the recently funded

Global Water Future initiative, where McMaster University is among the four core

participating universities.

The Centre has established partnerships with numerous government and industrial

organizations, such as the Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), Environment Canada

(EC), Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (OMNRF), Ontario Ministry

of Environment and Climate Change (OMECC), City of Hamilton, City of Burlington,

Hamilton Conservation Authority, Sustainable Hamilton Burlington, Green Venture,

Environment Hamilton, Clear Air Hamilton, Climate Change Champions, Plug and

Drive Ontario, The James Hutton Institute, UK and Ameriflux and Global Fluxnet

initiatives.


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Promoting Research and

Collaborations

Seed Research Grant Program

The purpose of this grant is to initiate new research opportunities by helping the Centre

members leverage funding for new research initiatives related to environment, water

and climate and graduate student recruitment. This grant was possible thanks to

support from McMaster’s VP-Research. The Centre offered two research grants (each

$7,000 per year for two years over 2025-2016 period) under Seed Grant Program to

associated faculty members. Details of these projects are given below:

(i) Effect of projected climate change on the hibernation habitat of

species at risk (Emydoidea blandingii, Sistrurus catenatus): Implications

for conservation management

Alanna Smolarz and Mike Waddington (PI)

The objective of this project is to assess the vulnerability of reptile species at risk habitat

to projected climate change. The unique set of conditions required by the Massasauga

Rattlesnake (Sistrurus catenatus), is key to their winter survival. This North American

species is listed as threatened. In Canada, it is only found in

Ontario with populations concentrated around the Great

Lakes. This species is threatened by human persecution, road

mortality and habitat loss of critical hibernation sites.

Therefore, it is important we understand how vulnerable their

current habitat is to climate disturbance to minimize impacts

on their habitat. Through the assessment of both the thermal

and moisture dynamics, we can understand what site traits

influence snake overwintering success. Furthermore, the

vulnerability of these traits to climate-mediated disturbances

(e.g., drought, flooding, snowfall), can be determined

including implications this has for improving conservation

management strategies.


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Thanks to the MCCC SEED grant we have continued to foster collaborations with the

Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Wildlife Preservation Canada, and Magnetawan

First Nations. These valuable partnerships have strengthened the link between our

research goals and allowed us to fill gaps in ongoing studies. Through our partners, we

have also been permitted access to known rattlesnake hibernation sites north of Parry

Sound. (We are unable to share the exact location of these sites in order to protect the

population of rattlesnakes against poachers and public persecution). Previous knowledge

of snake populations at these locations suggested they

hibernated in hummocks, made entirely of Sphagnum moss.

Likely due to their location above the water table and ability

to buffer against the advancing frost line, hummocks

provided a suitable “survival zone”. To identify the extent of

this area in the hummocks, the sites were instrumented in

2015 with micrometeorological towers and numerous soil

moisture and temperature profiles. In order to capture water

level changes within the hibernation site, we also installed

several groundwater wells with level loggers. Since its

instrumentation, several field visits have occurred every

three to four weeks in the winter to download the data

collected, monitor the status of all instruments, and conduct

snow surveys.

Using data collected thus far, we are assessing the probability of snake mortality in

various sized hummocks. Lab experiments to determine the moisture retention, mineral

content, and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity properties of the hummocks is ongoing.

These results will be used with numerical modelling to assess expected changes to frost

depth and water table variability under various climate scenarios.


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(ii) Will Southern Ontario fish adapt to climate change?

Graham Scott (PI)

The primary objective of this project is to evaluate the capacity of Southern Ontario fish

to adapt to two major stressors associated with climate change in aquatic ecosystems –

warming temperature and oxygen deprivation. The MCCC Seed Grant has supported

research that would not have otherwise been possible, carried out by graduate student

Sherry Du (who is supported by the seed grant) and others, and we have made a

number of key findings in the project so far.

The effects of warming temperatures and oxygen deprivation on metabolism

We have found that fish become more susceptible to a reduction in oxygen in their

environment (‘hypoxia’) when temperatures rise. Temperature increases their metabolic

rate, it reduces the time they can tolerate

hypoxia, and it leads to a collapse of

aerobic scope (their scope to increase

metabolism to support locomotion,

routine behaviour, predator avoidance,

etc.) at higher water O2 levels. In

addition, we have shown that this

interaction between temperature and

dissolved O2 differs between species.

Pumpkinseed sunfish are particularly

susceptible to warming temperatures compared to some other closely related southern

Ontario fish species. We have also made additional physiological, morphological, and

biochemical measurements to understand the mechanisms underlying the differences

between species. This work is now published (Borowiec et al. 2016). We are planning a

new series of experiments this summer to further understand the mechanistic

underpinnings of climate change adaptation and how it relates to tolerance of hypoxia

and other stressors.

Mitochondrial underpinnings of interactions between temperature and hypoxia

We have also explored the role of mitochondria – the powerhouses of our cells involved

in energy production – in how fish respond to warming temperature and hypoxia. We


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have found that temperature increases mitochondrial respiration and affects the

sensitivity of mitochondria to hypoxia, such that temperature effects on mitochondrial

function can explain some of the variation in whole-animal function that we observed

above. We have also found that species differ in other aspects of mitochondrial

function, specifically the production of reactive oxygen species. However, species

differences in mitochondrial function could not account for the species differences in

hypoxia sensitivity at the whole-animal level. This work has been written up for

publication by Sherry Du. It has been submitted and has received favourable reviews at

the journal Evolution (Du et al. 2017, submitted).

