Barrie R. Bonsal

Research Scientist - Climate Impacts on Hydrology and Ecology

National Hydrology Research Centre (Saskatoon, SK)

CURRENT S&T / RESEARCH - Contributing to Environment Canada’s mandate to ensure aquatic ecosystems are conserved and protected

• Historical and future climate impacts on major hydrologic and cryospheric processes over Canada and the circum-polar north
• Extreme events: droughts and floods
• The assessment of global climate model projected and observed climate over Canada
• Large-scale atmospheric and oceanic oscillations
• Historical trends and variability in Canadian hydro-climate

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES / INTERESTS

Reviewer of the climate change science and impacts sections of the Environmental Impact Assessment for the proposed Mackenzie Gas Project; Member of Environment Canada’s climate change panel at the Mackenzie Oil and Gas Technical Hearings

Science committee member of a CFCAS funded Network entitled “The Canadian Drought Research Initiative” whose main objective is to better understand the physical characteristics of and processes influencing Canadian Prairie droughts

Thesis committee member of 3 PhD and 7 MSc students, as well as 1 post-doctoral fellow via Adjunct Professorships with the Department of Geography at the University of Saskatchewan and the University of Victoria

KEY PUBLICATIONS

Bonsal, B.R. and M. Regier. 2007. Historical comparison of the 2001/2002 drought in the Canadian Prairies. Climate Research. 33:229-242.

Prowse, T.D., B.R. Bonsal, C.R. Duguay and M.P. Lacroix. 2007. River-Ice Break-Up/Freeze-Up: A Review of Climatic Drivers, Historical Trends and Future Predictions. Annals of Glaciology. 46:443-451.

Bonsal, B.R., T.D. Prowse, C.R. Duguay and M.P. Lacroix. 2006. Impacts of large-scale tele-connections on freshwater-ice duration over Canada. Journal of Hydrology. 330:340-353.

Bonsal, B.R. and T.D. Prowse. 2006. Regional assessment of GCM-simulated current climate over northern Canada. Arctic. 59:115-128.

Bonsal, B.R., G. Koshida, E.G. O'Brien and E. Wheaton. 2004. Chapter 3. Droughts. pp. 19-25. In Threats to Water Availability in Canada, National Water Research Institute, Burlington, Ontario. NWRI Scientific Assessment Report Series No. 3 and ACSD Science Assessment Series No. 1. 128 p.

Bonsal, B.R. and T.D. Prowse. 2003. Trends and variability in spring and autumn 0°C isotherm dates over Canada.Climatic Change. 57:341-358.