The Waterloo-based Canadian Water Network (CWN) announced the appointment of Dr. Simon Courtenay as Scientific Director on October 30. The appointment came into effect at the start of November. Courtenay will head a network of researchers, practitioners, and implementers focused on clean, safe, and sustainable water across Canada and internationally.
Previous to his appointment, Courtenay was involved with CWN in a number of capacities, including serving on the management committee of the Canadian Watershed Research Consortium and as one of the network’s principal researchers. He also spent 24 years as a DFO Research Scientist at two institutions in New Brunswick. His research focuses on plants and animals found in estuaries, and how human activity affects estuarine ecology.
Courtenay received a BSc in Zoology in 1980 and an MSc in Zoology in 1982, both from the University of Western Ontario. His PhD in Zoology was completed in 1989 at the University of British Columbia. In addition to his duties as Scientific Director of the CWN, he will assume a new role as professor in the department of environment and resource studies at the University of Waterloo in late fall 2013.