Author Archives: cailinhillier

I was fortunate enough to take some time after my thesis was finished and had celebrated my 25th birthday to travel to the west coast for the first time in my life. My two week trip took me to San Francisco and Vancouver to visit friends and family. It was also a great opportunity toContinue reading “My Adventure West”

We are working on a water- and environment-themed art installation for the second annual Night\Shift, downtown Kitchener’s one-night-only festival of art, culture, community building, and nocturnal adventure. It is being organized by the Alternatives Journal and will be taking place on Saturday, November 1st throughout the downtown core of the city. You can read more about the festival here. Our exhibitContinue reading “Creatures of the Gyre! Night\Shift Festival Updates”

The research objective of my thesis was to evaluate the utility of a broad range of field site characterization techniques designed to assess the vulnerability of public supply wells to water quality impacts from surface contamination. Specific attention was paid to determining which data is most useful to collect to evaluate well vulnerability, to finding connections between differentContinue reading “Thesis Done! I now have my Master’s of Science in Hydrogeology”

Here is a mishmash of things worthy of posting, in a somewhat chronological order. On my birthday, I was extremely lucky to get a cake of the Earth! Thank you so much Peter, for your superior baking stylings! I also took some photos of the ridiculous ice storm of 2013. These are actually from ChristmasContinue reading “General water-related life update!”

Over the Christmas break, I applied to be part of the Canadian Water Network Students and Young Professionals Committee (CWN SYPC). As part of the application, we had to make a 30 second video explaining why we would be a good candidate for the position. Having attempted this, I now know how quickly 30 secondsContinue reading “CWN Students and Young Professionals Committee”

I have become aware of and increasingly involved with Waterlution over the past 8 months. Waterlution, a Canadian organization that builds awareness and encourages cross-sector collaboration promoting more holistic, sustainable practices and polices around water. Back in September, I was extremely fortunate to attend the Waterlution Innovation Lab. This week-long excursion included a pre-lab workshop where we touredContinue reading “Waterlution!”

As part of another SWIGS Outreach initiative, we entered an exhibit in the inaugural nuit blanche style event, Night\Shift. This overnight festival of arts and culture was hosted by the Alternatives Journal and was a huge success! It was so amazing to be part of such a cool community initiative. Our exhibit was inspired byContinue reading “Night\Shift”

A lot has been going on with the Students of the Water Institute Graduate Section (SWIGS) Outreach Committee recently. And by recently, I mean over the last six months. But it certainly has been a whirlwind of activity! Our group put together a water education curriculum for the University of Waterloo’s Let’s Talk Science group!Continue reading “SWIGS Outreach”

So it has been many months since I have updated my blog. I blame… my thesis? Research work and water outreach have taken over my life lately, in the best way possible. A lot has been happening so in my next few posts I will attempt to catch my blog up to speed on my research,Continue reading “Pardon my absence…”

The Globe and Mail recently expressed interest in the Southern Ontario Water Consortium and the IMB ‘Smart’ data management platform being developed. As part of their story, they chose to interview our research team, which is part of the SOWC Watershed Node. An interviewer and a videographer met with our team in the lab andContinue reading “SOWC Media Spotlight”