BRING THE SCIENCE INTO LOCAL GOVERNMENT: “Hans Schreier of UBC ignited my passion in the mid-1990s when the District worked with UBC on applied research. What we learned was transformational. We then turned our minds to the role of green infrastructure in protecting streams from urban impacts,” stated Richard Boase, career environmental champion within local government in the Metro Vancouver region
Note to Reader:
Published by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in British Columbia, Waterbucket eNews celebrates the leadership of individuals and organizations who are guided by the Living Water Smart vision. The edition published on April 23, 2024 featured North Vancouver’s Richard Boase, an environmental champion in word and deed. His 30-year career history in local government is defined by the partnerships he forged with academia through collaboration with UBC’s Hans Schreier. This form of collaboration is an essential ingredient in the intergenerational baton strategy.
💧 Balancing Act: H2O and Healthy Streams
At the BC Land Summit on May 9 in Nanaimo, Richard Boase will tag-team with Paul Chapman to lead a session about Blue Ecology, a compass for a water-first approach. The session theme is caring for the land.
Blue Ecology is a framework for interweaving Western Science and Indigenous Knowledge. Water reconciliation is the goal. “We are telling the same story but just speaking two different languages,” observes Paul Chapman, Chair of the Watershed Moments Team.
The team produced a 90-minute video about Blue Ecology moderated by Richard Boase, released on World Rivers Day 2023, and broadcast multiple times throughout BC by Shaw Spotlight on their community channels.
A passion for applied research in pursuit of solutions
Richard Boase is an environmental champion in word and deed. His 30-year career history in local government is defined by the partnerships he forged with academia through collaboration with UBC’s Hans Schreier.
Richard Boase has the courage of his convictions. He leads by example to demonstrate how to apply “science-based understanding”. His vision is to protect, restore and enhance stream systems in the built environment.
With Richard Boase as the internal champion, the Partnership for Water Sustainability could always count on the District of North Vancouver to be a proving ground for innovative tools and approaches.
The session that changed everything for Richard Boase:
“In the 1990s, the UBC research team led by Hans Schreier and Ken Hall dated all these sediment cores from Burnaby Lake and extracted sediments from certain years. They identified, for example, when lead stopped being used in gasoline,” states Richard Boase.
“They also showed how pollutants in road runoff work their way through the drainage networks and into streams where they deposit. It was an inspiring moment for me. I saw a path forward for making a difference.”
EDITOR’S PERSPECTIVE / CONTEXT FOR BUSY READER
“In the April 16th edition of Waterbucket eNews, we featured the Partnership’s current collaboration with Vancouver Island University. Thanks to Richard Boase and his longstanding connection to Hans Schreier, the Partnership has an even longer relationship with the University of British Columbia,” stated Kim Stephens, Waterbucket eNews Editor and Partnership Executive Director.
“Collaboration with academia is an essential ingredient in what we in the Partnership frame as our intergenerational baton strategy. Our goal is to identify, invest in, and mentor those in the next generation who want to accept the baton because they see the benefits of building on experience.”
How we turn ideas into action
“At a critical moment, members of the Partnership team would have an idea around a research theme that supported our hypotheses,” recalled Richard Boase. “And as often happened, I was the arm that had the energy and willingness to take on the research, apply new science in North Vancouver, and get the work done.”
“One project that everyone involved in is especially proud of,” continued Kim Stephens, “is the North Shore Tree Canopy Rainfall Interception Project. Richard Boase and Hans Schreier ran with the idea, expanded the partnership to include the Canada Water Network, involved community volunteers, and implemented a network of 60 tree canopy climate stations across three municipalities.”
“The research quantified the proportion of rainfall intercepted by the tree canopy in an urban forest. This demonstrates the benefits of maintaining a tree canopy in the urban environment,” explained Richard Boase.
An inter-municipal coordinating team developed tree and site selection criteria and, with the assistance of UBC’s Dr. Markus Weiler (above), implemented an innovative system for capturing rain that makes it through the tree canopy.
Pursuit of knowledge in a quest to improve the urban fabric
“In my moments of reflection, I am proud of my pursuit of knowledge. It was shortly after the Hans Schreier workshop in the mid-1990s that I embarked on applied research that has defined my career with the District,” stated Richard Boase.
“Hans inspired me. Because of that relationship, the District used grad students to carry out vital research.”
“This research was in pursuit of making changes to the fabric of our urbanized areas. I was so encapsulated by what I saw around me, and the need for change, that my mind was always racing. And I needed to find ways to do research into what we were talking about.”
STORY BEHIND THE STORY: 💧 Balancing Act: H2O and Healthy Streams – extracts from conversations with Richard Boase and Hans Schreier
“Hans Schreier of UBC ignited my passion in the mid-1990s when he presented what his grad students had learned from sediment cores taken from Burnaby Lake. It was an aha moment for me,” recalls Richard Boase.
The research quest began with performance effectiveness of oil and grit separators
“When I look back at our history of collaboration, I think wow, how did we do so much. It started with the performance assessment of oil and grit interceptors in the 1990s. And it continued over the next two decades.”
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The marble racers demonstrated how friction (simulated with nails) slows runoff
Collaboration with Hans Schreier brought science into local government through applied research designed to make a difference
“After retiring from UBC in 2007, I volunteered my time and continued to teach courses until two years ago. So, all through those years, I still had access to students,” states Hans Schreier, Professor Emeritus in the Faculty of Land and Water Systems at the University of British Columbia.
“Students are always looking for projects where they can make a difference. We have a problem in academia; we are not very good communicators of science. The idea was how can we bring more science into development to make a difference.”
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Living Water Smart in British Columbia Series
To download a copy of the foregoing resource as a PDF document for your records and/or sharing, click on Living Water Smart in British Columbia: Balancing Act – H2O and Healthy Streams. The downloadable version includes a bonus feature in an appendix. The bonus is the complete interview with Richard Boase. This preview is extracted from the Chronicle of the Metro Vancouver region’s Green Infrastructure Journey (1997-2023) which will be published later in 2024.
DOWNLOAD A COPY: https://waterbucket.ca/wcp/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2024/04/PWSBC_Living-Water-Smart_Richard-Boase_bring-science-into-local-govt_2024.pdf