Dr. William L. Quinton

Associate Professor

Contact Information

Email: wquinton@wlu.ca
Phone: ext.3281

Office Location: 3C10A

Academic Background

BA, Hon., University of Western Ontario, 1988.
MSc, York University, 1991.
PhD, University of Saskatchewan, 1997.

Biography

I received my Ph.D. from the University of Saskatchewan in 1997. I then served as an NSERC Post Doctoral Fellow, and later as a Research Scientist at the National Water Research Institute. In 2000 I accepted a faculty position at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia. In August 2005, I joined the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies at Wilfrid Laurier University, as a Canada Research Chair, Tier 2. This position was renewed in June, 2010.

My research is focused on the hydrology of cold regions: the high latitude and altitude regions where the presence of snow and ice above and below the ground are of profound importance with regard to the cycling and storage of water and energy. Substantial knowledge gaps in cold regions hydrological processes severely limit our ability to accurately predict variations in flows and storages needed to properly manage Canada’s fresh water resource. This is a serious deficiency given that Canada is the steward of approximately 20% of the world’s freshwater. Annual revenue from hydroelectric power alone is $15 billion, which is about 1/3 of the net economic contribution to Canada. This resource is at best, sparsely measured throughout northern Canada.

An immediate gain from this research is the development of new methods to quantify the fresh water resources in Canada's cold regions. This research continues to lead to the development of new process algorithms that form the basis of numerical models explicitly designed for application in polar regions. These models substantially improve the accuracy of hydrological prediction, which helps in flood planning, sound mine, road and oil pipeline design, water resource allocation, hydroelectric power station operation, and assurance of reliable sources of drinking water. As well the models have an interface to operational weather prediction, climate and ecosystems models so their future applications can directly contribute to estimating impacts of a warming climate and human disturbance on water availability and quality in Canada's north.

Dr. William L. (Bill) Quinton is an Associate Professor at Wilfrid Laurier University in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies and a faculty member in the Cold Regions Research Centre.

Additional Information

CRRC Undergraduate Summer Employment Opportunity as a Research Assistant in the Northwest Territories

CRRC Graduate Summer Employment Opportunity as a Research Assistant in the Northwest Territories