A team of researchers from UNBC have received $1 million in funding for the next five years to continue studying issues around the Nechako River basin.

Funding has been provided by the Nechako Environmental Enhancement Fund (NEEF) grant.

Environmental Science Professor Dr. Stephen Déry, Forest Renewal BC Research Chairs in Landscape Ecology Dr. Phil Owens and Dr. Ellen Petticrew, and Canada Research Chair in Health, Ecosystems and Society Dr. Margot Parkes will be granted $499,950.

The remaining $499,950 will be matched by other sources.

“Better understanding of the functions of our ecosystems and watersheds is key to making informed decisions,” said Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development Minister Doug Donaldson.

“I’m pleased that NEEF is able to support this ongoing research."

The UNBC professors will build on their existing research that examined the impacts of climate change and water security, sediment sources and dynamics and developed tools to help inform integrated understanding and decision-making in the watershed.

Dr. Déry and his students are studying climate change and water security.

Durng the first research phase, recent changes in air temperature, precipitation and runoff were compiled for the Nechako River basin and its main tributary sub-basins.

Drs. Owens and Petticrew studied sediment sources and dynamics,

During their first phase, they determined that the main sources of the fine sediment transported by the river and how these have changed over the last few decades in response to land use change.

Dr. Parkes and her group developed and refined a web-based spatially-referenced portal tool that brings together different forms of knowledge and provides a platform for watershed partners to share and exchange new and existing information about the Nechako River basin.

“I am pleased that our investment in the NEEF will in turn support UNBC to advance our understanding of the Nechako ecosystem, potential climate change impacts, and the greater social context of environment and community health,” said Gareth Manderson, Rio Tinto's General Manager BC Operations.