Howard Wheater, University of Saskatchewan Thursday May 23, 2013 While Canada is widely perceived as water-rich, forces such as climate change, pollution and competing water needs are creating unprecedented challenges to our water security. Governance issues pose major challenges since many water bodies cross provincial, state or national borders, with high-stakes consequences for upstream and […]

Debra Inglis, Brock University Thursday October 24, 2013 With an annual economic impact reaching almost $7 billion, Canada’s grape and wine industry has grown phenomenally to involve more than 31,000 Canadians in a wide range of jobs from agriculture, restaurants and retail, to tourism and beyond. Nevertheless, Canadian wines account for only 30 percent of […]

John Valliant, McMaster University Thursday February 27, 2014 The way we diagnose and treat diseases like cancer is changing. Where once we settled for comparatively simple X-ray images, today medical isotopes and molecular imaging probes give us far more comprehensive views of the human body’s inner workings. These new technologies enable us to detect cancer […]

Christiane Hudon, Environment Canada Thursday March 27, 2014 Reservoir to a fifth of the world’s surface freshwater and support system to some 59 million people, the Great Lakes - Saint Lawrence River Basin is central to Canada’s identity. But these are troubled waters. Average temperatures are rising, water levels falling. The public feels the pain […]

Jeff Casello, University of Waterloo Zachary Patterson, Concordia University Thursday May 1, 2014 From large suburban developments to gentrification of downtown cores, growing urban centres create new challenges for how people get around within cities. And the challenges aren’t only about moving people – they include issues around funding infrastructure projects, land-use designations, engineering considerations, […]

Denis Lavoie, Natural Resources Canada Tuesday February 3, 2015 The search for oil and gas is taking us to new settings on the Canadian landscape, testing the limits of our technology and geological knowledge. Among the more publicly discussed of these innovative ventures has been the exploration in shale, where large quantities of natural gas […]

Ronald Stewart, University of Manitoba Daniel Scott, University of Waterloo Thursday March 26, 2015 In Canada and around the world, extreme weather phenomena are becoming more frequent and more damaging. As the costs to people, protected areas, and infrastructure rise, governments are increasingly being called upon to mount coordinated responses to droughts, wildfires, storms and […]

Gerry Wright, McMaster University Thursday April 23, 2015 As near daily headlines warn us, the rise of drug resistant microbes, or “superbugs”, – is impacting public health. We need antibiotics not only to treat infections, but to control them. Antibiotics are likewise the basis of modern-day medical miracles, from organ transplants and joint replacement, to […]