Brian Branfireun

Last updated
Brian Branfireun
Brian branfireun.jpeg
CitizenshipCanadian
Alma mater McGill University
Awards Canada Research Chair
Scientific career
Fields
Institutions
Thesis Catchment-scale hydrology and methylmercury biogeochemistry in the low boreal forest zone of the Precambrian Shield  (1999)
Doctoral advisor Nigel Roulet
Website

Brian Branfireun is a Canadian environmental scientist. He held a Canada Research Chair (2010-2020) and is a professor at Western University. [1] He studied climate change and directed a laboratory in Western's Biotron for the study of speciated trace metals in the environment such as mercury and arsenic. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

Contents

Scientific research

Branfireun's research focused on understanding the bidirectional nature of hydrological-ecological interactions at a range of spatial and temporal scales. [7] [8] [9] His research group directs its efforts toward ecosystems that are particularly sensitive to the impacts of natural and human-induced environmental change. [1] [2] [4]

Branfireun has been involved in projects studying the hydrology, ecology and biogeochemistry of wetland-dominated environments from the Canadian subarctic to the subtropics of Mexico. [1] [2] [4]

Current work

Branfireun and colleagues have been conducting field research with the Grassy Narrows First Nation to learn more about how mercury moves through the environment, ultimately ending up in fish which can result in Minamata disease in humans. The English and Wabigoon River system has poisonous levels of mercury pollution from the Reed Paper company's operation in Dryden, which used mercury in their bleaching process for making paper until 1975. As a result, members of the Grassy Narrows First Nation suffering long-term effects from mercury poisoning are now eligible for Ontario Disability Support Program. [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]

His research has also been cited by indigenous peoples in legal complaints about environmental pollution. [15]

Career

Since 2010 he has been a professor in the Department of Biology and Centre for Environment & Sustainability (joint appointment) with a graduate cross-appointment in Earth Science and Geography at Western University. From 2009-2010 he was a professor at the University of Toronto Mississauga in the Department of Geography.

Branfireun served as the President for the Hydrology Section of the Canadian Geophysical Union and also served as the Canadian National Correspondent for Water Quality with the International Association of Hydrological Sciences. [2] [16]

Branfireun was one of the organizers of the 2011 Mercury Conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia. [17]

His thesis at McGill studied methylmercury biogeochemistry. [18] [19]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hydrology</span> Science of the movement, distribution, and quality of water on Earth

Hydrology is the scientific study of the movement, distribution, and management of water on Earth and other planets, including the water cycle, water resources, and drainage basin sustainability. A practitioner of hydrology is called a hydrologist. Hydrologists are scientists studying earth or environmental science, civil or environmental engineering, and physical geography. Using various analytical methods and scientific techniques, they collect and analyze data to help solve water related problems such as environmental preservation, natural disasters, and water management.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dryden, Ontario</span> City in Ontario, Canada

Dryden is the second-largest city in the Kenora District of Northwestern Ontario, Canada, located on Wabigoon Lake. It is the least populous community in Ontario incorporated as a city. The City of Dryden had a population of 7,749 and its population centre had a population of 5,586 in 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mercury poisoning</span> Poisoning caused by mercury chemicals

Mercury poisoning is a type of metal poisoning due to exposure to mercury. Symptoms depend upon the type, dose, method, and duration of exposure. They may include muscle weakness, poor coordination, numbness in the hands and feet, skin rashes, anxiety, memory problems, trouble speaking, trouble hearing, or trouble seeing. High-level exposure to methylmercury is known as Minamata disease. Methylmercury exposure in children may result in acrodynia in which the skin becomes pink and peels. Long-term complications may include kidney problems and decreased intelligence. The effects of long-term low-dose exposure to methylmercury are unclear.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Biogeochemistry</span> Study of chemical cycles of the earth that are either driven by or influence biological activity

