Water & Climate Impacts Research Centre

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Deploying nutrient experiments and benthic macroinvertebrate artificial substances in Ells River, Northern Alberta

Discover our current areas of research

We're focusing on hydrology, hydro-climatology, hydrologic-hydraulic modelling, sediment processes and ecological flow needs sub-components of the Water Quantity/Hydrology/Sediment program.

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Lake ice survey in Lake Hazen, Nunavut

Learn about opportunities with W-CIRC

Get involved with W-CIRC research through a variety of employment, internship, graduate student, post-doctoral student and visiting scientist opportunities.

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Athabasca Basin reconnaissance in Northern Alberta

Meet our people

University of Victoria researchers and students collaborate with Environment Canada (EC) scientists to deliver EC's research mandate.

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Permafrost slump in Upland Tundra, Inuvik, Northwest Territories

View photos from the field

Our image gallery showcases some of the research taking place in our centre.

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We are W-CIRC

Our centre was established in 2002 at the University of Victoria (UVic) as part of a co-location agreement between UVic and the National Water Research Institute (NWRI) of Environment Canada (EC).

The main goal was to enhance collaboration with university researchers and other EC scientists at UVic to enhance delivery on the scientific mandate of EC's Aquatic Ecosystem Impacts Research Division.

Our research

A primary focus of W-CIRC's current research is participation in the hydrology, hydro-climatology, hydrologic-hydraulic modelling, sediment processes and ecological flow needs sub-components of the Water Quantity/Hydrology/Sediment program that forms part of EC's "world-class" Oil Sands monitoring program. Additional areas of scientific foci are on the hydrologic and ecological impacts of atmospheric change and variability, particularly in the Canadian Arctic. 

Additional affiliations

Also affiliated with the centre are Environment Canada scientists and research technicians located at the National Hydrology Research Centre (NHRC) in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and the Canadian Centre for Inland Waters (CCIW) in Burlington, Ontario. Through the co-location model, W-CIRC has established, grown and built a renowned network of academic scientists over the previous ten years who are now working in collaboration to fulfill W-CIRC's program delivery as it relates to EC's mandate.