You’re forgiven if you haven’t previously heard of McGill’s Brace Water Centre.
Located on Macdonald Campus, many would mistake its unassuming office for a private residence. Yet looks can be deceiving – for not only does the Centre boast an extraordinary history, it’s also associated with some of the University’s most exciting scientific researchers.
“We’re very small, but we want bold ideas,” says Prof. Jinxia Liu, director of the Brace Water Centre and associate professor of civil engineering at McGill. “We aim to make a big impact beyond our size.”
Jointly affiliated with the faculties of Engineering and Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, the Centre is focused solely on complex water issues – including climate change, energy security, ecosystem quality and human health.
“Traditionally it was easy to tell if a professor’s research was a good fit for Brace, but we’re encouraging cross-discipline collaboration. Whether it’s machine learning, material sciences, chemistry or electrical engineering, we want people who don’t usually collaborate to work together, because that’s how you break new ground in research.”
Balancing population growth, food production and environmental impact is an ongoing struggle, and new water contaminants are always emerging.”
Members of the Centre include Prof. Dominic Frigon, who monitored COVID-19 in Quebec wastewater; Prof. Natalie Tufenkji, a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair investigating micro- and nanoplastics; Prof. Subhasis Ghoshal, whose work focuses on nanomaterials and nanopesticides; and Prof. Jan Franklin Adamowski, a William Dawson Scholar and associate director at the Brace Water Centre, whose research interests include water resources management and sustainable agriculture.
Altogether, Brace members are engaged in over 100 active projects. “We encourage ideas that are high-risk, high-reward – projects that researchers otherwise could not do without institutional support.”
The Centre, its research and its funding are all thanks to a legacy gift – and an unexpected one at that. It’s named after Major James H. Brace, an American WWI veteran born in 1870 – over 150 years ago. Brace earned a bachelor of civil engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1892 and worked on the East River Tunnels under New York’s Pennsylvania Station in the early 20th century. It’s there that he may have met McGill alumnus Charles Fraser, BSc 1899, and together they founded Fraser-Brace Engineering Co. Ltd. The company’s projects included the Gouin dam in La Tuque – Quebec’s biggest ever construction project when it was completed in 1916 – and the Canadian Nuclear Laboratories in Chalk River, Ontario, part of the infamous Manhattan Project.
Despite his scant ties to the University, when Brace passed away in 1956 he left nearly the entire residue of his estate to McGill, stipulating that it be used for water research. Valued at over $2 million at the time of his death, over 60 years later his gift continues to provide the Brace Water Centre with its annual operating budget.
“It just shows how a simple act of generosity – just one time many years ago – can create a ripple effect for generations,” says Prof. Liu. “It’s inspiring to think of how many students and researchers and projects, both now and in the future, will benefit from his decision.”
Although much progress has been made since Major Brace left his bequest to McGill, “there are always new challenges. Balancing population growth, food production and environmental impact is an ongoing struggle, and new water contaminants are always emerging.”
Fortunately, the Brace Water Centre will remain in perpetuity – supporting McGill researchers and driving new discoveries. “We want to make not just incremental improvements, but transformative changes. That’s a big word, but that’s our goal for the future.”
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