Brian Branfireun is a Canadian environmental scientist. He held a Canada Research Chair (2010-2020) and is a professor at Western University. 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 Arsenic is a chemical element with the symbol As and atomic number 33. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in combination with sulfur and metals, but also as a pure elemental crystal. Arsenic is a metalloid. It has various allotropes, bu ...

Scientific research

Branfireun's research focused on understanding the bidirectional nature of hydrological-ecological interactions at a range of spatial and temporal scales. His research group directs its efforts toward ecosystems that are particularly sensitive to the impacts of natural and human-induced environmental change. Branfireun has been involved in projects studying the

hydrology 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 environmental watershed sustainability. A practitioner of hydrology is calle ...

ecology Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overl ...

and biogeochemistry of

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

-dominated environments from the Canadian subarctic to the subtropics of

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

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 The Wabigoon River is a river in Kenora District in northwestern Ontario, Canada. It flows from Raleigh Lake past Dryden, Ontario on Wabigoon Lake to join the English River. The name "Wabigoon" comes from the Ojibwe ''waabigon'', "marigold", or ...

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. His research has also been cited by

indigenous peoples Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

in legal complaints about environmental

pollution Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the ...

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 The Canadian Geophysical Union (French: Union géophysique canadienne) (CGU) began as a society dedicated to the scientific study of the solid earth and has evolved into one that is concerned with all aspects of the physical study of Earth and its ...

and also served as the Canadian National Correspondent for Water Quality with the International Association of Hydrological Sciences. Branfireun was one of the organizers of the 2011 Mercury Conference in

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348 ...

. His thesis at McGill studied methylmercury biogeochemistry.

External links

* * https://www.uwo.ca/biology/directory/faculty/branfireun.html * * https://www.uwo.ca/sci/research/biotron/

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Branfireun, Brian Living people Canadian ecologists McGill University alumni Canada Research Chairs Presidents of the Canadian Geophysical Union Year of birth missing (living people)