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Issue 69
October 13, 2006


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EnviroZine: Environmnent Canada's On-line Newsmagazine
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Canada excels at environmental science and technology

Preparing water samples for isotope analysis
Preparing water samples for isotope analysis – Click to enlarge

According to a recent report, environmental science and technology (S&T) has been identified as one of four clusters of prominent Canadian S&T strengths. The report – published by the Council of Canadian Academies, an independent expert body – evaluated Canadian S&T against international standards of excellence. The report found that environmental science and ecology is an area "in which Canada excels in terms of both publication quality and intensity."

These findings complement an earlier study by Science-Metrix, a company specializing in evaluating and measuring S&T activity, that showed Canada is third in the world for productivity in environmental research and second when it comes to the scientific impact of its research.

Published in June 2006, the Science-Metrix study also found that Environment Canada ranked as the top Canadian organization and seventh overall among the 50 most productive environmental research institutions in the world. This is good news, not only for Environment Canada but also for the rest of the Canadian environmental research community, the policy-makers and legislators who use the science, and, above all, the Canadian public who fund the science and benefit from it.

What was measured?

Research on contaminants in Arctic ecosystems requires a team effort by environmental chemists, wildlife biologists, and aquatic and atmospheric experts. Photo: © COREL Corporation, 1994.
Research on contaminants in Arctic ecosystems requires a team effort by environmental chemists, wildlife biologists, and aquatic and atmospheric experts. Photo: © COREL Corporation, 1994 – Click to enlarge

The study reviewed 580 500 papers published between 1980 and 2004 in 434 international, peer-reviewed journal publications in environmental research. It examined productivity (number of articles), areas of specialization and scientific impact, and patterns of national and international collaboration (how many scientists from different organizations worked together to produce and publish results).

What does it mean?

The scientific impact of Environment Canada's S&T publications was ranked as one of the highest among Canadian organizations and about 14 per cent higher than the world level – meaning that it has an impact on the work, and often on the scientific priorities and focus, of other environmental scientists.

Environment Canada climate research contributes to national and international science programs confronting a global environmental challenge
Environment Canada climate research contributes to national and international science programs confronting a global environmental challenge – Click to enlarge

Many of the environmental concerns of Canadians are global in scope, and this kind of influence in the science community helps marshal an international approach to fixing global environmental problems like climate change, acid rain and transport of persistent pollutants.

Environment Canada science was shown to be highly collaborative, with more than 80 per cent of papers produced in partnership with scientists outside the department.

According to the study, this level of collaboration makes Environment Canada "the central hub of the Canadian network in environmental science." This allows the department to play a leadership role in focusing the Canadian environmental scientific effort on national priorities, such as the safety of the water supply or the quality of air.

Fast Facts

Canada ranks third in the world for productivity in environmental research and second when it comes to the scientific impact of its research.

A recent study ranks Environment Canada as the top Canadian organization and seventh overall among the 50 most productive environmental research institutions in the world.

Over 70 per cent of Environment Canada's budget is devoted to science and technology, as well as two-thirds of its employees.

Related Sites

Council of Canadian Academies – The State of Science and Technology in Canada

Science-Metrix – 25 Years of Canadian Environmental Research
- Executive summary
  (PDF format)
- Full report (PDF format)

Environmental Technology Centre

Science & Technology at Environment Canada

Examples from Environment Canada Scientists:

The papers cited below are only four examples of numerous Environment Canada journal articles that have contributed new knowledge to environmental science and helped advance environmental conservation and protection.

Hobson, K.A., L.I. Wassenaar and O.R. Taylor. 1999. Stable isotopes (dD and d13C) are geographic indicators of natal origins of monarch butterflies in eastern North America. Oecologia 120(3): 397-404.

Drs. Keith Hobson and Len Wassenaar have developed a method of using isotope analysis to track migrant birds, mammals and insects over long distances. Their method is so effective that it is now used by biologists around the world. Consequently, there is now more information about the migration patterns of certain endangered species, which helps in taking actions to halt their decline.

Muir, D.C.G., B. Braune, B. DeMarch, R. Norstrom, R. Wagemann, L. Lockhart, B. Hargrave, D. Bright, R. Addison, J. Payne and K. Reimer. 1999. Spatial and temporal trends and effects of contaminants in the Canadian arctic marine ecosystem: a review. Sci. Total Environ. 230: 83-144.

Dr. Derek Muir leads research on contaminants in the North that has helped to raise national and international awareness of the need for global action on persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Canada became the first country to sign and ratify the United Nations POPs Convention in 2001 – more commonly known as the Stockholm Convention – to reduce or eliminate emissions of twelve toxic substances known as the "dirty dozen", a group that includes PCBs, DDT, dioxins and furans.

Chemosphere Volume 64, Issue 2, Pages 179-338 (June 2006). Brominated Flame Retardants (BFRs) in the Environment – Papers presented at the Third International Workshop on Brominated Flame Retardants held in Toronto, Canada, 6-9 June 2004 Edited by M. Alaee.

Dr. Mehran Alaee is a world-recognized expert on brominated flame retardants and has edited two special issues of the journal Chemosphere on this subject. He leads and publishes research showing how widespread these chemicals are in the environment, and findings on their sources, environmental behaviour and toxicity – findings that help determine the risks to human health.

Kharin, V.V., and F.W. Zwiers, 2000: Changes in the extremes in an ensemble of transient climate simulation with a coupled atmosphere-ocean GCM, Journal of Climate, 13, 3760-3788.

Dr. Francis W. Zwiers was recently elected a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society in recognition of his outstanding scientific work on statistical climatology. He is author of nearly 50 papers in the past decade and is recognized as a world leader in developing statistical tools for studying and predicting climate change. These tools assist other scientists engaged in climate change research and they contribute to the international effort to grapple with a global problem.

Collaboration is key

The most effective way to further research is to work collaboratively with scientists in educational institutions and other organizations, and with other countries. Working together leads to publishing collaboratively, reaching more audiences more often.

Environment Canada constantly explores new ways to keep science moving forward, such as sharing facilities, locating government scientists on university campuses and actively seeking new partners.
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