Canadian Water Summit: Recap

By: Una Isherwood

My name is Una Isherwood, I’m 20 years old, and I recently graduated with my degree in Fish and Wildlife Conservation Technology from Sault College.

When I was a kid, I was always endlessly fascinated by the underwater world and what creatures lived there. As I grew older, that passion never changed, and I’ve found myself more and more interested in the water sector. Considering my interest and love of the natural world, it is my goal to build a career where I can contribute to research and conservation efforts of various aquatic environments. 

I became a Blue Futures Pathways intern a handful of months ago, and during that time I would hear about various workshops and events that I could attend to broaden my scope and learn more about the field. Eventually, I heard about the Downstream event, which was slated to happen on the final day of the 2022 Canadian Water Summit in Niagara Falls.

Downstream sounded amazing; it was an opportunity for students and early career professionals like myself to meet a variety of people in the field and understand what our futures could look like. Naturally, I signed on.

When I got off of the bus that took me to Niagara Falls and into the event area at the Fallsview Casino and Resort, I was immediately impressed. On the one hand, there were representatives from groups I was familiar with – such as Ducks Unlimited Canada, ECO Canada, and GFL Environmental, as well as schools like the University of Toronto and Toronto Metropolitan University. On the other hand, the event was full of groups that were newer to me that I was able to learn from and talk to, such as the Canadian Brownfields Network, AGAT Laboratories, and Geosyntec Consultants. 

I felt a bit like a kid in a candy store, and tried to attend all the events and talks I possibly could. The Downstream Event was exactly what I was hoping it would be, giving us the opportunity to discuss how they achieved success in their fields and what they thought of the industry future. 

The talks were fascinating as well. Some of my favorites included a talk by Oskar Pula from TRIUM Environmental, called “Mycoremediation – Mushrooms for More than just Food”, another called “(The) Implications and Challenges Experienced at a Brownfield Development Project” with Paul Cheung and Peter Sutton from Terrapex, and a wonderful discussion panel called Driving Diversity, which discussed how to cultivate and encourage diversity in the field.  

I loved the mycoremediation talk because fungi and the way that mycelium behaves has been a huge point of interest for me for years, and the talk on the brownfields project really hit close to home, as the development occurred relatively nearby to  me, and I was able to recognize the area they did the project in.

I’m glad that I brought a notebook to each talk, because I was jotting down notes for each of them! Not only did I learn a lot, but I was able to learn about incredible projects that were happening seemingly right next door to my tiny Toronto apartment.

During the course of the summit, I was also lucky enough to have met tons of really interesting people as well, such as Robert Swan, an Arctic explorer and the founder of 2041, as well as researchers whose work I have followed for years! It was so great to be able to ask every question I’ve had about their papers and be able to geek out about arctic and marine ecology with some of the best minds in the field. 

Overall, I would say that the most exciting part of it all was meeting people who were also incredibly passionate about water and the environment, to ask people who had the jobs I dreamed of and ask them all the questions I could think of. I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity and I would absolutely encourage anyone able to get a similar opportunity to grab it with both hands, you definitely won’t regret it!

Watch Una speak about her journey in the water sector, and why bringing sustainability and conservation efforts to the industry is so essential, in this video.

This is a guest blog post by Blue Futures Pathways intern Una Isherwood. Blue Futures Pathways, a program led by the SOI Foundation, connects young people across Canada to opportunities and resources within the Sustainable Blue Economy. Learn more at http://bluefuturespathways.org