Anthropogenic stressors in Hamilton Harbour and Cootes Paradise Marsh:

interactions between temperature stress and contaminants

Over the last two years, we have also been examining the effects of wastewater effluent

on fish health and physiology. This collaborative project with Sigal Balshine (PNB) was

funded by NSERC and RBC Blue Water, and is partnered with the City of Hamilton, the

Royal Botanical Gardens, and the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans. The

work involved fieldwork in Cootes Paradise marsh near the Dundas wastewater

treatment plant (WWTP), and has elucidated a variety of adverse impacts of wastewater

exposure (McCallum et al. 2017; Du et al. 2017). However, we recently also made the

surprising finding that fish were actually more abundant near the WWTP. The reasons

for this curious finding are not entirely clear, but we anticipate that it may occur

because summer temperatures in the marsh are warming and fish are seeking the cooler

oxygenated water emitted from the WWTP. This work is now being prepared for

publication. Therefore, it is likely that there are complex trade-offs between the effects

of rising summer water temperatures (associated with climate change), reductions in

dissolved oxygen levels, and contaminant stress that influences fish movement, health,

and fitness. Our ongoing work is exploring the implications of the interactions between

anthropogenic stressors associated with climate change and aquatic pollution. The

MCCC Seed Grant provided valuable support to this work, by supporting graduate

student Sherry Du and providing fundamental information about how warming

temperature and oxygen deprivation impacts native fish species.

Du, S.N.N., F. Khajali, N.J. Dawson, and G.R. Scott. 2017. Hybridization increases

mitochondrial production of reactive oxygen species in sunfish. Evolution. Submitted

January 5, 2017 (Ms. ID. 17-0008).


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Other Research Activities

(1) Impacts of climate change and extreme weather events on

managed conifer and deciduous forests in Ontario

M. Altaf Arain (PI)

The main objective of this project is (a) to better understand the ability of Ontario’s

managed forest ecosystems to sequester atmospheric CO2 and their potential response

and adaptability to future climate change and extreme weather events and (b) to

conduct hydrological studies to explore how changes in precipitation pattern and water

balance, due to climate change would affect growth of forests in the region. This work

also contributes to the development of next generation of ecosystem and hydrologic

models. Projects includes an age-sequence of conifer forests (77, 42, and 16-year old pine

stands) and a >80-year old deciduous forest, near Lake Erie in Southern Ontario, known

as Turkey Point Flux Station (TPFS). Progress made on specific project objectives is

described below.

(i) Energy, Water and Carbon Cycling Studies:

Measurements of energy, water vapour and

carbon dioxide (CO2) fluxes were

continuously made at all four sites using

closed-path eddy covariance (EC) system

throughout the year, 2016. These forests sites

are managed and afforested stands and are

among very few chronosequence studies in

the Ameriflux and global Fluxnet initiatives.

Meteorological variables including air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and

direction, radiation were measured at all four sites. Precipitation, both rainfall and

snowfall accumulation was measured at the Delta Waterfowl Conservation Centre in an

open area, about ~2 km north east of 77-year-old site and at an open area within the

deciduous forest. Water table was continuously measured at 77-year old site. The flux

and meteorological data were checked and quality controlled manually and using an

automated software and averaged at half hourly intervals.

Soil CO2 efflux measurements were also continuously made using automatic chamber

systems at the 77-year-old site and deciduous site (model Li-8100A, LiCor Inc) for


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extended growing season from May to November. A mobile chamber system (model Li-

6400, LiCor Inc.) was used to measure soil CO2 emissions along two transects at the

deciduous site.

Biometric variables (e.g tree height, stem diameter, litterfall) were measured in the 3

National Forest Inventory (NFI) plots at all four sites at the end of growing season.

These measurements were made at 3 additional sites at the 77-year-old site because it

was thinned in 2012 (i.e. 3 reference and 3 control plots).

These year-round measurement of CO2, water vapour and energy fluxes and biometric

data not only help to estimate annual net ecosystem productivity (NEP) and

evapotranspiration values, but they also help to determine the response of these

managed forests to seasonal and annual climate variability and extreme weather events.

(ii) Variable Density Thinning (VDT) study:

In 2016, we have continued our investigation of

the impact of different forest management regimes

on the growth, health, resilience and carbon

sequestration and water cycling capabilities of

managed forests, using 21 one-hectare plots with

33% and 55% aggregate and dispersed canopy

cover at our 77-year old forest. This Variable

Density Thinning (VDT) experiment was initiated

in autumn 2013 by the Ontario Ministry of Natural

Resources and Forestry (Dr. Bill Parker) in

collaboration with partner organizations,

including McMaster. Graduate and

undergraduate students ran field campaigns and

measured tree diameters along diagonal transects

in thinned and control plots in late autumn. Soil

CO2 emissions along these transects were also

samples. This work will enable us to study the

impact of forest restoration practices and

structural diversity to improve forest ecosystem

stability and resilience and their impact on

catchment water resources.


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(iii) Trace gas measurements

Greenhouse gas concentration measurements (CO2, CH4, CO) were continuously made

through the year using Picarro gas analyzer on top of 36 m high walk-up scaffolding

flux tower at our deciduous forest site. These measurements were initiated by the

Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (Dr. Doug Worthy’s group at

Downsview, Toronto) in 2013. These data are used to provide background information

on greenhouse gas transport from USA into Canada. Data measured at our site is

valuable because of its southern most locations near the US-Canada border in Long

Point region.

This project continues to be a great opportunity for undergraduate student involvement

in field work and exposing them to practical side and importance of forest ecosystems

and their impact of water and carbon cycling in southern Ontario and well as

community and public outreach activities.


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(2) Thematic Program on Multiscale Scientific Computing: From

Quantum Physics and Chemistry to Material Science and Fluid

Mechanics.

