Gemma Dunn
Research Interests: indicators and assessment frameworks, water security, water conservation strategies (particularly demand and supply) and infrastructure. 
Biography: Gemma is a research associate and the policy outreach coordinator for the UBC-led project on water security. The overall objective of this project is to create a Water Security Assessment Framework (WSAF) to improve water security in Canada by improving governance for source protection and land use.
Gemma has a broad range of experience in the water sector, working on various water policy and water utility projects in Europe and North America. Her experience includes bid preparation for PPP’s in Europe, policy research, lobbying for freshwater policy changes at the UN CSD in New York, and the application of demand and supply strategies. These strategies include metering, leak detection and Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR).
In 1998 she completed her MSc in Environmental Technology, specialising in water management, at Imperial College of Science Technology and Medicine in London, UK. To date she has worked for a number of private sector and non-governmental organisations in the water and wastewater arena. These include West Coast Environmental Law (WCEL), International Water (UK) Limited (a Bechtel subsidiary) and UNED-UK (United Nations Environment and Development UK Committee). Prior to joining UBC’s Program on Water Governance, Gemma worked as an independent environmental consultant through her own company Ishka.
Publications:
Dunn, Gemma and Karen Bakker (in review). Comparative assessment of Canadian drinking water quality guidelines across Canadian provinces and territories: The challenge of place-based variation in the context of decentralized water governance. Submitted to Health and Place (January 2012).
Dunn, Gemma and Karen Bakker (2011). Fresh Water-Related Indicators in Canada: An Inventory and Analysis. Canadian Water Resources Journal Vol. 36(2): 135-148.
Norman, Emma S., Karen Bakker and Gemma Dunn (2011). Recent Developments in Canadian Water Policy: An emerging water security paradigm. Canadian Water Resources Journal 36(1), 53-66.
Emma Norman with Karen Bakker, Christina Cook, Gemma Dunn and Diana Allen (2010). Water Security: A Primer (Policy Report). Vancouver, BC: UBC Program on Water Governance.
Dunn, Gemma and Karen Bakker (2009). Canadian Approaches to Assessing Water Security: an Inventory of Indicators (Policy Report). Vancouver, BC: UBC Program on Water Governance.
CWN conference poster on the Water Security Status Indicator Assessment method March 2011
CWRA June 2010 Indicators conference poster presentation
Advisory Roles:
National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy: Water Use Information Round Table (2010 – ongoing) – Federal
Environment Canada: Water Availability Indicator (WAI) Interdepartmental Working Group (2010 – ongoing) – Federal
BC Ministry of Environment: Expert Advisory Group on Indicators (2008 – 2009) – Provincial
