AEMERA President and CEO Jay Nagendran is pleased to announce, effective April 7, 2015, world-renowned water researcher and scientist Dr. Fred Wrona is AEMERA’s new Vice-President and Chief Scientist.
Dr. Wrona is currently the Senior Science Strategist and Advisor with Environment Canada, based out of the University of Victoria, where he is a Professor in the Department of Geography and the Water and Climate Impacts Research Centre (W-CIRC). He also currently serves as the science advis
or to the Arctic Council’s Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program, is Canada’s Head Delegate for the UNESCO-International Hydrology Program (IHP), and recently completed his tenure as the Invited Chair of the External Scientific Advisory Committee for the Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM) at the University of Aveiro in Portugal.
Well acquainted with Alberta, Dr. Wrona served as the Scientific Director of the Northern River Basins Study (1992-96), and as a member of the International Science Advisory Committee of the Alberta Water Research Institute, which is now part of Alberta Innovates – Energy and Environment Solutions. Over the past year, he has also been the co-chair of the Component Advisory Committee (CAC) for Water with the Oil Sands Monitoring (OSM) program.
To support his new role as Chief Scientist at AEMERA, Dr. Wrona will be seeking to renew his academic ties with the University of Calgary, where he earned his Ph.D. in Aquatic Ecology (1982), and a B.Sc. in Environmental Sciences (1977), and where he was a member of the faculty from 1982 to 2004.
“Dr. Wrona’s long list of scientific credentials, contributions and publications could themselves make up a publication, and I am honoured that someone of his calibre will be an integral part of providing leadership and strategic direction for AEMERA, and hence helping us ensure a strong foundation for our science-driven organization,” said Nagendran. “His relationships and background in working with Environment Canada, and with other scientists and organizations in Alberta, will be a great benefit to the future work with OSM and AEMERA’s environmental monitoring, evaluation and reporting activities throughout the rest of the province.”