Watershed Health Committee

The Watershed Health Committee is an advisory body of Ottawa Riverkeeper. It is made up of volunteer experts from academia, environmental organizations, and government agencies with an interest in the health and future of the Ottawa River watershed.

About: 

The Watershed Health Committee is a valuable advisory body for Ottawa Riverkeeper’s scientific inquiries and initiatives. Through regular meetings and workshops, the Committee is examining the wide range of data sources, indicators, and monitoring protocols in use across the watershed.

The assistance of the Committee was invaluable in creating the 2019 report Assessing the Health of the Ottawa River Watershed: Phase One. Over several months, an immense amount of data was collected and analyzed. Led by Prof. Mary Trudeau, this unprecedented research produced a short list of indicators that should be monitored and highlighted significant gaps that must be filled before a robust assessment of watershed health can be conducted. This report introduced a list of detailed recommendations which led to the development of the Watershed Health Assessment and Monitoring initiative, a multi-year project that aims to provide a stronger understanding of the impacts and trends impacting the ecological health of the rivers in the watershed.

Composition:

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Anaëlle Varlet

Water Master Plan Coordinator at ABV des 7

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André Martel

Research Scientist, Zoology, at the Canadian Museum of Nature

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Catherine Paquette

Specialist, Freshwater ecosystems at WWF-Canada

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Colin Rennie

Professor at the University of Ottawa

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Geneviève Gallerand

Executive Director at OBV RPNS

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Jeff Ridal

Executive Director at the River Institute

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Jérôme Marty

Executive Director at the International Association of Great Lakes Research

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Mary Trudeau

Director at Envirings Inc.

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Nicholas Stow

Senior Planner at the City of Ottawa

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Peter Croal

Professional geologist and volunteer consultant

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Pierre-Étienne Drolet

Projects Coordinator, Water Master Plan Director at COBALI

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Tara Redpath

Planner at the City of Ottawa, Natural Systems and Rural Affairs

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Yves Grafteaux

General manager of the Temiscaming watershed organisation

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Anaëlle Varlet

Water Master Plan Coordinator at ABV des 7

A nature explorer, Anaëlle has always wanted to protect aquatic environments. Trained as a biologist, Anaëlle holds two Master's degrees in environmental sciences and geomatics. She has worked in water management both in France (French Alps, Mediterranean region, Paris Seine-Normandy) and Canada (Outaouais/Québec). Her European and Canadian experiences in water conservation always deliver a worldly perspective.

Versatile in geomatics, stakeholder mobilization and project management, she addresses water issues through innovative and mobilizing approaches. Her expertise is applied by various stakeholders on current issues, including the development of a Water Master Plan, the Regional Plan for Wetlands and the Ottawa River Alliance.

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André Martel

Research Scientist, Zoology, at the Canadian Museum of Nature

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Catherine Paquette

Specialist, Freshwater ecosystems at WWF-Canada

As a member of WWF-Canada’s freshwater team, Catherine evaluates the health of Canada’s watersheds and leads the organization's participation in STREAM, helping community-based water groups monitor their own waters. She holds an MSc in Physical Geography from the University of Ottawa, where she studied the impact of thawing permafrost on water.

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Colin Rennie

Professor at the University of Ottawa

Colin Rennie is a Professor of Civil Engineering at University of Ottawa. His expertise is in river engineering, with particular emphasis on channel morphodynamics, mixing processes, and fluvial habitat. He has published over a hundred journal articles, with papers in top journals including Nature. He is a Fellow of CSCE, an Associate Editor of the Journal of Hydraulic Engineering (ASCE), and serves on technical committees with CSCE, ASCE, and IAHR.

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Geneviève Gallerand

Executive Director at OBV RPNS

Geneviève has been the executive director of the RPNS VBO since 2014. In this capacity, she is responsible for overseeing the organization's project implementation operations and the planning, implementation and monitoring of the Water Master Plan.

Prior to joining OBV RPNS, Geneviève held the positions of project manager at the Comité du bassin versant de la rivière du Lièvre (COBALI) and at AGIR pour la Diable. Previously, she worked for various organizations as a researcher and scientific facilitator.

Geneviève holds a bachelor's degree in resource geology from the Université du Québec à Montréal and a D.E.S.S. in exploration and management of non-renewable resources from UQAM and the Université d'Orléans. Geneviève then turned to environmental sciences to complete her academic training. She completed a master's degree at UQAM in 2007.

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Jeff Ridal

Executive Director at the River Institute

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Jérôme Marty

Executive Director at the International Association of Great Lakes Research

Jérôme is the Executive Director of the International Association of Great Lakes Research (IAGLR). He has a background in limnology, with experience in science and policy.

Prior to joining IAGLR in 2022, he was a research scientist at the St. Lawrence River Institute, a regional director of environment at WSP Canada, a science advisor at Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) and most recently a project director at the Council of Canadian Academies (CCA). He is a Canadian member on the Science Advisory Board of the International Joint Commission. As a freshwater expert, he continues to advise governments on water related issues.

