Northwestern Center for Water Research
Mission and Vision
Our Mission
The Northwestern Center for Water Research strives to increase opportunities for NU faculty and students in all domains touching on water, to catalyze and coordinate water research across NU, and to increase the visibility and impact of NU water research by solving current and emerging grand challenges in water systems sustainability, efficiency, and robustness.
Our Vision
Northwestern will be a world leader in designing, simulating, and integrating innovative materials and engineered bioprocesses into water systems to achieve global solutions for regional and local water challenges.
About the Center
The Northwestern Center for Water Research was launched on March 28, 2016 to link the University’s water research efforts in basic sciences, technology development, law and policy, and systems analysis and simulation. The Water Center will enable the Northwestern community to achieve:
- Fundamental advances in water science, enabling new water technologies and improved prediction of water systems.
- High-performance discovery, design, and commercialization of materials for water monitoring and processing technologies.
- Efficient, robust and durable solutions for water reuse, low-purity water sources, and resource recovery from wastewaters.
- Integration of theory, data, and models to predict large-scale, long-term outcomes in complex water/energy/food/ecosystems, and enable safe, efficient, and sustainable management of water.
The Water Center will develop global solutions for regional problems by engaging diverse industrial, governmental, and community partners to apply the highest levels of science and engineering to solve water challenges in the Chicago region and throughout the Great Lakes and Mississippi Valley.
Chicago Delegation to Israel
Northwestern Researchers Take Global Lead On Water Insecurity
Read the Northwestern article here.
University scholars sign memorandum with Ben-Gurion University during Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s delegation to Israel
Follow these conversations on Twitter:
#ChicagoIsraelTech
#CurrentWater
New Grants, Global Partnership Extend Water Center’s Reach
Read the northwestern article here.
The Times of Israel
Windy City seeks deeper ties with Startup Nation on technology
Rahm Emanuel’s delegation to Israel
Click here to see WTTW video.
Annual Symposium: Water in Israel and the Middle East
Water in Israel and the Middle East: Regional Water Sustainability and Resilience
2nd Annual Symposium Proceedings
Click here for Water Symposium website.
News
A Fresh Look at Fresh Water: Researchers Create a 50,000 Lake Database
National Science Foundation News
Would You Like My Car to Make You Some Water?
Finding Water in Puerto Rico: An Endless Game of Cat and Mouse
10 Hurricanes in 10 Weeks: With Ophelia a 124-Year-Old Record is Matched
As Seas Warm, Whales Face New Dangers
Miles of Algae Covering Lake Erie
Corporations Have Rights – Why Not Rivers?
China and India Water Dispute After Border Standoff
EPA Launches 6th Annual Campus Rainworks Challenge
EPA Launches 6th Annual Campus Rainworks Challenge
As Half the World Suffers from Water Shortages, Global Researchers Gather to Meet the Threat
Medill News Service – Northwestern University
Assessing Water Shortages – Health, Crops and Global Economies at Stake
Medill News Service – Northwestern University
Harvey: Fears Grow Over Severe Flooding Risk
Hurricane Harvey: Texas Battered by High Winds and Rain
Hurricane Harvey Makes Landfall Near Corpus Christi, Texas
Deadly South Asia Floods Affect 16 Million People
Climate Lessons from California
Students Present Their Summer’s Work at Argonne
Argonne National Laboratory News
Prairie Plays Key Role in Chicago’s Flood Management
Medill News Service – Northwestern University
International Research Collaboration Seeks Clean Water Solutions
Medill News Service – Northwestern University
Scientists Meet in Taipei as Global Warming Drives Increased Water Shortages
Medill News Service – Northwestern University
Reframing Water Security for a Human Well Being Approach
Loss of Fertile Land Fuels “Looming Crisis” Across Africa
Officials Point Fingers as Lake Ontario Spills into Neighborhoods
A Climate Fight on Chicago’s South Side
WBEZ Heat of the Moment – The Gross Gatherings
Sacred Lakes Threatened by China’s Growing Capital
The Immense, Eternal Footprint Humanity Leaves on Earth: Plastics
Latest MWRD Engineering Marvel Set to Open to Public
New Program! The MWRD Is Now Selling Compost and Accepting Bulk Yard Waste to Promote Resource Recovery
Protecting the H.O.M.E.S
Israel, Palestinians Reach Landmark Water Deal for West Bank, Gaza
Where Else Does the U.S. Have an Infrastructure Problem? Antarctica
Chasing Genius Challenge
National Geographic invites participation by Northwestern faculty and students to create a 60 second video by July 31, 2017. See more details in the Chasing Genius Challenge notice above.
