ENVIRONMENTAL FLUID MECHANICS RESEARCH GROUP AT UBC

Although Canada has more water than most nations, changes in both water supply and water quality, due to climate change and other human influences, greatly affect Canadian life. Most water quality issues require an understanding of physical processes such as density stratification, circulation and irreversible mixing.

The Environmental Fluid Mechanics group at UBC focuses on understanding the physical dynamics of natural and constructed water bodies, such as lakes, reservoirs, tailings ponds, and water-filled mine pits.  Research includes the investigation of instabilities and mixing in density stratified environmental flows.  Research is conducted using a variety of complementary approaches including field work, laboratory experiments and numerical modelling. The aim of our research is not only to understand the underlying physical processes at play, but to apply this understanding to challenging problems of practical importance.

Examples include:

• the dispersal of nutrients added to the surface of a small lake,
• the dispersal of tailings after a mine spill in a large lake,
• the isolation of contaminants at the bottom of a water-filled mine pit,
• the renewal of dissolved oxygen at the bottom of a very deep lake,
• the trapping of nutrients in an upstream reservoir,
• the re-supply of nutrients to the photic zone to support the aquatic food web in a hydroelectric reservoir,
• and the path of a contaminant such as Cryptosporidium to a drinking water supply intake.