TMU professor co-leading international research on climate change impacts on transboundary waters and vulnerable communities

Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) professor Carolyn Johns will co-lead a new global research centre that aims to identify, understand and mitigate the impacts of climate change on transboundary waters and their surrounding communities.

The Global Center for Understanding Climate Change Impacts on Transboundary Waters is a joint research project with the University of Michigan and McMaster University. The initial focus of this University of Michigan-led centre will be on climate change adaptation in the Great Lakes region with an emphasis on Indigenous and climate-vulnerable communities. It will later expand to other North American watersheds and beyond, preparing communities and ecosystems for the hazards that accompany climate change.

The centre, which received the equivalent of C$10.49 million of funding over five years, will bring together a diverse group of scientists and practitioners with expertise in climate change science, ecosystem monitoring and modelling, and transboundary water governance and policy. Professor Johns, who is the Interim Director of the School of Public Policy and Democratic Innovation, professor in the Department of Politics and Public Administration, Chair of the Bruce Fellowships in Canadian Freshwater Policy and a member of TMU’s Urban Water Centre, will co-lead the research team as the social science principal investigator on the project.