While Pacific Island Countries contribute little to global greenhouse gas emissions, they are among the most vulnerable to climate change. The increasing intensity and frequency of tropical cyclones, droughts and floods, as well as slow-onset disasters such as sea level rise, coastal erosion and saltwater intrusion, are drastically affecting their access to freshwater, which is already a critical challenge.
Université du Québec à Montréal and Université Laval are developing with the University of the South Pacific a research project aimed at securing freshwater resources in Vanuatu, an archipelagic country of 80+ islands located in the South Pacific. Our goals are to (i) develop appropriate water resource assessment methodologies for Pacific islands, and (ii) design and implement context-specific adaptation strategies to ensure water resource sustainability.
The research team includes participants from Vanuatu, Canada, Switzerland and Germany covering different scientific fields (atmosphere, hydrogeology, hydrochemistry, isotopy, human and social sciences), using an interdisciplinary and trans-sectoral approach, focusing on the integration of innovative solutions in the socio-cultural context of inland communities in the Pacific.
Two PhD students are being sought for the hydrology component of the study. During the first two years of their studies, they will participate in field work in Vanuatu. This work will enable sampling and assessment of aquifer systems.
The first PhD project will use innovative hydrochemical and isotopic methods (35S, 37Ar, 222Rn, 85Kr, 3H/3He, noble gases, 2H-18O, 13C…) to assess freshwater lens-supported resources (recharge, renewal, vulnerability) for small low-lying coral islands and large high raised volcanic islands. Based on hydrochemical data, the PhD student will develop conceptual models for hydrologicalprocesses and will propose adaptation solutions.
Supervision: Prof. Florent Barbecot (Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada), barbecot.florent [at] uqam.ca, Dr. Krishna Kumar Kotra (University of the South Pacific, Vanuatu) and Dr. Roland Purtschert (University of Bern, Switzerland)
The second PhD project will develop numerical hydrological models to evaluate the sensitivity of freshwater lenses to different forcings. Since the lack of hydrogeological information limits the ability to build distributed hydrogeological models, the PhD student will test solutions to implement models with a reduced set of parameters. The PhD student will also use hydrologic modeling to evaluate adaptation approaches such as artificial recharge.
Supervision: Prof. René Therrien (Université Laval, Canada), rene.therrien [at] ggl.ulaval.ca, Dr. Krishna Kumar Kotra (University of the South Pacific, Vanuatu) and Prof. Philip Brunner (University of Neuchatel, Switzerland)