Field notes from a research exchange with Canada’s land modelling community

By Sean Bryan, research software engineer at ACCESS-NRI

Sean Bryan at the University of Laval

From April to July, 2026 I was hosted by the HydroNord research group led by Prof. Daniel Nadeauy at the University Laval in Quebec, Canada. This research group specialises in studying the hydrological cycle in cold regions.

During my stay, I presented the benchcab land surface model evaluation tool developed by ACCESS-NRI and the UNSW Climate Research Centre to the Canadian research community. The audience included scientists from HydroNord, Ouranos, and Environment and Climate Change Canada, and was a fantastic opportunity to meet and engage with them.

To engage with the Canadian and wider land modelling community, I focused on developing a new version of benchcab (aiida-benchcab) which could allow for running and evaluating other land surface models, not just CABLE. I was lucky enough to follow up with researchers Dr. Nicolas Leroux and Dr. Vincent Vionett from Environment and Climate Change Canada who helped me run their new SVS2 land surface model, and fitting their model with the new system.

Field site in the Mont Morency Forest managed by the HydroNord team

Another highlight was my tour of the field site in the Mont Morency Forest managed by the HydroNord team, which was about an hours drive out of Quebec City. It was awesome to see the physical apparatus which was behind the driving and observational datasets that I had been working with, and I have a newfound appreciation for the effort required in maintaining these sites.

I thank Dr Claire Carouge, Prof. Andy Hogg and Victoria Allen for their help in making this possible, Prof. Daniel Nadeau for being open to the opportunity and providing me with facilities to carry out my work. And lastly my wife, Cynthia, for her ongoing support who accompanied me throughout the stay.