Jennifer Drake, University of Toronto

Research

de-icers green infrastructure green streets low impact development pedestrian safety permeable pavement road-right-of-way stormwater management

Latest papers

Road salt induced mobilization and accumulation of heavy metals in roadside bioretention in the field: the roles of season, plant uptake, media, and catchment properties.
Chemosphere · 2026 · senior author
A practical, low-cost floating flux chamber for measuring greenhouse gas emissions from small urban waterbodies.
Environmental monitoring and assessment · 2026 · senior author
Combining inflow and infiltration assessment methods to enhance insights in data-scarce contexts: application to 46 Brazilian systems.
Water science and technology : a journal of the International Association on Water Pollution Research · 2026

All 13 publications

Latest funding

Leveraging wireless soil monitoring technology to support green asset management and maintenance
NSERC · 2024 · Principal investigator
$68,333
Data-driven decision-making for stormwater management ponds using real-time monitoring
NSERC · 2022 · Principal investigator
$30,000
Integrated system for photosynthesis and greenhouse gas flux measurements
NSERC · 2022 · Co-investigator
$137,472

All 16 grants and awards

13 publications.

01

Road salt induced mobilization and accumulation of heavy metals in roadside bioretention in the field: the roles of season, plant uptake, media, and catchment properties.

Khaniya B, Szota C, Fletcher TD, Drake J

Chemosphere2026Senior author

DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2026.144958 PMID: 42139917

02

A practical, low-cost floating flux chamber for measuring greenhouse gas emissions from small urban waterbodies.

Reynolds BE, Van De Ven CJC, Heyes E, Drake J

Environmental monitoring and assessment2026Senior author

DOI: 10.1007/s10661-026-15463-2 PMID: 42191969

03

Combining inflow and infiltration assessment methods to enhance insights in data-scarce contexts: application to 46 Brazilian systems.

Marega G, Drake J, Meyer DDJ

Water science and technology : a journal of the International Association on Water Pollution Research2026

DOI: 10.2166/wst.2026.194 PMID: 41686494

04

Road salt reduces plant cover in bioretention systems within road rights-of-way.

Khaniya B, Szota C, Fletcher TD, Drake J

The Science of the total environment2025Senior author

DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2025.180082 PMID: 40695217

05

Pavement wear generates microplastics in stormwater runoff.

Smyth K, Tan S, Van Seters T, Henderson V, Passeport E, Drake J

Journal of hazardous materials2025Senior author

DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.136495 PMID: 39556907

06

Year-round monitoring of chloride releases from three zero-exfiltration permeable pavements and an asphalt parking lot.

Sehgal K, Sidhu V, Oswald C, Drake J

Journal of environmental management2023Senior author

DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.116903 PMID: 36502708

07

Biochar granulation enhances plant performance on a green roof substrate.

Liao W, Drake J, Thomas SC

The Science of the total environment2022

DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.152638 PMID: 34968588

08

Biochar granulation, particle size, and vegetation effects on leachate water quality from a green roof substrate.

Liao W, Drake J, Thomas SC

Journal of environmental management2022

DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.115506 PMID: 35753127

09

Bioretention cells remove microplastics from urban stormwater.

Smyth K, Drake J, Li Y, Rochman C, Van Seters T, Passeport E

Water research2021

DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2020.116785 PMID: 33401167

10

Trace Organic Contaminant Transfer and Transformation in Bioretention Cells: A Field Tracer Test with Benzotriazole.

Gu X, Rodgers TFM, Spraakman S, Van Seters T, Flick R, Diamond ML, Drake J, Passeport E

Environmental science & technology2021

DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.1c01062 PMID: 34495667

Leveraging wireless soil monitoring technology to support green asset management and maintenance

Principal investigatorNSERC2024Alliance Grants

Principal investigators: Drake, Jennifer JAP

Keywords: green infrastructure; living architecture; plant health; real time monitoring; sensors; soil science; stormwater management

$68,333

Data-driven decision-making for stormwater management ponds using real-time monitoring

Principal investigatorNSERC2022Alliance Grants

Principal investigators: Drake, Jennifer JAP

$30,000

Integrated system for photosynthesis and greenhouse gas flux measurements

Co-investigatorNSERC2022Research Tools and Instruments

Principal investigators: Thomas, Sean

$137,472

Optimized soil moisture monitoring for a multi-sensor green roof and green wall system to inform irrigation and maintenance decisions

Principal investigatorNSERC2022Alliance Grants

Principal investigators: Drake, Jennifer JAP

$30,000

Stormwater and Low Impact Development

Principal investigatorNSERC2021Canada Research Chairs

Principal investigators: Drake, Jennifer

Keywords: stormwater; urban water; hydrology; water quality; green infrastructure; low impact development; green roofs; permeable pavement; bioretention

$310,000

Buildings and floods: Micro-scale flood risk assessment in cities

Co-investigatorNSERC2021Alliance Grants

Principal investigators: MacVicar, Bruce BJ

Keywords: climate change; computer vision; flood modelling; land-use change; low-impact development; remote sensing; risk analysis; stormwater management

$652,310

Characterizing Microplastics and Microfibres using micro-FTIR

Co-investigatorNSERC2020Research Tools and Instruments

Principal investigators: Diamond, Miriam

$148,938

Design of Living Infrastructure for Ecosystem Services

Co-investigatorNSERC2019Collaborative Research and Training Experience

Principal investigators: Sleep, Brent BE

Keywords: biodeversity; green infrastructure; hydrology; landscape architecture; living infrastructure; low impact development; sustainable sites; urban ecology

$1,650,000

Green Streets: Designing permeable pavement systems in the road right-of-way

Principal investigatorNSERC2019Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Principal investigators: Drake, Jennifer

Keywords: de-icers; green infrastructure; green streets; low impact development; pedestrian safety; permeable pavement; road-right-of-way; stormwater management; wind driven rain

$186,000

Designing a Complete Water Sensitive Community through Low Impact Development Practices

Principal investigatorNSERC2017Engage Grants Program

Principal investigators: Drake, Jennifer

$25,000

From CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC funding decisions: CIHR since 2008, NSERC since 1991 and SSHRC since 1998, including their latest published competition results.

Frequent collaborators

Civil Engineering
Civil and Environmental Engineering

Co-authors at University of Toronto, colored by department. Thicker lines mean more shared papers; select anyone to open their profile and their own map.

Elodie Passeport

Civil Engineering

3 shared papers, latest 2025

Bryan Karney

Civil Engineering

1 shared papers, latest 2017

Brian Karney

Civil Engineering

1 shared papers, latest 2017

Write to this professor

A short, specific email works best. This draft uses one of their recent papers; replace the parts in brackets with your own details before sending.

Applying for

Paper to mentionMention their NSERC grant from 2024

Subject: Prospective PhD student: de-icers Dear Professor Drake, My name is [your name], and I am a [your current degree or role] at [your institution]. I am applying for a PhD position starting in [term and year]. I read your paper "Road salt induced mobilization and accumulation of heavy metals in roadside bioretention in the field: the roles of season, plant uptake, media, and catchment properties." (2026), and it connects closely to my own work on [your research topic]. [One or two sentences on what you did and what you learned.] I also saw your NSERC-funded project "Leveraging wireless soil monitoring technology to support green asset management and maintenance" (2024), and I would be glad to contribute to work in that direction. Are you accepting new PhD students for [term and year]? I have attached my CV and transcripts, and I would be glad to talk at a time that suits you. Thank you for your time. Kind regards, [your name]