Nicholas Kevlahan (PI)

Dr. Kevlahan co-organized this program at the Fields Institute Jan-April 2016. The

objective of this thematic program is to bring together prominent researchers

(mathematicians as well as computational and application scientists) from across the

globe who have contributed to the development of relevant computational methods and

those who have pioneered their innovative use to address some of the fundamental

problems in the following application domains:

theoretical fluid mechanics

quantum physics and chemistry

multiscale physical phenomena

Four workshops, one seminar and two public lectures were hosted in this program.


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(3) McMaster Campus Weather Station

We continued to maintain the McMaster

Campus weather station for teaching,

research and community outreach activities.

The weather data is displayed through a

website in real time in SGES and Faculty of

Science websites. The measured data is

archived on the Science Server and is

available to the public through the weather

station website and through the Centre

website. The data is also used in many

undergraduate courses (e.g. Envir and Earth

Sc 2C03 and 4C03 courses) and by the

McMaster Facilities Services and Engineering Center for Experiential Learning (EcCEL).

Many other universities, organizations and citizens also use it for various purposes.

(4) Ontario Climate Consortium (OCC) activities

The Centre collaborated in the Ontario Climate Consortium (OCC) activities. McMaster

is among partner universities supporting OCC. The mission of the OCC is to help

public and private sector decision makers with regionally-specific environmental data,

intelligence and adaptation services that enable effective policy and investment

responses to climate uncertainty in Ontario.

(5) The City of Hamilton Engagements

The centre collaborated with the City of Hamilton to promote environment and climate

related knowledge and encourage collaborative city and community actions, as

conceived under the Hamilton Community Climate Action Plan. The objective of the

community plan is to develop a comprehensive approach for adaptation (resilience) to

climate change and mitigation (reductions) of greenhouse gas emissions from the City.


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Peer-Reviewed Publications

Barker, H. W., J. N. S. Cole, J. Li, and K. von Salzen, 2016. A Parametrization of 3D

Subgrid-scale Clouds for Conventional GCMs: Assessment using A-Train

Satellite Data and Solar Radiative Transfer Characteristics. J. Adv. Model. Earth

Syst. DOI: 10.1002/2015MS000601.

Borowiec, B.G., K.D. Crans, F. Khajali, N.A. Pranckevicius, A. Young, and G.R. Scott.

2016. Interspecific and environment-induced variation in hypoxia tolerance in

sunfish. Comp. Biochem. Physiol. A. 198, 59-71.

Chen B., Arain M.A, Chen J.M., Croft H., Grant R.F., Kurz W.A., Bernier P., Guindon L.,

Price D., Wang Z., 2016. Evaluating the impacts of climate variability and cutting

and insect defoliation on the historical carbon dynamics of a boreal black spruce

forest landscape in eastern Canada. Ecological Modelling, 321(10): 98-109.

doi:10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2015.11.011.

Devito KJ, Mendoza CA, Petrone RM, Kettridge N, Waddington JM. 2016. Utikuma

Region Study Area (URSA) Part 1: Hydrogeological and ecohydrological studies

(HEAD). The Forestry Chronicle 92: 57-61, doi: 10.5558/tfc2016-017.

Feng, F., Li, X., Yao, Y., Liang, S., Chen, J., Zhao, X., K., J., Pintér, K. and McCaughey,

H., 2016. An Empirical Orthogonal Function-Based Algorithm for Estimating

Terrestrial Latent Heat Flux from Eddy Covariance, Meteorological and Satellite

Observations:. PLoS ONE 11(1), doi 10.1371/journal.pone.0160150.

Fisher, J.B., M. Sikka, D.N. Huntzinger, C.R. Schwalm, J. Liu, Y. Wei, R.B. Cook, A.M.

Michalak, K. Schaefer, A.R. Jacobson, M.A. Arain, P. Ciais, B. El-masri, D.J.

Hayes, M. Huang, S. Huang, A. Ito, A.K. Jain, H. Lei, C. Lu, F. Maignan, J. Mao,

N.C. Parazoo, C. Peng, S. Peng, B. Poulter, D.M. Ricciuto, H. Tian, X. Shi, W.

Wang, N. Zeng, F. Zhao, and Q. Zhu. 2016. CMS: Modeled Net Ecosystem

Exchange at 3-hourly Time Steps, 2004-2010. ORNL DAAC, Oak Ridge,

Tennessee, USA. http://dx.doi.org/10.3334/ORNLDAAC/1315.

Fleischer, K., Wårlind D., van der Molen M.K., Rebel K.T., Arneth A., Erisman J.W.,

Wassen M.J., Smith B., Gough C.M., Margolis H. A., Cescatti A., Montagnani L.,

Arain A.,. Dolman A. J., 2015. Low historical nitrogen deposition effect on carbon

sequestration in the boreal zone, Journal of Geophysical Research

Biogeosciences, 120: 2542–2561, doi:10.1002/2015JG002988.

http://dx.doi.org/10.3334/ORNLDAAC/1315


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Granath G, Moore PA, Lukenbach MC, Waddington JM. 2016. Mitigating wildfire

carbon loss in managed northern peatlands through restoration. Nature Scientific

Reports 6: 28498, doi:10.1038/srep28498.