The Dutch Have Solutions to Rising Seas. The World is Watching
Understanding Climate Change
New Pilot Program Will Work to Prevent Basement Back Ups on South Side
How Do You Make a Play About Water? Drop by Drop
Water in Israel and the Middle East Symposium News Brief
Northwestern Center for Water Research
Global diarrhoea deaths down by a third
Miles of Ice Collapsing Into the Sea
CUASHI August and November Workshops Registration Information
A Vertical Farm Grows in Newark
To Stimulate Climate Change Scientists Build Miniature Worlds
Water Reclamation Tours Offer Insight into Water Transformation
How Water Gets from the Nile to Thirsty Refugees
Excitement Builds as MWRD Begins Accepting High Strength Organic Materials
Trillions of Plastic Bits Swept Up By Current Are Littering Arctic Waters
California’s Drought is Over. Now What?
Do Seas Make Us Sick? Surfers May Have the Answer
Michigan is Forced to Do Right by Flint, Finally
Arctic’s Winter Sea Ice Drops to its Lowest Recorded Level
Burrowing Under Luminous Ice to Retrieve Mussels
Canadians Fear Trump’s Budget Will Devastate Great Lakes
How to Steal a River
Alliance for the Great Lakes’ Young Professionals Grants Available – Deadline March 24, 2017
The Alliance for the Great Lakes
In California, A Move to Ease the Pressures on Aging Dams
California Parched for Five Years, Is Now Battered by Water
Orville is a Warning for California Dams, as Climate Change Adds Stress
In Shadow of California Dam, Water Turns from Wish to Woe
A Crack in an Antarctica Ice Shelf Grew 17 Miles in Two Months
In America’s Heartland, Discussing Climate Change Without Saying “Climate Change”
Scientists Glimpse New York’s Perilous Path in an Ancient Patch of Marsh
A New Casualty of Syria’s War: Drinking Water in Damascus
Spiking Temperatures in the Arctic Startle Scientists
Corpus Christi: “What do we want? Clean water! When do we want it? Now!”
Polar Bears’ Path to Decline Runs Through Alaskan Village
Shrinking Glaciers Cause State-of-Emergency Drought in Bolivia
Northwestern Alumnae Continuing Education Course: Global Issues and Perspectives Lecture by Aaron Packman: Global Water Security and Sustainability Challenges for Arid Lands
Mapping Three Decades of Global Water Change
A Plan to Clean Up DePue: Academia Meets Advocacy
Preparing for the Global “Infrastructure Tsunami”
World Wildlife Fund Presentation – November 17, 2016
The Living City
World Wildlife Fund Calls for Better Infrastructure Planning
Perspectives at the Water-Energy-Climate Nexus: Anticipating Changes to Come
Metropolitan Water Reclamation District
AMO Director Mark Johnson Tackles Regional Innovation Opportunities
Israel Proves the Desalination Era is Here
Indian Boundary Prairies: Test Bed Development Presentation
William Miller Presentation – November 7, 2016
Argonne, MWRD Complete First Phase of Chicago River Study
Metropolitan Water Reclamation District
2016 Northwestern Climate Change Symposium: Perspectives at the Water-Energy-Climate Symposium
Institute for Sustainability and Energy at Northwestern
May 18 Water in Israel and the Middle East Presentations Now Available
Clean Water in Kenya: NU Engineers Without Borders Develops Water Distribution System in Maasai Community Near Nairobi
NOAA Launches America’s First National Water Forecast Model
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Israel, The Water Superpower
Nature: A Better, Faster, Cost Effective Answer for Climate Resilience
Watershed Degradation Costs Global Cities $5.4 Billion in Water Treatment Annually
Symposium Looks to Israel as Role Model for Water Sustainability
Water Sustainability Symposium to Examine Solutions for Middle East
Research Highlights
William Dichtel, Luisa Marcelino, William Miller and Aaron Packman – Understanding Climate Change
William Dichtel – Research Targets Threats to Drinking Water
John Rogers and William Dichtel – Two Surprising Discoveries, One Abundant Resource
Aaron Packman – Northlight Theatre’s Backstage Conversation on Climate and Flooding (4/1/17)
Sera Young – Northwestern Anthropologist Receives Grant to Measure Water Insecurity
Amanda Logan – An Archaeological Mystery in Ghana: Why Didn’t Past Droughts Spell Famine?
Will Dichtel – Polymer breakthrough could revolutionize water purification
Marco Gallio – Scientists First to Discover Sensory System That Detects Humidity
Northwestern University
Water Sustainability is Focus of New Center
Chicago Regional Water Center
Chicago Tribune announces formation of Current
Luisa Marcelino – Using Data to Protect Coral Reefs from Climate Change
Sinan Keten – Sinan Keten Receives Navy Young Investigator Award
Nancy Loeb & Franz Geiger – Depue Continues 20-Year Struggle to Cleanup Toxic Pollution
Neelesh Patankar – Engineers Identify How to Keep Surfaces Dry Underwater
The Nature Conservancy –
Technology Revolutionizes Storm Water Study at Indian Boundary Prairies
Q&A with Liliana Hernandez Gonzalez
Joseph Ferrie
Research on Lead and Cognition
Summer 2017 Research Opportunities and Projects
McCormick Summer Research Awards
Deadline: April 4, 2017
Weinberg College
Rolling deadlines starting April 15, 2017 and ending May 15, 2017
Institute for Sustainability and Energy at Northwestern
http://isen.northwestern.edu/resnick-family-social-impact-program
http://isen.northwestern.edu/sites/default/files/docs/applications/Resnick_RFP_Jan24_2017.pdf
Deadline: May 15
Summer 2017 Research Projects
The Northwestern Center for Water Research will be offering undergraduate research opportunities in the Chicago area as well as in Israel this summer. For participants pursuing research projects in Israel (travel in early September), there will be organized field trips and travel costs will be covered*.
