Canadian Rivers Institute (CRI) researchers make significant contributions to advancing aquatic sciences, forging industrial partnerships and government collaborations, and building the infrastructure to train and deliver the next generation of water resource scientists in Canada and beyond.
Read our 15 years of impact reportThe CRI has recruited internationally respected researchers dedicated to developing aquatic science
Meet the Experts
The CRI has recruited internationally respected researchers dedicated to developing aquatic science
Meet the Experts
The CRI has recruited internationally respected researchers dedicated to developing aquatic science
Meet the Experts
CRI's high-impact research has had significant policy, regulatory and management outcomes for river ecosystems, and the professional development of current and future water resource specialists
Learn more
The objective of the CRI is to build a network of researchers with common interests in aquatic science across universities, government, and industry. The CRI uses a multidisciplinary and cross-sector approach to focus its research on societal demands for water resources while addressing the challenges of sustaining, healthy aquatic ecosystems. This innovative model merges academic ideas-based and applied needs-based science and promotes the rapid transfer of new knowledge to regulatory agencies to create effective public policy for improving society and the quality of life in Canada and abroad.
Learn more about CRI and our goalsIn 2002, the CRI initiated its annual lecture series by conferring of an Honorary Doctoral Degree to Dr. H.B.N. Hynes.
Dr. H.B. Noel Hynes is the world’s most renowned freshwater biologist and a Distinguished Emeritus Professor at the University of Waterloo. Referred to as "the father of running water ecology", he has published extensively, including his definitive textbook on river ecology, The Ecology of Running Waters.
More about Hynes LecturesThe CRI delivers undergraduate and graduate training in river sciences, and field-based, training opportunities for students and professionals in areas of benthic invertebrate sampling, electrofishing, watershed management, river restoration, ecosystem sciences, and ecotoxicology.
Check out our Courses and Workshops
COMING SOON: TRAINING Applications of stable isotopes to aquatic ecology. Hosted by the Canadian Rivers Institute and the Stable Isotopes in Nature Laboratory at the University of New Brunswick.
Read moreKaren Kidd, the Jarislowsky Chair in Environment and Health, has received the 2017 International Environmental Award from Stockholm-based organization, Recipharm, for her ground-breaking research looking at the impact of pharmaceuticals and other contaminants on the health of aquatic ecosystems.
Read moreCRI is pleased to announce that Sherry McCoy has joined the CRI Corporate team as our new Administrative Coordinator. Reporting to the Director, Sherry will be supporting the Executive Committee to execute the day-to-day operations of the organization.
Read moreIn celebration of World Wetlands Day 2018, we are profiling CRI research on river floodplains to draw attention to the perilous state of the world's river floodplains, currently the most threatened of river habitats. In addition to their importance as reservoirs of biodiversity, floodplains are also key sources of ecosystem services, including food security for Indigenous peoples living across Can
Read more
By Anne Levesque and Gordon Yamazaki
There are tens of thousands of large hydro dams in North America, built in the 1940s and 50s, that are nearing the end of their service lives. Governments and power utilities are faced with bigcost decisions about what to do with these dams in the future.
Should they be rebuilt, refurbished, or decommissioned so the river returns to a natural state?...
Read more