Bioresource Engineering Senior Seminar Series

Bioresource Engineering Senior Seminar Series:  We are fortunate to have Dr. Murray Clamen as a Visiting Professor in the Bioresource Engineering Department. Dr. Clamen holds an undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering (McGill) and a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering Hydraulics (Imperial College, University of London, England). He has extensive experience in international water resource studies, environmental assessment and policy development, consultative processes and program management. Dr. Clamen is currently the Secretary of the Canadian Section of the International Joint Commission. The IJC is the organization which is charged with prevention and resolution of disputes between Canada and the United States of America. The IJC pursues the common good of both countries as an advisor to both governments on issues concerning the Great Lakes basin.

Over the years governments have ways to understand and respond to the numerous questions and challenges in the Great Lakes, from the advent of the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909 and the creation of the International Joint Commission (IJC), to the present day Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA). The Lakes have been the subject of extensive efforts to restore and maintain their chemical, physical and biological integrity. Also, water level and outflow regulation plans for Lakes Superior and Ontario are managed by the IJC, and a separate treaty governs the diversion of the Niagara River for hydropower production and flows over Niagara Falls. Dr. Clamen will highlight significant institutional arrangements for Great Lakes water management and look at related governance challenges facing society in the 21st century, with a view to potential transferability to transboundary basins in other parts of the globe. He will also report on discussions which took place at the UN Conference on Capacity Development in Transboundary Basins, held in Bonn Germany in November, 2008.