River behaviour has an impact

Jon Tunnicliffe first became interested in earth sciences while growing up in the industry town of Timmins, Ont. where he began working as a land surveyor. This job spurred his interest in geography and environmental impact which lead him to a PhD in geography and a position as an instructor in the department of geography and environmental studies at Carleton University.

Tunnicliffe is busy teaching five courses which range from first year introductory classes to more advanced final year courses, but he is still passionate about his research which involves studying river behaviour in the context of environment impact assessment and water resource issues.

The instructor spent two years as a post-doctoral researcher at the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Science in Christchurch, New Zealand, looking into the long-term response of rivers to impoundment or diversion for hydro power installations. Tunnicliffe says this experience allowed him to explore the applied side of this discipline.

His interactions with aquatic and terrestrial botanists, ecologists, biologists and fisheries scientists showed him that the installation of hydro dams creates a wide range of potentially negative impacts. “This is a multi-disciplinary problem,” says Tunnicliffe. “This affects all kinds of habitats – birds, fish, etc. It changes the whole ecosystem.”

Between his Masters’ degree and PhD, he spent a year working as a groundwater specialist for the United Nations in West Africa. During this time Tunnicliffe helped fight the central problem of Guinea Worm and other water-borne diseases that plague the population.

He helped manage/direct UNICEF’s project resource to drill new wells and worked on a public education outreach project that taught people how to obtain safe drinking water. Tunnicliffe says he was pleased they were able to introduce Geographic Information Systems technology to colleagues in Africa which helped them strategically site water wells, given the many community demands and the operating constraints of the UN and government partners.