Significant Research Dollars For UNBC
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PRINCE GEORGE- -A researcher at the University of Northern BC has received a significant donation in partnership with Vancouver Island University to do research to understand the role that seasonal snow cover glaciers play in the hydrology of key watersheds along BC’s coast.
The Hakai Institute provided $2.4 million for the research by Canadian Research Chair Dr. Brian Menounos and research hydrologist Dr. Bill Floyd.
The work will be done at the Hakai Cryosphere Node located at UNBC. Using a variety of methods, including geospatial mapping and satellite imagery, scientists will also determine rates of glacier loss that stretch along the B.C. coastline from the U.S. border to Bella Coola and how those rates have changed over the last 100 and 1,000 years.
“Our research on B.C.’s coastal glaciers will help inform government and local communities about past and future rates of ice loss,” explains Dr. Menounos. “Our work with Hakai will explicitly focus on glacier change in some of the most heavily glacierized river basins including the Bella Coola, Klinaklini, Homathko and Squamish. All of these basins are dependent on snow and glaciers and contribute a significant proportion of fresh water to the marine environment.”
