Science Day
Thursday, October 29th
Speaker Schedule
9:00am–9:15am EST
Words Before All Else
Abraham Francis, Mohawk Council of Akwesasne- Environment Program
9:15am–10:00am EST
Kaniatarowanenneh (St. Lawrence River): Akwesasronon Relationships Across Time
10:00am-10:40pm EST
Perspectives on the Influence of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Freshwater Fish Biodiversity and Management
10:40am-12:00pm EST
Session 1: Changing World
Session Chair: Matt Windle, River Institute
Challenges and threats to the freshwater ecosystems (invasive species. climate change, pollution, water levels, sediments, genomics).
10:40am-11:00am- Lawrence Gunther, Blue Fish Canada
Consultation Report on Fish Health in the Great Lakes and Upper St. Lawrence River.
11:00am-11:20am- Jessica Taylor, Carleton University
Using evidence synthesis for improved aquatic management in a changing world.
10:20am-11:40am- Mark MacDougall, River Institute
Assessment of species of importance habitat availability in Thousand Islands National Park using satellite imagery.
11:40am-12:00pm- Catherine Paquette, WWF-Canada
WWF-Canada Watershed Reports: 2020 Reassessment
12:00pm-1:00pm EST
Lunch Break
1:00pm-1:40pm EST
Guest Speaker: Fin Donnelly, Rivershed Society of British Columbia
Watershed CPR : A path to heal and protect the Fraser River
Healthy watersheds provide an essential role in ecosystems services which in turn benefit people and all living things. Healthy ecosystems sustain our communities and our economies. The Rivershed Society of British Columbia is working within a Watershed CPR (conserve, protect, restore) framework to address the emergency facing the Fraser Watershed. Watershed CPR includes a proactive, preventative, healthcare approach to critical watershed health issues. By conserving and protecting watersheds, communities may reduce, even avoid, costly restorative actions (e.g. repairing habitat, preventing flooding, species loss and pollution, etc.). Fin will explain how the Watershed CPR framework is advancing ecosystem resilience on the Fraser.
1:40pm-3:00pm EST
Session 2: Living Waters
Session Chair: Cristina Charette
1:40am-2:00pm- Elizabeth Grater, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières
A bacterial metabolic journey through the St. Lawrence riverscape.
2:00pm-2:20pm- Nicholas Kiulia, Centre Eau Terre Environnement, Institut national de la recherche scientifique
Using periphytic biofilm fatty acid profiles to monitor stream eutrophication along a nutrient-enrichment gradient in southern Quebec.
2:20pm-2:40pm- Katherine Moir, Queen’s University
Diatom responses to industrial contamination on the St. Lawrence River: Historical changes and present-day impacts.
2:40am-3:00pm- Zoe Armstrong, Queen’s University
Historic pollution impacts and subsequent recovery of benthic invertebrates in the St. Lawrence River at Cornwall, ON: a paleo-ecotoxicological approach using chironomids as bioindicators.
3:00pm-4:20pm EST
Session 3: Food Webs & Biodiversity
Session Chair: Dr. Mary Ann Perron, River Institute
3:00pm-3:20pm- Bailey Bedard, University of Ottawa
Variation in habitat use and its consequences for mercury exposure in bats (Myotis lucifugus and Eptesicus fuscus).
3:20pm-3:40pm- Jacey Hall, Mohawk Counicl of Akwesasne- Environment Program
Let’s put the “We” back in wetlands: The Akwesasne Wetland Project.
3:40pm-4:00pm- Jaclyn Hill, Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Evaluating the effectiveness of habitat restoration on fish communities in the Restigouche River watershed.
4:00pm-4:20pm- Amanda Nurse, University of Western Ontario
Resiliency of Great Lakes salmon to climate change.