Haeni, M., Zweifel, R., Eugster, W., Gessler, A., Zielis, S., Bernhofer, C., Carrara, A.,

Grünwald, T., Havránková, K., Heinesch, B., Herbst, M., Ibrom, A., Knohl, A.,

Lagergren, F., Law, B.E., Marek, M., Matteucci, G., McCaughey, J.H., Minerbi, S.,

Montagnani, L., Moors, E., Olejnik, J., Pavelka, M., Pilegaard, K., Pita, G.,

Rodrigues, A., Sanz Sánchez, M.J., Schelhaas, M.J., Urbaniak, M., Valentini, R.,

Varlagin, A., Vesala, T., Vincke, C., Wu, J. and Buchmann, N.C.J., 2016. Winter

respiratory C losses provide explanatory power for net ecosystem productivity.

Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences: doi:10.1002/2016JG003455.

Hokanson H, Lukenbach MC, Devito KJ, Kettridge N, Petrone RM, Waddington JM.

2016. Groundwater connectivity controls peat burn severity in the Boreal

Plains. Ecohydrology 9: 574-584, doi: 10.1002/eco.1657.

Hopkinson, C., Chasmer, L., Barr, A.G., Kljun, N., Black, T.A. and McCaughey, J.H.,

2016. Monitoring boreal forest biomass and carbon storage change by integrating

airborne laser scanning, biometry and eddy covariance data. Remote Sensing of

Environment, 181: 82-95.

Huang S., Bartlett P., Arain M.A., 2016a. Assessing nitrogen controls on carbon, water

and energy exchanges in major plant functional types across North America

using a carbon and nitrogen coupled ecosystem model. Ecological Modelling 323:

2-27. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2015.11.020.

Huang S., Bartlett P., Arain M.A., 2016b. An analysis of global terrestrial carbon, water

and energy dynamics using the carbon–nitrogen coupled CLASS-CTEMN+

model. Ecological Modelling, 336 (2016) 36–56.

doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2016.05.019

Ito A, Inatomi M, Huntzinger D.N, Schwalm C, Michalak A.M, Cook R, King A.W, Mao

J, Wei Y, Post WM, Wang W, Arain M.A, Huang M, Lei H, Tian H, Lu C, Yang J,

Tao B, Jain A, Poulter B, Peng S, Ciais P, Fisher JB, Parazoo N, Schaefer K, Peng

C, Zeng N, Zhao F., 2016. Decadal trends in the seasonal-cycle amplitude of

terrestrial CO2 exchange resulting from the ensemble of terrestrial biosphere

models. Tellus, B68: 28968. doi:10.3402/tellusb.v68.28968

Jing, X., H. Zhang, J. Peng, J. Li, and H. W. Barker, 2016. Cloud Overlapping parameter

Obtained from CloudSat/CALIPSO Dataset and Its Application in AGCM with

McICA Scheme. Atmos. Res., 170, 52-65.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/2016JG003455

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2015.11.020


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Kettridge N, Tilak AS, Devito KJ, Petrone RM, Mendoza C, Waddington JM. 2016. Moss

and peat hydraulic properties are optimized to maximize peatland water use

efficiency.Ecohydrology 9: 1039–1051, doi: 10.1002/eco.1708.

Lin, H., Fan, Z., Shi, L., Arain, A., McCaughey, H., Billesbach, D., Siqueira, M., Bracho,

R. and Oechel, W., 2016. The Cooling Trend of Canopy Temperature During the

Maturation, Succession, and Recovery of Ecosystems. Ecosystems: 1-10, doi Lin,

H., Fan, Z., Shi, L., Arain, A., McCaughey, H., Billesbach, D., Siqueira, M.,

Bracho, R. and Oechel, W., 2016. The Cooling Trend of Canopy Temperature

During the Maturation, Succession, and Recovery of Ecosystems. Ecosystems: doi

10.1007/s10021-016-0033-8.

Liu Y., Wu C., Peng D., Xu S., Gonsamo A., Jassal R.S., Arain M.A., Lu L., Fang B., Chen

J.M., 2016. Improved modeling of land surface phenology using MODIS land

surface reflectance and temperature at evergreen needleleaf forests of central

North America. Remote Sensing of Environment, 176: 152–162.

doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2016.01.021

Lokupitiya, E., Denning, A.S., Schaefer, K., Ricciuto D., Anderson R., Arain M.A., Baker

I., Barr A.G., Chen G., Chen J.M., Ciais P., Cook D.R., Dietze M., El Maayar M.,

Fischer M., Grant R., Hollinger D., Izaurralde C., Jain A., Kucharik C., Li Z., Liu

S., Li L., Matamala R., Peylin P., Price D., Running S.W., Sahoo A., Sprintsin M.,

Suyker A.E., Tian H., Tonitto C., Torn M., Verbeeck H., Verma S.B., Xue Y., 2016.

Carbon and energy fluxes in cropland ecosystems: a model-data comparison.

Biogeochemistry, 129: 53. doi:10.1007/s10533-016-0219-3 *

Lukenbach M, Kettridge N, Devito KJ, Petrone R, Waddington JM. 2016. Burn severity

alters peatland moss water availability: Implications for post-fire

recovery. Ecohydrology 9: 341-353, doi: 10.1002/eco.1639.

McCallum, E.S., S.N.N. Du, M. Vaseghi-Shanjani, J.A. Choi, T.R. Warriner, T. Sultana,

G.R. Scott, and S. Balshine. 2017. In situ exposure to wastewater effluent reduces

survival but has little effect on the behaviour or physiology of an invasive Great

Lake fish. Aquat. Toxicol. 184, 37-48.

Middleton, E.M., Huemmrich, K.F., Landis, D.R., Black, T.A., Barr, A.G. and

McCaughey, J.H., 2016. Photosynthetic efficiency of northern forest ecosystems

using a MODIS-derived Photochemical Reflectance Index (PRI). Remote Sensing

of Environment, 187: 345-366.

