By Cheryl Jahn

Rio Tinto supports UNBC research

Jan 15, 2025 | 3:32 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – The University of Northern British Columbia and Rio Tinto have expanded a partnership to advance vital research into the impacts of climate change on water security and freshwater fishes in the Nechako Watershed.

The $1.75 million in research funding from Rio Tinto will support two Research Chairs at UNBC for the next five years, generating regional knowledge critical to the long-term sustainability of the watershed while informing global water management and climate resilience efforts.

Environmental Science Professor Dr. Stephen Déry has been named Rio Tinto Research Chair in Climate Change and Water Security. The position is a renewal of an initial Industrial Research Chair (IRC) appointment jointly supported by Rio Tinto and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada in 2019.

The next phase of Déry’s research will include expanding the hydrometeorological monitoring and numerical modeling efforts developed through the IRC, as well as the development of forecasting systems to predict river water temperatures along the main stem Nechako River.

Ecosystem Science and Management Associate Professor Dr. Eduardo Martins has been appointed Rio Tinto Research Chair in Climate Change and Freshwater Fish Ecology. His research will address knowledge gaps in how water temperature variability caused by both natural processes and river regulation influence fish behaviour and survival.

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