Q&A with Dr. Scott Ketcheson, Canada Research Chair in Hydrological Sustainability

As a research chair, my job is to develop and lead a research program that is cutting-edge, externally funded, and internationally recognized. This will allow me to contribute to increasing AU’s profile as a comprehensive academic research university—of which Alberta only has four.

I am also keen to involve students in the research process. So basically, the expectation I have for myself is to build and grow an awesome research program, while communicating my progress and findings broadly. I want to promote AU research as much as possible.

I’m a hydrologist, so I study the movement of water. As an environmental scientist and field hydrologist, I study the movement of water between forests, wetlands, and streams. My research team and I are working towards ecosystem sustainability through understanding hydrological processes. My research involves a lot of fieldwork and time outdoors, which I love.

During the summer I spent a lot of time doing fieldwork. In years past, I’ve established research sites on Stony Mountain, which is about 40 kilometres south of Fort McMurray. These research sites are small headwater areas all less than 10 square kilometres  that produce water, which eventually flows into the Athabasca River.

We have worked with a technology development company—Riot Technology—to develop and deploy a new, innovative technology that allows us to remotely collect data from the sensors we installed in those difficult-to-access study sites. Now, I am able to collect information and hydrological data, such as soil moisture, water levels, and rainfall from many locations within the study sites from my home office, which is really neat.

Several of these research sites are very difficult to access, involving lots of hiking in challenging terrain. Many days we hiked between 10 to 12 kilometres, not as a stroll down a nice pathway, but as bushwhacking down cut lines and trudging across wetlands. But, yes, I do love it!

My first position working on a field-based hydrology project was as a field assistant in the summer of 2004, and I have spent a considerable amount of time conducting research at many locations across Canada ever since. For example, I conducted research at field sites in the Saint Lawrence Lowlands in eastern Quebec, the James Bay Lowlands in northern Ontario, which is the world’s second-largest peatland complex, and at a research site within the middle of a “big game” park in South Africa.

However, my interests in these headwater systems in northern Alberta started as a bit of a side project when I began my PhD research on oilsands reclamation in 2011. Although my PhD fieldwork was completed on Suncor’s Millennium mine, I also was involved in research at regional, relatively undisturbed “reference sites.”

As a part of this, I began working in one catchment that became my favourite research site that I have ever worked in (on Stony Mountain), and it provided the inspiration for my entire research chair program.

I’ve always had a passion for the outdoors and the environment and was drawn to the sciences. During the first year of core science courses in my undergraduate degree, I took a few environmental science electives and it was clear to me that this was the topic I wanted to focus on. Since that time, as I progressed more and more into research, I found the discovery associated with research to be really exciting and interesting for me.

Hydrology and the movement of water between forests, wetlands, and streams is so important because downstream ecosystems and streams or rivers are particularly affected by water movements upstream of them. Understanding the movement of water in upstream, or headwater areas, can allow us to evaluate the sensitivity of ecosystems and streams to natural and human disturbances, such as wildfire, flooding, and resource extraction.

There is a water paradox in northern Alberta. This region has a sub-humid climate, which means there is very little water available. Most of the rainfall happens in the middle of the summer, which is also when trees and vegetation are using a lot of water. This leaves little water free to contribute to streamflow.

However, large river systems, such as the Athabasca River, still show an increase in the amount of water flowing within them as they flow through this apparently dry region. We still don’t really understand how this can happen. I believe that small upland areas, such as the Stony Mountains, are important contributors of water to regional river systems, and can help to explain this apparent water paradox. This is why I am conducting my research in this area.

It really depends on the season. In the summer, I do a lot of field work, which involves lots of hiking and installation of sensors, troubleshooting, and measurement of water levels and stream flows. Northern Alberta has really long daylight hours in the summer months, which is great as it allows me to work into the evenings and put in long days, which I like.

During the fall and winter, I spend more time applying for grants, working up the data collected in the previous field season, and writing publications on the findings. Springtime means preparation for the approaching field season again.