Dr. Donald Burn is a Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Waterloo, Associate Chair for Graduate Studies and a member of the Environmental and Water Resources Engineering Research Group. He is a past Co-Editor of the Canadian Water Resources Journal and is a member of the Study Board for the International Joint Commission’s International Upper Great Lakes Study.

Dr. Burn conducts research dealing with statistical aspects of hydrology.  The primary focus of this work is in regional frequency analysis for which he has developed approaches for identifying and forming groups of catchments that have been used elsewhere in Canada, in the United States, and in the United Kingdom. 

Dr. Burn also investigates approaches for characterizing drought probabilities in large drainage basins using streamflow generation techniques, investigates the hydrologic implications of climatic change, and develops methods for extending short hydrologic data records.  He also investigates issues related to the design of data collection networks and develops approaches for rationalizing data collection activities.  The use of emerging technologies for solving water resource problems has led to work investigating the use of neural networks for developing improved approaches for short term streamflow forecasting.  Dr. Burn uses systems analysis techniques to address problems related to water quality management and reservoir operation.