Biogeochemistry is the scientific discipline that involves the study of the chemical, physical, geological, and biological processes and reactions that govern the composition of the natural environment. In particular, biogeochemistry is the study of biogeochemical cycles, the cycles of chemical elements such as carbon and nitrogen, and their interactions with and incorporation into living things transported through earth scale biological systems in space and time. The field focuses on chemical cycles which are either driven by or influence biological activity. Particular emphasis is placed on the study of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, sulfur, iron, and phosphorus cycles. Biogeochemistry is a systems science closely related to systems ecology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Methylmercury</span> Toxic chemical compound

Methylmercury (sometimes methyl mercury) is an organometallic cation with the formula [CH3Hg]+. It is the simplest organomercury compound. Methylmercury is extremely toxic, and its derivatives are the major source of organic mercury for humans. It is a bioaccumulative environmental toxicant with a 50-day half-life. Methylmercury is the causative agent of the infamous Minamata disease.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ecohydrology</span>

Ecohydrology is an interdisciplinary scientific field studying the interactions between water and ecological systems. It is considered a sub discipline of hydrology, with an ecological focus. These interactions may take place within water bodies, such as rivers and lakes, or on land, in forests, deserts, and other terrestrial ecosystems. Areas of research in ecohydrology include transpiration and plant water use, adaption of organisms to their water environment, influence of vegetation and benthic plants on stream flow and function, and feedbacks between ecological processes, the soil carbon sponge and the hydrological cycle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asubpeeschoseewagong First Nation</span> Indian reserve in Ontario, Canada

Asubpeeschoseewagong First Nation is an Ojibwe First Nations band government who inhabit northern Kenora in Ontario, Canada. Their landbase is the 4,145 ha English River 21 Indian Reserve. It has a registered population of 1,595 as of October 2019, of which the on-reserve population was 971. As of October 2023, the community had a registered population of 1,608. They are a signatory to Treaty 3.

Aufeis is a sheet-like mass of layered ice that forms from successive flows of ground or river water during freezing temperatures. This form of ice is also called overflow, icings, or the Russian term, naled. The term "Aufeis" was first used in 1859 by Alexander von Middendorff following his observations of the phenomenon in northern Siberia.

Ontario Minamata disease is a neurological syndrome caused by severe mercury poisoning. It occurred in the Canadian province of Ontario, in 1970, and severely affected two First Nation communities in Northwestern Ontario following consumption of local fish contaminated with mercury, and one First Nation in Southern Ontario due to illegal disposal of industrial chemical waste. The disease was named after the infamous case of severe mercury poisoning in the fishing community of Minamata, Japan, which became known as Minamata disease because it devastated only the residents of the community.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ombrotrophic</span>

Ombrotrophic ("cloud-fed"), from Ancient Greek ὄμβρος (ómvros) meaning "rain" and τροφή (trofí) meaning "food"), refers to soils or vegetation which receive all of their water and nutrients from precipitation, rather than from streams or springs. Such environments are hydrologically isolated from the surrounding landscape, and since rain is acidic and very low in nutrients, they are home to organisms tolerant of acidic, low-nutrient environments. The vegetation of ombrotrophic peatlands is often bog, dominated by Sphagnum mosses. The hydrology of these environments are directly related to their climate, as precipitation is the water and nutrient source, and temperatures dictate how quickly water evaporates from these systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mercury in fish</span>

The presence of mercury in fish is a health concern for people who eat them, especially for women who are or may become pregnant, nursing mothers, and young children. Fish and shellfish concentrate mercury in their bodies, often in the form of methylmercury, a highly toxic organomercury compound. This element is known to bioaccumulate in humans, so bioaccumulation in seafood carries over into human populations, where it can result in mercury poisoning. Mercury is dangerous to both natural ecosystems and humans because it is a metal known to be highly toxic, especially due to its neurotoxic ability to damage the central nervous system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paper and pulp industry in Dryden, Ontario</span>