Nagabhatla N, Sahu SK, Altaf Arain M, Mahfuzul Haque ABM, Mitra A., 2016.

Explaining Climate Variability Vis-A-Vis Spatio-Temporal Interactions in


20

Bangladeshi Exclusive Economic Zone (BEEZ). Journal of Earth Science &

Climate Change, 7: 364. doi: 10.4172/2157-7617.1000364

Paquin-Ricard, D., P. A. Vaillancourt, H. W. Barker, and J. N. S. Cole, 2016.

Deterministic and stochastic representations of subgrid-scale variability of cloud

in a global model: radiative effects as a function of cloud characteristics. In

press: Q. J. R. Meteorol. Soc.

Plach JM, Petrone RM, Waddington JM, Kettridge N, Devito KJ. 2016. Hydroclimatic

influences on peatland CO2 exchange following upland forest harvesting on the

Boreal Plains.Ecohydrology 9: 1590–1603, doi: 10.1002/eco.1750.

Razavi T., Switzman H., Arain A., Coulibaly P., 2016. Regional climate change trends

and uncertainty analysis using extreme indices: A case study of Hamilton,

Canada. Climate Risk Management, 13: 43–63. doi.org/10.1016/j.crm.2016.06.002

Strack M, Cagampan J, Hassanpour Fard G, Keith AM, Nugent K, Rankin T,

Robinson C, Strachan IB, Waddington JM, Xu B. 2016. Controls on plot-scale

growing season CO2 and CH4 fluxes in restored peatlands: Do they differ from

unrestored and natural sites? Mires and Peat 17: 1-

18, doi: 10.19189/MaP.2015.OMB.216.

Sun, X. J., H. R. Lia, H. W. Barker, R. W. Zhang, Y. B. Zhou and L. Liu, 2016. Estimation

of cloud base heights based on the matching of multiple cloud characteristics. Q.

J. R. Meteorol. Soc., 142, 224-232, DOI:10.1002/qj.2647.

Tramontana, G., Jung, M., Schwalm, C. R., Ichii, K., Camps-Valls, G., Ráduly, B.,

Reichstein, M., Arain, M. A., Cescatti, A., Kiely, G., Merbold, L., Serrano-Ortiz,

P., Sickert, S., Wolf, S., and Papale, D., 2016. Predicting carbon dioxide and

energy fluxes across global FLUXNET sites with regression algorithms,

Biogeosciences, 13: 4291-4313, doi:10.5194/bg-13-4291-2016.

Verma, M.; Fisher, J.B.; Mallick, K.; Ryu, Y.; Kobayashi, H.; Guillaume, A.; Moore, G.;

Ramakrishnan, L.; Hendrix, V.; Wolf, S.; Sikka, M.; Kiely, G.; Wohlfahrt, G.;

Gielen, B.; Roupsard, O.; Toscano, P.; Arain, A.; Cescatti, A., 2016. Global Surface

Net-Radiation at 5 km from MODIS Terra. Remote Sensing. 8: 739.

doi:10.3390/rs8090739.

Wang R., Chen J.M., Pavlic P., Arain A., 2016. Improving winter leaf area index

estimation in coniferous forests and its significance in estimating the land surface

albedo. ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. 119:32–48.

doi.org/10.1016/j.isprsjprs.2016.05.003


21

Zhou, Y., Wu X., Ju W., Chen J.M., Wang S., Wang H., Yuan W., Black T.A., Jassal R.,

Ibrom A., Han S., Yan J., Margolis H., Roupsard O., Li Y., Zhao F., Kiely G., Starr

G., Pavelka M., Montagnani L., Wohlfahrt G., D’Odorico P., Cook D., Arain M.A.,

Bonal D., Beringer J., Blanken P.D., Loubet B., Leclerc M.Y., Matteucci G., Nagy

Z., Olejnik J., Paw K.T., Varlagin A., 2016. Global parameterization and

validation of a two-leaf light use efficiency model for predicting gross primary

production across FLUXNET sites, Journal of Geophysical Research

Biogeosciences, 121: 1045–1072, doi:10.1002/2014JG002876.


22

Research Presentations

Wazneh H., Arain A., Coulibaly P., 2016. Historical spatial and temporal climate trends

in southern Ontario. Canadian Water Research Association (CWRA) meeting,

Montreal, Quebec, 25-17 May 2016.

Arain M.A., 2016. Climate change, extreme weather and management impacts on forest

plantations. Oral presentation in the University of Guelph, Guelph, on 18 March

2016.

Arain M.A., 2016. Climate Impacts on Carbon Dynamics of Managed Forest Ecosystems

in Southern Ontario. Oral presentation at the 4th Research and Conservation

Conference, The Long Point World Biosphere Foundation, 9 April, 2016.

Chan F., Arain M.A., Khomik M., McKenzie S., Brodeur J.J., Croft H., Thorne R., Peichl

M., Restrepo-Coupe N., 2016. Carbon, water, and energy dynamics of a pine

forest during the first decade since afforestation on former cropland. Oral

presentation at the Canadian Geophysical Union (CGU) Eastern Student chapter

meeting, Waterloo, Canada on February 6, 2016.

Daly K.M., Khomik M., Arain A., 2016. Soil CO2 efflux in a temperate deciduous forest

ecosystem. Oral presentation at the Canadian Geophysical Union (CGU) Eastern

Student chapter meeting, Waterloo, Canada on February 6, 2016.

Andersen J., Boyce J., Arain M.A., 2016. Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) reflectance of

decayed root matter under varying soil moisture conditions. Poster at the School

of Geography and Earth Sciences, McMaster University, Research Day on 11

April 2016.

