Dr. Claire Oswald MSc, PhD
Research themes:
Dr. Claire Oswald is a physical geographer with expertise in hydrology, biogeochemistry, water quality, climatology, and geospatial landscape analysis. Her primary research program focuses on the influence of landscape characteristics and watershed management on the transport of water and pollutants from terrestrial to aquatic systems. She uses field-based methods and analysis of stable isotopes in water to better understand hydrological processes and watershed scale hydrological response in urban areas. She is mainly interested in the retention and release of salts from winter de-icing activities, but also explores other sources of freshwater salinization, as well as hydrological controls on the transport of nutrients and contaminants of emerging concern. In addition to her hydrological research, she has collaborated on various wastewater pathogen surveillance projects in the City of Toronto since 2020. Dr. Oswald has received external funding from NSERC, CFI, Environment and Climate Change Canada, ON Ministry of the Environment, Conservation, and Parks, City of Toronto, WWF Canada, MITACS, and Health Canada. She is an executive member of the Urban Water TMU research centre and the current president (2025-27) of the Canadian Geophysical Union.
Follow Dr. Claire Oswald
Additional information
Dr. Oswald co-manages the Black Creek Research and Training Watershed with collaborators at the University of Toronto. The watershed is a hub for investigating hydrology and pollution in a highly urbanized environment. Work in the watershed is facilitated by collaboration, permitting, and data-sharing with the City of Toronto, the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, and the Water Survey of Canada.