The Dryden pulp mill, also known as the Reed Mill, is a paper and pulp mill in Dryden, Ontario. During the 1960s and 70s, mercury poisoning from the mill caused one of Canada's worst environmental disasters: Dryden Chemicals Ltd dumped mercury into the English-Wabigoon River, upstream of Grassy Narrows First Nation, poisoning the fish which were their staple food. Members of the Grassy Narrows and the Whitedog communities downstream from the mill suffered severe mercury poisoning.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peatland</span> Wetland terrain without forest cover, dominated by living, peat-forming plants

A peatland is a type of wetland whose soils consist of organic matter from decaying plants, forming layers of peat. Peatlands arise because of incomplete decomposition of organic matter, usually litter from vegetation, due to water-logging and subsequent anoxia. Peatlands are unusual landforms that derive mostly from biological rather than physical processes, and can take on characteristic shapes and surface patterning.

Irena Creed is a Canadian hydrologist. She is the Vice-Principal for Research and Innovation at University of Toronto Scarborough in Toronto, Canada, and was formerly the Associate Vice-President for Research at the University of Saskatchewan, and the Executive Director of the University of Saskatchewan's School of Environment and Sustainability in Saskatoon, Canada. Creed studies the impacts of global climate change on ecosystem functions and services, often focusing on the hydrology of freshwater wetlands and catchments.

Nandita Basu is a Professor and Canada Research Chair in Global Water Sustainability and Ecohydrology at the University of Waterloo. Her research is centered on anthropogenic effects on water availability and quality via changes in land use and climate. Basu is recognized for her work on discovering the impact of nutrient legacies and proposed solutions to improving water quality of lakes and coastal zones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elsie Sunderland</span> American scientist

Elsie M. Sunderland is a Canadian toxicologist and environmental scientist and the Gordon McKay Professor of Environmental Chemistry at Harvard University. She studies processes through which human activities increase and modify pollutants in natural ecosystems and living systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donna Mergler</span> Canadian physiologist

Donna Mergler is a Canadian physiologist and currently professor emerita in the department of biological sciences at the University of Quebec in Montreal, Canada. Her research focuses on environmental health, specifically the effects of neuro-toxins on workplace and environment. She has also brought in lasting and real solutions to environmental degradation, while also focusing on gender and social equity.

Mercury is a poisonous element found in various forms in Canada. It can be emitted in the atmosphere naturally and anthropogenically, the main cause of mercury emission in the environment. Mercury pollution has become a sensitive issue in Canada for the past few decades and many steps have been taken for prevention at local, national, and international levels. It has been found to have various negative health and environmental effects. Methylmercury is the most toxic form of mercury which is easily accessible as well as digestible by living organisms and it is this form of mercury causing serious harm to human and wildlife health.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Biotron (Western University)</span> Climate research laboratory in Canada

The Biotron Institute for Experimental Climate Change Research at Western University in London, Ontario is a facility constructed to simulate ecosystems and funded by the Canadian government to study how plants, microbes and insects sense and adjust to climate change. Its biome chambers allow control of temperature, humidity and sunlight so that scientists can simulate climatic zones from rainforests to Arctic tundra. This enables the study environmental science, biotech, materials and biomaterials in realistic environmental conditions while still in a controlled laboratory setting. The Biotron also trains students, including one of Western's winners of The Undergraduate Awards' Global Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mercury contamination in Grassy Narrows</span> Environmental & health disaster 1962 - 1970