McKenzie, S.M., Arain, M.A., Slater, G.F., Boyce, J., and Pisaric, M.F.J., 2016. Multiproxy

isotope dendroclimatology for mature white pine (Pinus strobus L.) in southern

Ontario, Canada. Oral presentation at the McMaster Water Week Student

Research Showcase, McMaster University, October 28th, 2016.

McKenzie S. and Arain M.A., 2016. Climate Impacts on Environment and Vegetation

Ecosystems. Oral presentation at the McMaster Life Sciences Society, McMaster

Interdisciplinary Research Exposition (MIREx) meeting on 3rd February, 2016

Wazneh H., Arain M.A., Coulibaly P., 2016. Analysis and applicability of future extreme

events in regional and local context. Oral presentation at the FloodNet annual

meeting held in Toronto on 19 September 2016.


23

Champagne, O., Arain, A., Coulibaly, P (2016) Assessing the uncertainties associated

with the modelling of extreme streamflow in southern Ontario. Poster

presentation at the McMaster Water Week Student Research Showcase,

McMaster University, October 28th, 2016

Champagne O., Arain M.A., Coulibaly P., 2016. Future evolution of hydrological

processes in Southern Ontario. Oral presentation at the FloodNet annual meeting

held in Toronto on 19 September 2016.

Champagne, O., Arain, A., Coulibaly, P (2016) Future evolution of hydrological

processes in Southern Ontario. School of Geography and earth science, Oral

presentation on Research Day 10 April 2016 in. Institutional conference.

Chan F., Arain M.A., Khomik M., McKenzie S., Brodeur J.J., Croft H., Thorne R., Peichl

M., Restrepo-Coupe N., 2016. Carbon, water, and energy dynamics of a pine

forest during the first decade since afforestation on former cropland. Poster at the

4th Research and Conservation Conference, The Long Point World Biosphere

Foundation, 9 April, 2016

Arain M.A., 2016. Past and future climate changes and their impacts on environment.

Oral presentation at the 4th McMaster Interdisciplinary Research Exposition held

at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario on 3 February, 2016.


24

Public Lectures & Academic Seminars

Big Ideas Better Cities - Low Carbon Climate Resilient

Cities Symposium, 2016

McMaster Centre for Climate Change (MCCC) organizing this full day

symposium at McMaster University, David Braley Health Sciences

Centre on 19 April, 2016 with the help from partners.

Keynote speaker was Honourable Glen Murray, Ontario Minister of

Environment and Climate Change, who was introduced by McMaster

president Dr. Patrick Deane.

The symposium was open to public, climate

professionals, business leaders, policy makers,

municipal planners, conservation authorities and

researchers with interests in climate science,

impacts and risk management. Speakers and

participants discussed the challenges cities are

facing due to climate change, and the opportunities available to advance climate

resilient solutions that can help mitigate and adapt to climate change, and make cities

more healthy and livable. Full symposium agenda is given below.


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AGENDA:

Low Carbon, Climate Resilient Cities Symposium Tuesday, April 19th, 2016

McMaster University, David Braley Health Sciences Centre

100 Main Street West, 2rd Floor, Hamilton, ON, L8P 1H6

Time Description

8:00 am – 8:30 am Registration & Breakfast

8:30 am – 9: 00 am

Master of Ceremonies:

Dr. Altaf Arain (Professor & Director, McMaster Center for

Climate Change)

Welcome and Opening Remarks:

Patrick Deane (President, McMaster University)

Fred Eisenberger (Mayor, City of Hamilton)

Rick Goldring (Mayor, City of Burlington)

9:00 am – 10:45 pm

Session 1 – Challenges: Climate related issues faced by the cities

Moderator: Altaf Arain (Professor & Director, McMaster Center for

Climate Change)

Speakers:

Glen Hodgson (Vice-President & Chief Economist, The

Conference Board of Canada; Commissioner Ecofiscal)

Title: The policy framework for a low carbon future

Blair Feltmate (Professor & Head, Intact Centre on Climate

Adaptation, University of Waterloo)

Title: Extreme Weather Events: Not adapting is NOT an option

Chris Murray (Manager, City of Hamilton)

Title: Hamilton: Changing with the climate

James Ridge (Manager, City of Burlington)

Title: A tale of three cities: Climate change impacts in North

Vancouver, Vancouver and Burlington

Peter Berry (Senior Scientist, Health Canada, Ottawa)

Title: Protecting Canadians from the health impacts of climate

change: assessment, engagement and adaptation 10:45 am–11:00 am Coffee Break (outside in hallway)


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11:00 pm – 12:30 pm

Session 2 - Solutions: Cutting-edge actions to tackle climate

challenges

Moderators: Brian Montgomery (City of Hamilton) & Atif Kubursi

(Professor Emeritus, McMaster University)

Speakers:

Karen Farbridge (Former Mayor, City of Guelph)

Title: Better living with less carbon

Pavlos Kanaroglou (Moataz Mahmoud), (Director,

McMaster Institute of Transportation & Logistics)

Title: The Social Costs and Benefits of Electric Mobility in Canada

Atif Kubursi (Professor Emeritus, McMaster University)

Title: Economic Impact of the Community Climate Change Action

Plan - City of Hamilton

James Cotton (Professor & Associate Director, McMaster

Institute for Energy Studies, McMaster University)

Title: Integrated community energy and harvesting systems a path

to low carbon resilient cities

12:30 pm – 1:30 pm Lunch and STUDENT POSTER SESSION (in hallway)

1:30 pm – 2:30 pm

Keynote Speaker:

The Honourable Glen Murray, M.P.P

Ontario Minister of the Environment and Climate Change

Minister Murray’s talk will focus on some of the climate-related

initiatives currently underway in the province

Introduction by Robert Baker (Dean Faculty of Science,

McMaster University)