Research projects in the Chicago area:
Image processing pipeline for extracting information on plant growth and diversity (Pete Beckman, Argonne National Lab; Cristina Negri, Argonne National Lab; Greg Mueller, Chicago Botanic Garden)
Water, soil, and plant monitoring on green roof, Chicago Botanic Garden (Cristina Negri, Argonne National Lab; Richard Hawke, Chicago Botanic Garden; Aaron Packman, Northwestern)
Visualization and communication of roof and building data on temperature, water, and energy (Cristina Negri, Argonne National Lab; Greg Mueller, Chicago Botanic Garden)
Sampling and analysis of water and soil from urban nature preserves and food production facilities (Aaron Packman and Bill Miller, NU, Karl Gnaedinger, The Nature Conservancy, and Angie Mason, Chicago Botanic Garden).
Research projects in Israel*:
Transboundary watershed management and restoration (Shai Arnon, Ben-Gurion University, Aaron Packman, Northwestern)
Increasing the efficiency of urban wastewater recovery via groundwater recharge (Noam Weisbrod, Ben-Gurion University)
River flow and sediment dynamics (Aaron Packman, Northwestern, Shai Arnon, Ben-Gurion University)
Advanced water and wastewater technologies (Dror Avisar, Tel Aviv University, George Wells, Northwestern)
Radionuclide transport in carbonate rocks (Noam Weisbrod, Ben-Gurion University)
*For summer research projects in Israel, the Center for Water Research and the Israel Studies Program at Northwestern will cover the cost of student travel to Israel so that all student research funds can support activity in Israel.
Events
Calendar
October 24, 2017
Abraham Cruzvillegas: Self-Construction
4:00 pm
Ford Engineering Design Center, ITW Room
Abraham Cruzvillegas (b. 1968) is one of the most important conceptual artists of his generation to come out of the vibrant art and architecture scene in Mexico. Over the past 15 years, Cruzvillegas has developed a riveting body of work that investigates what he calls autoconstrucción, or “self-construction,” informed by the sociopolitical contexts of Latin America and inspired by improvised building materials and techniques. Cruzvillegas will discuss his current project entitled the The Water Trilogy, which focuses on water in urban contexts, including specific issues of pollution and water shortage. He will also discuss his installation Empty Lot which consists of discarded materials from various London construction sites built into the structure of the installation.
November 9-10, 2017
Northwestern Climate Change Symposium
Hilton Orrington, 1710 Orrington Avenue, Evanston, IL 60201
Featuring plenaries and concurrent science, policy, and business session tracks for diverse perspectives and insight across topics pertaining to climate change and clean energy.
AGENDA, SPEAKERS, AND REGISTRATION AT:
http://www.isen.nu/climate-nu
Program Leadership
Aaron Packman
Director
Susan Black
Coordinator
Faculty
Participating Faculty
NAISE Water Cluster
Seth Snyder — Strategic Water Leader
Pete Beckman — NAISE Co-Director
Cristina Negri
Ken Kemner
John Quinn
May Wu
Eugene Yan
Charley Yu
Academic Partners
The Institute for Sustainability and Energy at Northwestern
ISEN advances global energy and sustainability solutions through transformational research, interdisciplinary education, and public engagement.
Center for Optimization and Statistical Learning
OSL provides innovative research to better utilize the growing amounts of data available in our increasingly networked world.
Northwestern Argonne Institute in Science and Engineering
NAISE fosters collaborative research in energy, national security, and biological and environmental systems. NAISE supports computational facilities at both institutions.
Environmental Advocacy Center, Pritzker School of Law
The Northwestern Pritzker School of Law Bluhm Legal Clinic’s Environmental Advocacy Center pursues issues in clean air and water, clean up of hazardous waste sites, safe drinking water, green technology, climate change, and renewable energy.
Conservation Partnerships
Partnerships with conservation organizations including the Chicago Botanic Garden and The Nature Conservancy engage students and the public in sustainable water solutions.
Contact
Northwestern Center for Water Research
2205 Tech Drive, Hogan Hall, Room 1160, First Floor, Evanston, IL 60208 | water@northwestern.edu | 847-467-9287
