Water & Environment Student Talks (WEST) took place this June at UBC’s Vancouver campus. Running consecutively for its second time, WEST is an interdisciplinary annual conference for students, researchers, and professionals whose work relates to the water sphere. This year’s event featured 38 oral and poster presenters and nearly 90 delegates. Keeping true to its interdisciplinary nature, presentation topics covered a diversity of fields, ranging from water governance structures to novel water treatment technologies. This year’s theme was Today’s Ideas for Tomorrow’s Water , which asked attendees to reflect on their work and how it integrates into other disciplines to create comprehensive solutions to society’s multifaceted water challenges.

Among the many highlights at WEST, a panel of experts discussed the intersection between Canada’s resource development industries and our water resources. An evening workshop hosted by the Engineering Leadership Council showed delegates and other water professionals how to incorporate triple bottom line sustainability principals into their work projects. During the closing dinner, $1000 in prizes were awarded to the conference’s top water communicators (see picture of winners).

WEST was conceived and organized by students from the University of British Columbia, who recognized the importance of bringing together the many disciplines working on water related issues and sought to facilitate a better understanding between them. On behalf of the entire planning committee, I would like to thank our many sponsors and partners who made WEST financially accessible to all. If you are interested in receiving updates for next year’s conference, please email us at [email protected] to join our mailing list. We hope to see you at WEST 2016!

Image Credits: Mike Harvard and Sarah Ning