Isobel Heathcote holds a B.Sc. from the University of Toronto (1974) and an M.S. (1975) and Ph.D. (1978) in physical limnology and hydraulics from Yale University. Her work experience is diverse, encompassing employment in both the public and private sectors. She has worked as a consultant with Acres Consulting Services Ltd. and her own company, Wyndham Research Inc. From 1979 to 1985, she was employed by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment's Water Resources Branch. During this period, she worked on water management issues in all the major lake and river systems in Ontario, with special emphasis on watershed management planning for the Wabigoon, Thames, Grand, Rideau, Avon, Don, Humber, and Rouge River systems. As Supervisor, Great Lakes Investigations and Surveillance, she and her staff conducted investigations throughout the Great Lakes, especially in the Areas of Concern, and contributed to the development of Remedial Action Plans for those areas.

From 1985 to 1991, Isobel directed and taught in the Environmental Studies and Environmental Sciences programs at the University of Toronto. In 1991, she joined the University of Guelph, where she is the Dean of Graduate Studies and holds the rank of Professor, cross-appointed in Environmental Engineering and Environmental Sciences. Her research interests centre on environmental management policy, integrated water management and watershed restoration, waste minimization and process optimization in small industrial facilities (especially the dairy, tannery, metal finishing, pulp and paper, and chemical manufacturing industries), and information management in environmental policy development. To date, Isobel has served as the principal advisor for 21 master’s students and 3 doctoral students at the University of Guelph, and has served on the advisory committees of dozens of other students in engineering, economics, geography, planning, and extension studies.

From 1990 until its demise in 1995, Isobel was Chair of the Ontario Minister of the Environment's MISA (Municipal-Industrial Strategy for Abatement) Advisory Committee, advising the Ontario Minister of the Environment and Energy on the development of a new system of regulations for industrial and municipal effluents. She is currently the Canadian Co-Chair of the Canada-United States International Joint Commission's Science Advisory Board and serves on the American Society of Civil Engineers' International Cooperation Council and ASCE’s Task Committee on Implementing Technical Cooperation in North American Water Resources Management. She is a former President of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Institute for Environmental Law and Policy, and is a former member of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Pollution Prevention Centre. Her most recent books are Environmental Science: A Framework for Action (Prentice Hall, scheduled for publication in 2004); Environmental Problem Solving: A Case Study Approach (1997, New York: McGraw-Hill); and Integrated Watershed Management: Principles and Practice (1998, New York: John Wiley and Sons). Isobel was the recipient of the 2003 Guelph YMCA-YWCA Women of Distinction award in the Education, Training, and Development category, and is listed in several national and international Who’s Who publications, including Canadian Who's Who.