TRAIL VALLEY CREEK
Arctic Research Station
Understanding and predicting environmental changes across the Western Canadian Arctic
Interested in working with us? Check out these great opportunities!
Research Assistants: Summer 2024
The Arctic Hydrology Research Group at Wilfrid Laurier University (AHRG, led by Professor Philip Marsh, www.trailvalleycreek.ca) is hiring research assistants for our ongoing field research on aspects of Arctic hydrology. These positions will carry out field work in the Inuvik, Northwest Territories(NWT) region. Specially field work will focus on the Laurier Trail Valley Creek (TVC) Research Watershed located in the Arctic tundra about 50 km north of Inuvik, and 70 km south of the BeaufortSea.
Hydrological Projects: Research assistants will collaborate with graduate students and Research Associates on collecting key data for a number of ongoing research projects at TVC, including:
1) Arctic-Snow: to better understand the ongoing changes to the Arctic snowcover and snowmelt runoff,we will be measuring snowmelt, changes in snow cover, and streamflow from TVC and tributaries during the May-June snowmelt runoff period.
2) Lakes: the hydrology of lakes in this region are impacted by thawing permafrost. We will measure climate, thawing permafrost, hydrology and beavers on lakes in the region.
3) Thawing permafrost: as the permafrost thaws it is potentially releasing historically radionuclides into the streams and lakes.
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This project will measure changes in permafrost. Research assistantship overview:
- Research assistants will spend 2 to 3 months in the Inuvik region, mostly at TVC
- Positions will cover the snowmelt period in May, and/or extend through August 2024
- Research assistants will be provided all appropriate training
- Travel to the field sites, accommodation and food while in the field will be covered
- Researcher assistants will work an average of 35 hours per week over the course of the summer, paid at $15.00 - $20.00/hour depending on experience
The TVC camp is well outfitted with all season accommodation, electricity, and satellite internet. Field work conditions are typically long and challenging, and timing is often weather dependent.
Essential qualifications and experience:
- Valid driver’s license
- Strong teamwork and communication skills
- Field work experience or outdoor experience preferred
Application: Please send your application including a cover letter, resume, and unofficial transcript to Branden Walker (Senior Research Associate) at bwalker@wlu.ca and Dr. Philip Marsh at pmarsh@wlu.ca. Applications will be evaluated on a rolling basis.
Graduate Student Research Opportunities
The Arctic is undergoing rapid and unprecedented climate change that is impacting streamflow with effects on ecosystems, communities, and infrastructure. These graduate opportunities will be focussed on developing improved understanding of these impacts on the Arctic through the integration of our existing long term data sets and permafrost-hydrology models in order to consider past and future changes in streams and lakes in the western Canadian Arctic. These positions will work with our collaborators at the Canadian Nuclear Laboratories to address the concern that legacy fallout radionuclides are being released from thawing permafrost and transported through freshwater streams.
These positions will focus on the western Canadian Arctic at our Trail Valley creek (TVC) (www.trailvalleycreek.ca) research station, but will have cross Arctic applications. Multi-decadal long hydrologic monitoring and research conducted at TVC makes it a unique natural laboratory for carrying out this project.
We invite applications to the following MSc or PhD positions:
1. Field studies of permafrost hydrology runoff processes,
2. Mathematical modelling of coupled permafrost-hydrology-lake models for increased predictive capabilities, and
3. Field, lab and modelling studies of legacy fallout radionuclides being released from thawing permafrost and transported through freshwater streams
Past experience in Arctic field work, physics-based mathematical models, and water chemistry is a benefit. Further information on the Geography Program at Laurier is available at:
https://students.wlu.ca/academics/graduate-and-postdoctoral-studies/index.html
Ideal candidates should have previous degrees in relevant disciplines (e.g., numerical methods, hydrology, geography, earth science, environmental science, engineering, physics, and/or atmospheric science), and should possess aptitude and enthusiasm for understanding the integrated impacts of climate change on Arctic systems. For the modelling positions, we especially encourage applicants with an interest in high-resolution hydrologic modelling, and proficiency in numerical methods, physics and with appropriate modelling tools. Experience in northern environments is an asset for all positions but is not required.
Graduate students at Laurier receive competitive funding packages that come from a combination of teaching assistantships, internal scholarships, and research assistantships. All students are strongly encouraged to apply for a variety of external scholarships. Students in Marsh’s research teams have been very successful in receiving such external awards over the past years. Canadian applicants are strongly encouraged to apply. Funding for Arctic field research is provided by external research grants.
