ASPIRE -Aquatic Systems Professional and Industrial training for the Restoration Economy

Funded by NSERC-CREATE, the ASPIRE program is a training program in which Masters and PhD students at Dalhousie University are encouraged to develop professional skills while contributing to the development of:

1. Treatment technologies for contaminated aquatic environmental media

2. Methods for the restoration of watershed interactions and hydrologic functioning of altered aquatic system

3. Assessment and monitoring tools for... 

NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Water Quality and Treatment

The NSERC Industrial Research Chair was awarded in 2007 as a result of a partnership between Dalhousie University and Halifax Water.  Since its inception the Chair program has provided numerous research opportunities for highly qualified personnel at the undergraduate, MASc and PhD level. 

In 2012 three new partners joined the Chair program:.LuminUltra Technologies Ltd., CBCL Ltd., and the Cape Breton Regional Municipality (CBRM). 

The Chair provides students with... 

Drinking Water Safety Plans - Exploring Options and Obstacles for Small Systems in Canada

Development And Testing Of Watershed Simulation Models

Watershed simulation models are increasingly being relied on to help direct land-use planning and watershed management activities.  A variety of computer models have been developed to simulate water, sediment, chemical, and microbial transport within both urban and rural watersheds.  However, models must first be calibrated, validated, and possibly refined, in order to be properly applied in a specific geographic setting.   Within this research, we are calibrating and testing the... 

Microbial Source Tracking In Rural And Urban Watersheds

Identifying and managing microbial water quality at the watershed scale is extremely challenging. There are usually multiple sources of fecal microorganisms, distributed over large geographic areas, and levels of indicator organisms and pathogens are highly variable and dependant on a number of hydrological, biophysical and anthropogenic factors.  Developing the ability to fully characterize human health risks, and identify sources of microbial loading, requires additional...