When not working, he can be found biking, paddling, or playing accordion.

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Mary Trudeau

Director at Envirings Inc.

Dr. Mary Trudeau is a professional engineer with thirty years of experience in community water infrastructure, water policy, watershed management, and climate adaptation issues. For 15 years she held municipal infrastructure management portfolios and she has since been a consultant providing water and sustainable community policy and program advice to municipal, provincial, territorial, national and international governments and non-government organizations. She has managed numerous projects, multi-disciplinary research teams, public advisory committees, multi-stakeholder technical advisory committees, and staff groups of up to 70 persons.

Mary holds Bachelor degrees in Civil Engineering (B.A.Sc.) and English Literature (B.A.), a Master of Science in Environment and Management (M.Sc.) and a Ph.D. in Physical Geography (awarded for research on urban hydrology and associations with aquatic biodiversity decline). In addition to being the owner of a consulting company, Envirings Inc., Mary is a part-time professor at the University of Ottawa.

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Nicholas Stow

Senior Planner at the City of Ottawa

Nick Stow (he/him) is an husband, father and grandfather. His hometown is Victoria, British Columbia, in the traditional territory of the Songhees people of the Coast Salish people. For the past 30 years, he has lived in Ottawa, Ontario in the traditional territory of the Algonquin Anishinabek people. He works as ecologist and environmental planner with the City of Ottawa, where he leads the Natural Heritage and Rural Affairs team. He has taught wetland ecology and forest ecology at the University of Ottawa. He has a PhD in Ecology from the University of Ottawa and is a certified Environmental Professional (EP) specializing in conservation. In his spare time, Nick photographs and writes about the natural environment of the Ottawa Valley (www.naturallyottawa.com).

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Peter Croal

Professional geologist and volunteer consultant

Peter Croal is a Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society and has a B.Sc., Geology Degree from Carleton University (1979). Since then Peter has been working in the field of environmental assessment and international development for over 35 years.

Peter focuses on the relationship between environmental management, resource extraction, and poverty reduction in developing countries and the Arctic. He is particularly interested in how climate change affects indigenous peoples, and how the knowledge of Indigenous peoples can be applied to developmental challenges. He also works on expedition cruise ships to Antarctica and the Canadian Arctic as a guide and lecturer. His work has taken him to over forty developing countries, including a two-year stint of living and working in Namibia with his family.

Peter started his career prospecting for uranium, zinc, silver, petroleum, peat, and groundwater in Canada. He sits on the boards of several not-for-profit development organizations. In 2015 Peter started a reconciliation project called the National Healing Forest Initiative.

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Pierre-Étienne Drolet

Projects Coordinator, Water Master Plan Director at COBALI

Pierre-Étienne joined the COBALI team in 2013 as the person in charge of the “Caravane de l'environnement”, a project offering conferences on environmental themes to all levels of elementary and high school, in addition to radio and newspaper columns. Since 2015, he has been responsible for the Water Master Plan and is overseeing its third edition (2018-2023), while also carrying out or participating in most of the organization's projects.

He holds a bachelor's degree in biology from Laval University and the University of Louvain in Belgium, as well as a master's degree in environmental management from the University of Sherbrooke. It was during a master's internship dedicated to the protection of a lake in the Beauce region that he developed his interest in aquatic environments and their management.

Passionate about the outdoors, travelling and discovering natural environments, Pierre-Étienne has a wide range of interests, particularly in history and the protection of both natural and cultural heritage, having completed a certificate in history during his studies. He particularly enjoys sharing his passion and knowledge of fauna, flora, and habitats.

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Tara Redpath

Planner at the City of Ottawa, Natural Systems and Rural Affairs

Tara’s current role with the City of Ottawa is related to environmental policy planning and grant programs. She was the policy lead responsible for development the Water Resources policies for the City’s new Official Plan, and she coordinates the Ottawa Rural Clean Water Program and the Community Environmental Projects Grant Program. Previously, Tara managed projects related to water quality and quantity monitoring and fish and benthic community assessments with the City’s Surface Water Management Services branch.

Tara holds a Bachelor of Environmental Science from Lakehead University and a Master of Science – Biology, specializing in fish ecology and conservation physiology, from Carleton University.

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Yves Grafteaux

General manager of the Temiscaming watershed organisation

Yves Grafteaux obtained a master's degree in biology from the Université libre de Bruxelles in 2008. He entered the world of Quebec’s OBVs in 2011 and has been employed by the OBVT since 2017, and has been leading it since 2020. He is also a director of the Regroupement des OBV du Québec, the ROBVQ, since 2021.

Passionate about aquatic ecosystems and territorial issues, he has over eleven years of regional experience in environment and consultation. Mr. Grafteaux is also, since 2020, a member of the esker governance committee and a director of the Société de l'Eau souterraine de l'Abitibi-Témiscamingue (SESAT).

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