2:30 pm – 2:45 pm Coffee Break (outside in hallway)


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2:45 pm – 4:15 pm

Session 3- Implementation: Overcoming barriers to implement low

carbon solutions

Moderator: Sandi Stride (Sustainable Hamilton-Burlington)

Speakers:

Daniel Hoornweg (Professor, University of Ontario Institute

of Technology & Fellow, Global Cities Institute)

Title: Overcoming barriers - why cities, starting with those in

Ontario, need to lead on climate change

Andrew Sparkes (Sales Director - Water & Process

Technologies, General Electric Canada)

Title: Recent technological advances transforming wastewater

treatment plants from energy consumers to energy producers

Bruce Newbold (Professor & Director, School of Geography

& Earth Sciences, McMaster University)

Title: Preparing for climate change: Are solutions one size fits all?

Cindy Toth (Director, Environmental Policy, Town of

Oakville)

Title: Oakville’s keep calm and adapt approach to a changing

climate

4:15 pm – 4:30 pm

Closing Remarks

Susan Giroux (Associate Vice-President, Faculty, McMaster

University)

4:30 pm – 6:00 pm Networking Reception

EVENT WEBSITE: http://bigideasbettercities.mcmaster.ca/event-five.html

Event Partners:

http://bigideasbettercities.mcmaster.ca/event-five.html


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Academic – Public Lecture

June 17th, 2016 at 3:30 pm at the McMaster University

Speaker: Dr. Martin Manning

Dr. Manning was awarded an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science by the McMaster

University during the June 2016 convocation. Dr. Manning did his PhD in Theoretical

Physics at McMaster University in 1967. He is a world renowned expert in atmospheric

chemistry, carbon cycle, radiocarbon dating, climate change and the treatment of

uncertainties in Science. Dr. Manning has been involved in the Intergovernmental Panel

on Climate Change (IPCC) and contributed to several IPCC reports, including the

Fourth Assessment Report, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

The Centre organized Dr. Manning’s talk in collaboration with the School of Geography

and Earth Sciences. This was open to McMaster community and the public.

ABSTRACT:

Much of science is based on continually testing our understanding with controlled

experiments. However, changes now occurring in many aspects of our planet are not

controlled, and the rates of change are more rapid than they were when scientific

methods became developed. An obvious example is that the main greenhouse gas, CO2,

is now at a level that last occurred much more slowly and for different reasons two to

three million years ago. But some chemistry taking place in our atmosphere has never

occurred before and the Antarctic ozone hole was completely unexpected, despite three

Nobel Prize winners identifying its precursors. Climate science has had to go beyond

monitoring a once-only global experiment and to also consider some projections into

the future that should never be tested. While the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate

Change has improved its approaches for dealing with scientific uncertainties, there is

still a need to develop them further and to address more complex systems.

Furthermore, we should now expect that uncertainties will increase, rather than

decrease in the way that we would like.


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Fall Public Lecture

October 26th, 2016 at 7:00 pm at McMaster Innovation Park.

Collaborators - McMaster Water Network, Ontario Climate Consortium

and UN University - Institute for Water Environment and Health.

Keynote Speaker: Dr. Paulin Coulibaly

ABSTRACT:

In Canada, floods are recognized as the most common, largely distributed natural hazard

to life, property, economy, community water systems, and the environment. Only over

the last 3 years, the overall losses due to floods exceeded 8 billion US$. What do we know

about the state of floods in Southern Ontario and across Canada? What has/is been done

to enhance Canadians’ capacity to better deal with the reality of floods? An overview of

the diversity and variability of floods will be discussed. Followed by the challenges of

flood forecasting and management in Canada. Finally, progress made under a nation-

wide strategic research network “FloodNet” designed to improve the knowledge of flood

processes and their impacts, and to enhance flood forecasting and management capacity

in Canada, will be presented.


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Collabrative Seminars and Events:

Water and Climate Dialogue series November 2016


34

Thematic Program on Multiscale Scientific Computing

During the Workshop on “Multiscale Modeling and its Applications: From Weather

and Climate Models to Models of Materials Defects". Howard Baker of Environment

Canada gave a special public lecture on numerical climate and weather prediction


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Community Outreach

High School Outreach

The Centre continued high school outreach activities where McMaster graduate and

undergraduate students showcase their work and engage with grade 11-12 students in

about 5-8 local high schools. In 2016, we visited Bishop Tonnos high school and gave a

lesson on flooding and risks for the future. We also showcased other climate and water

related research work being done at McMaster.

High School Weather Station Network:

With the help of a McMaster’s FWI grant, the Centre is establishing a high school

weather station network in the Hamilton-Burlington region, which will provide

opportunities for hands-on experience to high school students. Four weather stations

has been installed at Brebeuf, Bishop Tonnos, Sir John A Macdonald and Westmount

high schools. This Weather Network will have great potential to facilitate a number of

hands-on activities for the local high school students and will contribute to

understanding of local weather conditions, environmental processes and climate change

impacts.


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Learn CC Initiative

As a part of our past Forward with Integrity (FWI) initiative and in collaboration with

the City of Hamilton, the Centre started the Local Education and Action Resource

Network on Climate Change (LEARN-

CC, http://www.mapclimatechange.ca).

Learn CC was launched in 2013. It

provides a forum or tool that allows

citizens to report actions they are

taking to help mitigate and adapt to

climate change and also report local

climate change impacts that they

noticed.