Candidates are encouraged to apply as soon as possible by contacting Professor Marsh. Please submit a cover letter highlighting relevant experience and your interest in joining our research team, a list of courses taken and marks, and a curriculum vitae to pmarsh@wlu.ca and elizabeth.priebe@cnl.ca with the subject line “Arctic Hydrology Graduate Students”. Applicants will be reviewed in order they are received until successful candidates are found.
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Philip Marsh, Arctic Hydrology Research Group, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario, CA
Dr. Elizabeth Priebe, P.Geo, Hydrogeochemist, Canadian Nuclear Laboratories, Chalk River, Ontario, CA
​Integrating SWOT Altimetry and Physics Based Modelling to Monitor and Predict Changes to Arctic Lakes
Masters and Doctoral research opportunities in hydrological change in the Canadian Arctic,
Professors Philip Marsh and Roderick Melnik, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
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The Arctic has vast numbers of lakes that cover a large percentage of the total land surface. Although these lakes are hydrological and ecologically important and very sensitive to a warming climate, our understanding of the current state of these lakes or how they may change in the future is poorly known. Our funded project is aimed at improving the monitoring and prediction of Arctic lakes through the integration of Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) remote sensing and high-resolution lake hydrology modelling. https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/satellites/swot.asp
This project is focussed on the western Canadian Arctic but will have cross Arctic applications. Our trailvalleycreek.ca research station has long term hydrologic monitoring and research and as a result is a unique natural laboratory for carrying out this project.
We invite applications to the following MSc and PhD positions:
1. PhD. Mathematical modelling of coupled climate and hydrologic processes for increased predictive capabilities,
2. MSc. Field studies of lake hydrological processes and variability across the ITC, and
3. PhD. Physics based hydrologic modelling of lake dominated watersheds along the ITC.
Position 1 will be in the Interdisciplinary Mathematical and Statistical Modelling PhD program at Wilfrid Laurier University (Laurier) with focus on integrating physics-based mathematical models into a unique hydrologic model platform as required to consider the impacts of climate change, thawing permafrost, and vegetation change on the hydrology of the Canadian Arctic. Prior experience with CFD and high-performance computing would be considered an advantage for this position. Positions 2 and 3 will be in the Geography and Environmental Studies Department at Laurier. Through both the Modelling and Geography programs you will find a unique combination of students, research associates, post-doctoral fellows, and faculty exploring a wide range of research interests through a combination of field studies, modelling, and remote sensing. This combination will offer you a unique, challenging and stimulating research environment. Further information on both programs is available at:
https://www.wlu.ca/programs/science/graduate/mathematical-and-statistical-modelling-phd/index.html
https://uwaterloo.ca/waterloo-laurier-graduate-program-in-geography/
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Ideal candidates should have previous degrees in relevant disciplines (e.g., numerical methods, hydrology, geography, environmental science, engineering, physics, and/or atmospheric science), and should possess aptitude and enthusiasm for understanding the integrated impacts of climate change on Arctic lakes. For the modelling positions, we especially encourage applicants with an interest in high-resolution hydrologic modelling, and proficiency in numerical methods, physics and with appropriate modelling tools. Experience in northern environments is an asset for all positions but is not required.
Graduate students at Laurier receive competitive funding packages that come from a combination of teaching assistantships, internal scholarships, and research assistantships. All students are strongly encouraged to apply for a variety of external scholarships. Students in Melnik’s and Marsh’s research teams have been very successful in receiving such external awards over the past years. Canadian applicants are strongly encouraged to apply. Funding for Arctic field research is provided by external research grants.
Candidates are encouraged to apply as soon as possible by contacting both Drs. Marsh and Melnik. Please submit a cover letter highlighting relevant experience and your interest in joining our research team, a list of courses taken and marks, and a curriculum vitae to pmarsh at wlu.ca and rmelnik at wlu.ca with the subject line “Mathematical Lake Hydrology Graduate Students”. Applicants will be reviewed in order they are received until successful candidates are found.
Dr. Philip Marsh, Professor and Canada Research Chair in Cold Regions Water Science, Wilfrid Laurier University
Dr. Roderick Melnik, Professor and Canada Research Chair in Mathematical Modelling, Wilfrid Laurier University
We are always interested in bringing on new members to the team! Please contact us for more information about ongoing or future research opportunities at the undergraduate, Masters and Doctoral level