Research Grants

2006 RCGS Studentship in Northern Geography - Suzanne Jarvis

Testing the water
Many of the small lakes that dot Alberta's Peace-Athabasca Delta, one of the largest freshwater deltas in the world, were created by spring ice-jam floods along the Peace River. But climate change and the regulated flow of water through a hydro dam at the river's headwater have decreased the number of jams, drying up some of the delta's marshy areas.

In March 2005, Suzanne Jarvis collected sediment cores from the area's frozen lakes. Analysis of the muddy samples will allow the master's student in environmental studies at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ont., and recipient of The Royal Canadian Geographical Society Studentship in Northern Geography, to reconstruct the flood frequency of the Peace River in response to climate changes over the past millennium.

Jarvis's research will expand knowledge of the Peace River's hydrology and, she hopes, produce information that can be used to improve the management of this important wetland, which forms part of Wood Buffalo National Park.

— Maria-Lucia Castillo

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“I grew up hearing all about the Sydney steel mill, the tar ponds and the controversy over the cleanup. The more I read and learned, the more my curiosity was piqued. It seemed a natural area for me to take my studies.”

— Hannah MacDonald,
Mount Allison University

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