Jason Thistlethwaite

Dr. Jason Thistlethwaite is an Associate Professor in the School of Environment, Enterprise, and Development (SEED) at the University of Waterloo. His research on flood risk management has been supported by SSHRC (2015-2017, 2018-2022), a MEOPAR Early-Career Scholar Grant (2015-2017), and the Canadian Water Network (2016-2017). These projects provided training for 1 Postdoctoral Fellow, 3 PhDs, and 4 MAs. In 2017, he was appointed to the Government of Canada’s National Roundtable on Flood Risk (a cabinet-level committee) and his work is informing Public Safety Canada and the Insurance Bureau of Canada’s (IBC) efforts to design flood insurance for high risk areas. Dr. Thistlethwaite’s expertise in public policy, flood risk management and urban climate change will benefit the project to inform decision-making on strategies to reduce risk. His recent research includes an international instrumental analysis of urban flood risk management strategies, and an evaluation of the suitability of these instruments in Ontario municipalities. He also recently completed an evaluation of existing flood maps in Canada to inform public decision-making on risk reduction. Dr. Thistlethwaite leads the Canadian Coastal Resilience Forum (CCRF), a Community of Practice dedicated to strengthening social resilience to natural hazards by facilitating the sharing of knowledge across a variety of sectors and identifying/promoting effective governance strategies.