Evan Davies

Biography

Biography: 2003 - 2007 Ph.D. (Civil and Environmental Engineering), The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario. 2001-2003 M.E.S. (Environment and Resource Studies), The University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario. Field research in China and India. 1995-2001 B.A.Sc. (Systems Design Engineering), The University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario. Includes year-long exchange at Technical University of Hamburg-Harburg, Hamburg, Germany. Languages: Fluent in German and French, proficient in Mandarin

Research Interest

primary interests lie in the fields of water resources, systems thinking and modeling, and sustainable development. My work focuses on systems modelling of water resources and their socio-economic and environmental context. Because these systems interact through complex, nonlinear feedbacks, the models I develop represent those feedbacks explicitly. The idea is that relatively simple systems can give rise to highly complex behaviours, and that if we understand the underlying structures involved -- characteristic feedbacks, delays, and accumulations and flows of material and information – we can improve our understanding and management of them. Since water resource systems are my particular area of interest, they form the centre of my models while other parts of the world form the context. Past research activity: received PhD from University of Western Ontario in December 2007. Worked one year as post-doctoral fellow at UWO. Appointed Assistant Professor at the University of Alberta in July 2009.