Lee Jackson’s Post

Happy Earth Day 2024! Let's celebrate and show gratitude for what we have and remember that despite some very real challenges, we have made progress on BIG issues like PCBs and DDT, plus renewable energy. And, predictions are that CO2 might peak in the next 1-5 years. I try to live my mantra in whatever way I can and tell those who say they are only one person that they are part of an economy of scale that can lead to big outcomes for the better. Let's keep our eye on the prize and continue to inspire positive change. #EarthDay #Sustainability #Sustainable #eco #decadeofaction #climatechange

Today, February 11, is UN International Day of Girls and Women in Science. Today's girls are tomorrow's women and leaders. On the International Day of Girls and Women in Science, let's celebrate the potential of every young woman to be a powerful voice for change and leadership in her community and embrace the role of science. Join me in wishing every young woman a bright future. Here is one who will make a difference by conducting research on microplastics in aquatic environments. I wish her, and all girls and women interested in science a happy, opportunity-filled future of their choice! #sustainable #water #conservation #environment #environmentaljustice #microplastics

As we celebrate World Wetlands Day, there is a lot of concern over low mountain snowpack and what it will mean to the prairies and their wetlands this year. Recently, Jasechko et al (Nature 625: 715-721) published data from 170,000 groundwater monitoring wells around the world and demonstrated that over the last 40 years, groundwater declines have accelerated in 30% of the world's aquifers. In dry areas with extensive cropland, the declines can be as much as a whopping 0.5 m/year. So, while some areas of BC are flooding and there appears to be too much water, areas of Alberta have been drying up. Contrast the two images I took last year on the west (Columbia River wetland) and east (a wetland/shallow lake we have been sampling near Strathmore that has had water for at least 25 years and was bone dry last summer) sides of the continental divide. The white in the Alberta image is not snow, but precipitated salts. Nature's 'sledgehammer' manipulations have the potential to create large-scale alteration to some ecosystem services provided by wetlands if rapid change crosses key tipping points. #sustainbility #wetlands #climatechange #groundwater #worldwetlandsday

This past weekend saw another very successful Cancervive ride on the beautiful Bow Valley Parkway in Banff National Park. Once again we had 100 cyclists who raised over $111K (and counting!) to support Wellspring Alberta programs for cancer patients, their family members and their caregivers. This event benefitted greatly from a Community Volunteer grant and volunteers from Foresters Financial who staffed and operated aid stations and Bow Cycle & Sports who provided tents and on-course technical assistance. I rode with fellow Team Bow Cyclists Club members (including Rob Crooks), who provided ride leaders for 4 of the 110 km groups and more than doubled Team fundraising goals thanks to generous donations from family, friends and fellow club members 🙏 . There is still time to donate to our individual riders or team BCC (https://lnkd.in/g7jDdJS3) and support the excellent programs offered by Wellspring Alberta. #fundraising #team #nobodyridesalone #cancersupport #fundraising #makingadifference #gratitude

In two weeks, on September 9th, I will ride (again) in Cancervive2023 in support of Wellspring. I am looking forward to 110 km of beautiful Bow Valley Parkway from Banff to Lake Louise and back with Rob Crooks, Perry Osweiller and Joel Brown (Team Bow Cyclists Club). 100% of funds raised go directly to Wellspring - there is 0% overhead and 0% diverted to professional fund raisers. Wellspring provides free programs and resources to cancer patients, their family members and their caregivers. Please consider donating to my fundraising (https://lnkd.in/g_WfJmdP) and help support this fantastic organization and the impactful services they provide.

Happy World Water Day 2023 - this year's theme: Accelerating Change. If you are interested in accelerating positive change in the water space, check out IBM's recently announced Sustainability Accelerator Program: https://ibm.biz/BdPbJ6. The IBM Sustainability Accelerator is a pro bono social impact program that applies IBM technologies, such as hybrid cloud and artificial intelligence, and an ecosystem of experts to enhance and scale nonprofit and government organization interventions helping populations especially vulnerable to environmental threats including climate change, extreme weather, and pollution. #socialimpact #cloud #artificialintelligence #sustainability #environmental #water #ibm #change

On November 15th it will be my pleasure to share the Main Stage at the Toronto Convention Centre for Day 1 of Weavesphere 2022 (CASCONxEvoke) with colleagues Jenn Collins (she/her) (IBM) and Florencia Said (SAIT), showcasing innovation and creativity in the water space with our talk and workshop entitled: "Learning to SWIM: Technical and social lessons learned during development of a water-based data collaboration platform". We have been fortunate to have worked with a number of IBM Apprentice Garage and other interns as we've modified and changed the platform since its original conception four years ago. SWIM (Sustainable Watershed Integrated Management) is a spatially-explicit, watershed-based digital sandbox created to de-silo water data, encourage collaboration and increase the public's awareness and literacy for water. We'll be discussing successes and social and technical challenges experienced along our journey. #Weavesphere #IBMCanada #water #data #innovation #creativity #sustainable #digital #collaboration #ucalgary

Fresh off the (digital) press, 'A function-based Typology for Earth's Ecosystems', published in Nature today is open access and available here: https://lnkd.in/gR2fee2K. This paper was preceded by descriptions of over 100 ecosystems published by the IUCN (https://lnkd.in/giRyfGuA) and there has even been a webpage developed that is a great teaching resource: https://lnkd.in/guh4dByR. This monumental effort was the result of a core of about 2 dozen scientists from around the world meeting first in Helsinki and then at King's College (London) to discuss and debate the typology framework for the planet's freshwater, marine and terrestrial ecosystems, including transition zones. I had the pleasure of working with a lot of bright ecologists, including Prof. David Keith from University of New South Wales (Sydney, Australia), our lead author. David's staying power through an epic review process gets full marks. Q: What's next? A: Mapping the planet's ecosystems with use of satellites, GIS and maybe even citizen scientists. This will need a visualization platform - more about this soon. #teaching #conservation #sustainability #iucn #ecosystemservices #ecosystems #bigdata #ucalgary

I'm excited to be heading to Munich to participate in Thursday's panel "Water Reuse - The Art of the Possible" at #drinktec2022. After a virtual event in 2020 due to Covid, the trade show is back in person. I will be joined on stage by Moderator Thomas Birus and panelists Prof. Sven-Uwe Geissen from Berlin and Michael Beck from St. Louis. Looking forward to seeing current thinking on water reuse and the state of art in finding solutions. #sustainability #environmentaleducation #water #waterreuse #innovation #ucalgary