The David Schindler Professorship in Aquatic Science Lecture

Established in 2008, the David Schindler Endowed Professorship in Aquatic Science is the first-ever Endowed Professorship at Trent University. The endowment was given to the University to honour the work of Dr. David Schindler, a former Trent professor and one of the world's leading environmental scientists. 

The future of our waters: Warming winters, algal blooms and legacy nutrients 

  • calendar icon
    Thursday, February 06, 2025
  • time icon7:30 p.m.
  • location icon
    Market Hall - 140 Charlotte St, Peterborough, ON K9J 2T8

Lecture Recording

Lecture Abstract

Human activities have greatly accelerated nutrient cycles with excess nitrogen and phosphorus from agricultural intensification and urbanization leaching to surface and groundwaters. These elevated nutrient supplies cause many problems including eutrophication, and increasing incidences of algal blooms. While new policies have been developed to address excessive use of nutrients, poor water quality remains a persistent problem in our lakes and streams. Climate change aggravates the challenge, as warmer winters are increasing nutrient release from soils. The focus of my lecture will be on legacy nutrients, their environmental controls, and downstream effects. I will use large-scale data and new analytical approaches to identify drivers of this pollution and identify opportunities for solutions to our on-going water quality challenges.

About the Speaker

Dr. Nandita Basu is a professor of Global Water Sustainability and Ecohydrology, jointly appointed between the Departments of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Waterloo. She is an editor-in-chief of the Journal of Hydrology, director of the Collaborative Water Program at the University of Waterloo, elected Member of the Royal Society College of New Scholars, Artists, and Scientists, and an Earth Leadership Fellow. 

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 an environmental engineer, who uses data science, process modeling and remote sensing to explore how climate, land use, and management impacts surface and groundwater quality across agricultural, urban and forested landscapes, and from watershed to the regional and global scales. Her research leverages these insights to develop watershed management strategies that maximize environmental benefits without significant economic costs.

For more information contact Alumni Engagement & Service, at communityspeakerseries@trentu.ca