McMaster’s Water Week

McMaster Water Week organized by the McMaster Water Network was a weeklong

series of events for students, the community and faculty to promote water research,

teaching and engagement organized by McMaster Water Network. The Centre was a

co-sponsor of this activity. Several graduate students associate with the Centre

participated in the poster showcase on 28 October 2016. Shawn McKenzie won 2nd prize

in the student Research poster showcase award.

http://www.mapclimatechange.ca/


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iClimate - Video Competition

Distinguishing oneself in academia is becoming more and more difficult. Yet

opportunities for creativity and innovation have arisen with technology and social

media, allowing accessible and exciting channels of communication and networking.

The iClimate Video Competition is a competition for students at McMaster to showcase

their climate and environmental research in a unique and memorable way. It is

designed to bridge the communication gap between various fields, departments and

also the public.

This year four groups of students, originating from a broad range of backgrounds

including biology, environmental science and psychology, created short 3-5 minute

videos explaining their research using GoPro’s provided in part through funding from

the McMaster Centre for Climate Change. Participants took part in communication

workshops, social events and a final premiere gala where the winning videos (chosen

by a panel of faculty judges) were screened. (http://www.iclimatemac.ca/)

http://www.iclimatemac.ca/


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MAC green/ GEC Engineering Conference

A booth was set for the Climate Centre at the MacGreen-GEC Engineering Conference

on Saturday March 12, 2016. The conference was for engineering students with a focus

on green energy and climate change. Brochures and posters were also distributed.

Mapping the Global Dimensions of Policy - Student

Conference

The Centre collaborated and co-sponsored a graduate students conference , the

Internationalization of Public Policy, entitled “Mapping the Global Dimensions of

Policy 5”, hosted by the McMaster Department of Political Science and the Institute for

Globalization and the Human Condition on 8-9, February 2016 at the McMaster

University.


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iSci Class Field Trip to Turkey Point Flux Station

iSci Class visited Turkey Point Flux Station on 22 October, 2016. 37 students attended

this field trip. A number of graduate students that work at this research site briefed

them about their research and showed their field work. Later, the iSci students also

helped the graduate students in their biometric data measurements. Dr. Jason Brodeur,

who taught this course was leading this field trip.


40

MCCC members in the News

McMaster Daily News 8 Sept 2016 reported the announcement of the Global Water

Future project entitled “McMaster experts join major Canadian initiative on the

future of the world’s water”. Dr. Sean Carey is the leading faculty member from

McMaster in this innovative project. Several Climate Centre associated members are

involved in the Global Water Future project.


41

McMaster Daily News 20 April 2016 reported the Low Carbon, Climate Resilient

Cities Symposium in titled “Glen Murray: A serious conversation needed on climate

change”.


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MCCC Plans for the next year

The Centre has planned its activities for the next five years through a Strategic Plan

developed in 2014. The Centre will continue to support and facilitate major research

grant applications and contracts with industry for its members. The Centre also plans to

advance the skills and capabilities of our undergraduate and graduate students by

engaging them in a variety of academic and community outreach of activities. Here are

some ways in which we will materialize our plans over 2017:

1. Public Lectures:

We plan to continue to organize our public lectures (in winter and fall) on topics

related to environment, water and climate change. Apart from scientific aspects, we

also focus on community social, economic and health related issues. Water plays a

major role in these aspects. Most impacts of climate change are conveyed through

water cycle, whether it is drought, flooding, ice storm, hurricane, water quality

related issues or tropical diseases such as malaria. We will continue to focus on both

climate and water related aspects. In addition to public lectures, we also plan to

organize one or two academic lectures in 2017.

2. Weather Network:

The Centre has set up a weather network across local high schools. In 2017, we plan

to visit all fours high schools to collect data, provide technical support to the

teachers, and present academic research to the students. We are establishing a

package of documents and learning exercises to help both the students and teachers

to maintain the stations, archiving the data to an interactive web site linking to

McMaster, and interpreting the data with handful tools. This data will be available

to students for class room exercises, assignments and projects. It will also be

available to the public through McMaster web sites. Two part-time undergraduate

students will be recruited to assist in this work in 2017.

3. Undergraduate Internships:

We plan to continue to engage and provide valuable internship experiences to

undergraduate students, as part of our high school and public outreach program.

We plan to hire two or three interns during the 2017 academic year to help us with

the Centre’s activities.


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4. Student Chapter:

The Centre will support and promote the Student Chapter to engage graduate and

undergraduate students of McMaster University with academic and social activities

about climate change, form contact with graduate students and provide

opportunities for field trips, high school visits and internships. Students will gather

for lunch meetings to discuss about activities and outreaches, update progress and

share information and understanding about climate change. They will also use social

media.

5. Global Water Futures and Tri-Council Funding:

The Centre and its members have been and will fully engage in pursuing funding

from recently funded Global Water Futures Initiative through multidisciplinary

collaborative research grant proposals. The Climate Centre will closely work with

Water Network and other McMaster organizations.

6. Seed Grant Program:

In 2017, The Centre will offer two seed grants ($7000 each for two years) focusing on

environment, water and climate related projects. These seed grants will provide

opportunities to foster new research projects by the associated faculty members

through student engagement.

7. Student Travel Grants:

In 2017, The Centre will offer three travel grants ($1000 each) to graduate students to

participate in major national and international scientific conferences and present

their, environment, water and climate related research work.

8. External Collaborations:

Climate Centre will continue collaborations with Ontario Climate Consortium

(OCC) and the City of Hamilton for the implementation of the Community Climate

Change Action Plan. The Centre will engage and help the City and interested

communities to implement this community climate action plan by providing expert

scientific advice and forum for discussions. Climate Centre will make efforts to

expand external collaborations.

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