Mercury contamination in Grassy Narrows was an uncontrolled discharge of between 9,000 kilograms (20,000 lb) and 11,000 kilograms (24,000 lb) of mercury from the Dryden Mill's chloralkali plant in Dryden into the headwaters of the Wabigoon River in the Kenora District of Northwestern Ontario from 1962 until 1970. It was described as "one of the worst cases of environmental poisoning in Canadian history." The contamination poisoned many people in the Grassy Narrows First Nation and Whitedog First Nation communities.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Canada Research Chair - Brian Branfireun". 2019-05-02.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Brian Branfireun (2017-02-14). When the Arctic isn't cold. TEDx.
  3. "Brian A. Branfireun's research".
  4. 1 2 3 Branfireun, Brian. "Environmental Determinants of Health".
  5. Cole, Amanda S; Steffen, Alexandra; Eckley, Chris S.; Narayan, Julie; Pilote, Martin; Tordon, Rob; Graydon, Jennifer A.; St Louis, Vincent L.; Xu, Xiaohong; Branfireun, Brian A. (2014-09-01). "A Survey of Mercury in Air and Precipitation across Canada: Patterns and Trends". Atmosphere. 5 (3). Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute: 635. Bibcode:2014Atmos...5..635C. doi: 10.3390/atmos5030635 .
  6. Farrick, Kegan K.; Branfireun, Brian A. (2014-12-01). "Soil water storage, rainfall and runoff relationships in a tropical dry forest catchment". Water Resources Research. 50 (12): 9236–9250. Bibcode:2014WRR....50.9236F. doi: 10.1002/2014WR016045 . S2CID   129109663.
  7. Morris, Michelle A.; Spencer, Kate L.; Belyea, Lisa R.; Branfireun, Brian A. (2014-12-20). "Temporal and spatial distributions of sediment mercury in restored coastal saltmarshes". Marine Chemistry. 167. Elsevier: 150–159. Bibcode:2014MarCh.167..150M. doi: 10.1016/j.marchem.2014.09.010 .
  8. Dieleman, Catherine M.; Branfireun, Brian A.; McLaughlin, James W.; Lindo, Zoë (2015-01-01). "Climate change drives a shift in peatland ecosystem plant community: implications for ecosystem function and stability". Global Change Biology. 21 (1): 388–395. Bibcode:2015GCBio..21..388D. doi:10.1111/gcb.12643. PMID   24957384. S2CID   38512438.
  9. Oswald, Claire J.; Branfireun, Brian A. (2014-08-01). "Antecedent moisture conditions control mercury and dissolved organic carbon concentration dynamics in a boreal headwater catchment". Water Resources Research. 50 (8): 6610–6627. Bibcode:2014WRR....50.6610O. doi: 10.1002/2013WR014736 . S2CID   128940043.
  10. Forbes, Ryan (2018-08-14). "ODSP now covers mercury poisoning".
  11. Loriggio, Paola (2017-02-28). "Chief says mercury still leaking from mill near Grassy Narrows - According to Chief Simon Fobister, a new report suggests there is ongoing contamination from the Dryden, Ont., mill".
  12. Forbes, Ryan (2017-10-25). "Mercury legacy 'frightening,'commissioner".
  13. Beaumont, Hilary (2017-01-13). "Industrial mercury contamination discovered upstream from Grassy Narrows - More than 300 people in the community have mercury poisoning".
  14. Forbes, Ryan (2018-12-18). "Mercury poisoning severely impacting students, report".
  15. Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa v. US EPA (United States District Court for the District of Minnesota2019-09-10), Text .
  16. "Elements, The Newsletter of the Canadian Geophysical Union Volume 32, Number 1" (PDF).
  17. "Mercury 2011 Conference Chairs".
  18. Branfireun, Brian A. (1999). Catchment-scale hydrology and methylmercury biogeochemistry in the low boreal forest zone of the Precambrian Shield (Thesis). McGill University.
  19. Branfireun, Brian A.; Heyes, Andrew; Roulet, Nigel T. (1996-06-01). "The hydrology and methylmercury dynamics of a Precambrian shield headwater peatland". Water Resources Research. 32 (6). American Geophysical Union: 1785–1794. Bibcode:1996WRR....32.1785B. doi:10.1029/96WR00790.


Professional and academic associations
Preceded by President of the Canadian Geophysical Union
2013-2015
Succeeded by
Claire Samson