Philip Marsh

OrganizationEmailPhoneAddressWaterloo , Ontario N2L 3C5CanadaBioI first visited the Canadian Arctic Islands in 1975, and have carried out field research in the Canadian Arctic every year since. My MSc and Phd were obtained from McMaster University under the supervision of Dr. M-K. Woo. After my PhD I joined the National Hydrology Research Institute in 1983 and moved to Saskatoon and worked at the National Water Research Centre and was an Adjunct Professor at the University of Saskatchewan. During this period my research continued to be focused on the Canadian Arctic, but my research shifted from the Arctic Islands to the Mackenzie River basin, and specifically the Mackenzie Delta Region. During this period, I worked in many large, national-international projects, including the Mackenzie GEWEX Study (MAGS) and the International Polar Year (IPY). In 2013 I moved to Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario where I took up my current position as a Professor and Canada Research Chair. In this role I have been privileged to work with many fine scientists in the Cold Regions Research Centre at Laurier, in numerous other research organizations, and through the Government of the NWT - Wilfrid Laurier University Partnership, have worked with many scientists in the NWT. In these roles, I continue our research program in the Mackenzie Delta region and work with colleagues across the NWT.

Science Specialties

hydrology, snow hydrology, modelling, climate change, modeling

Current Research

Research is currently focused on the hydrology of two upland watersheds in the uplands to the west of the Mackenzie Delta, and in the vicinity of Inuvik , NWT. These two sites are located in the forest transition zone. Havikpak Creek is primarily forested, while Trail Valley Creek (located about 50 km to the north) is primarily tundra with patches of shrubs and forest. Our research is focused on understanding past changes in climate, permafrost, vegetation, snow, lake levels and streamflow, testing and improving predictive models, and considering future changes to the hydrology of this region.