In recent years, the paradigm of groundwater as a socio-ecological system has enriched the groundwater governance literature immensely (Bouchet et al., 2019), building on the foundations laid by Ostrom and colleagues decades ago (Partelow, 2018). Challenges remain at both research and governance domains given the highly interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary demands of both to adequately reflect the ways in which groundwater sits at a nexus of ‘connected systems’ (Huggins et al., 2023). This talk will contribute to the IAH10 Groundwater Governance and Policy panel by offering two related perspectives. First, in light of this recent work we will review the challenge areas facing groundwater research that wishes also to address governance issues, particularly in light of climate change pressures impacting both. Second, we will reflect how these areas emerge in the Canadian context within a current research project studying the dynamic systems of saltwater/freshwater interactions in coastal aquifers in Prince Edward Island, which have competing demands and emerging vulnerabilities under both human use and climate change pressures. REFERENCES Bouchet, L., Thoms, M. C., & Parsons, M. (2019). Groundwater as a social-ecological system: A framework for managing groundwater in Pacific Small Island Developing States. Groundwater for Sustainable Development, 8, 579–589. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gsd.2019.02.008 Huggins, X., Gleeson, T., Castilla‐Rho, J., Holley, C., Re, V., & Famiglietti, J. S. (2023). Groundwater Connections and Sustainability in Social‐Ecological Systems. Ground Water, 61(4), 463–478. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwat.13305 Partelow, S. (2018). A review of the social-ecological systems framework: applications, methods, modifications, and challenges. Ecology and Society, 23(4), Article art36. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-10594-230436