USask collaboration continues at Hannin Creek Education and Applied Research Centre

This summer the Global Institute for Water Security at the University of Saskatchewan (USask) permanently installed a weather station and five soil moisture sensors at the HCEARC. The weather station and soil sensors will be used by Saskatchewan Polytechnic and USask for teaching, training and research and applied research projects. The installation of these instruments represents the start of a mutually beneficial partnership between Sask Polytech and USask.  

“Three years ago I invited Dr. Andrew Ireson from the Global Institute for Water Security to Sask Polytech’s Civil Engineering Technologies – Water Resources field camp,” says Brett Watson, Sask Polytech Civil Engineering Technologies instructor. “Ever since, we have been collaborating and sharing resources. It is our collective vision that the Hannin Creek watershed be used to measure various components of the hydrologic cycle. The weather station and soil moisture sensors are a first step to achieving this goal.”

Sask Polytech and USask students can use the weather station and soil moisture sensors to measure temperature, relative humidity, solar radiation, wind speed and direction, and barometric pressure.  Students can also learn how to download the weather records from the datalogger. The data collected from the station can be used by students for a variety of analyses or as input into a computer model for research and applied research projects.

“Our collaborative vision for the Hannin Creek Education and Applied Research Centre is to be a world-class facility for students in the water resources field,” says Ireson, associate professor for the USask School of Environment and Sustainability, Department of Civil and Geological Engineering and Global Institute for Water Security. “The HCEARC is an amazing facility for education and research.  We hope that by instrumenting the surrounding region we can further enhance the reputation of the HCEARC as a world-class learning experience for students and educators.” 

For over 50 years, the educational facility at Hannin Creek has benefitted students and researchers across Saskatchewan by providing unique hands-on learning experiences. The HCEARC, an equal partnership between Sask Polytech and the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation, is located on the shores of Candle Lake. As the only boreal forest field station in Saskatchewan, the HCEARC is a unique place to study and conduct research in such diverse programs as forestry, fisheries, wildlife, conservation law, and environmental, civil and water resources engineering technology.