WC142 MayJune 2025 - Magazine - Page 8
FIRST DROPS
From Springs to Strategies: How Water Shaped My Career
HE FIRST TIME I was truly captivated by water
was as a child, standing at the base of what we called
the “magic tree” on my family’s rural property in
Québec. From between its roots, a spring bubbled up
from the ground—an invisible source giving rise to a
small creek.
What began as childhood wonder grew
into a lifelong curiosity about how water
moves, where it comes from, and how it
shapes the world around us. Over time,
that curiosity evolved into a career in the
environment—one shaped by three guiding
themes: fish, technology, and maps.
T
BY MELISSA DICK
ture optimization. For me, the most rewarding part of this work
was building partnerships that bridged the gap between solution
providers and end users, enabling practical, field-tested solutions
with the potential for scalable impact.
Mapping, beyond just technology, has always been a guiding
"The most rewarding part of this work was building
partnerships that bridged the gap between
solution providers and end users.”
Early in my career, I worked in fisheries
research and management, contributing
to studies on mercury bioaccumulation in
sportfish in Québec, the migration patterns
of sockeye salmon in British Columbia, and
predator-prey interactions in the mangrove
ecosystems of The Bahamas. These projects
combined biology and geography, and
deepened my understanding of the complex
relationships between aquatic ecosystems
Melissa Dick in The Bahamas doing 昀椀eld work.
and human activity. They also sparked my
interest in how technology could be used
to better monitor, manage, and protect aquatic species and
framework throughout my career. What began with an introwater systems.
duction to GIS as a student has evolved into helping clients
While working at a non-profit organization dedicated
embed geographic thinking into their business strategies. Time
to accelerating technology innovation in the water sector, I
and again, I’ve seen how place-based insights lead to stronger,
focused on helping emerging solutions move from concept to
more resilient decisions.
implementation. I collaborated with both small technology
I feel fortunate to have built my career in a way that has alcompanies and large utilities to pilot tools that addressed critlowed me to maintain a connection to the water sector, whether
ical challenges—from water quality monitoring to infrastructhrough capturing and tagging fish out in the field, designing a
pilot project to test a new technology that allows for more effective wastewater treatment, or working with a city’s water service
Melissa Dick is a
to ensure they can access authoritative spatial data to plan for
Management Consultant
upgrades on their drinking water distribution network. Just as
with Esri Canada.
the spring beneath the “magic tree” gave rise to a creek, a commitment to water stewardship has been the source of direction
and purpose throughout much of my career.
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WATER C AN ADA • M AY/JUNE 2025
WAT E R C A N A D A . N E T
