Water pollution is a critical environmental issue. The contaminants that get into aquatic ecosystems accumulate in sediments and concentrate in food chains.
Faculty conduct collaborative research on the dispersion of contaminants and the assimilation of metals by aquatic organisms, as well as the impact these metals have on the organisms affected. They seek to better understand the mechanisms regulating aquatic ecosystems in order to better predict environmental hazards and make sure ecosystems are protected.
The goal of their research is to provide a scientific basis to guide the difficult decisions that environmental protection agencies have to make. Their work deals with the deterioration of aquatic environments due to human activity and the dynamics of these environments at a time when environmental changes are affecting the biogeochemical cycles of the elements. Possible consequences are eutrophication, metal contamination, and global warming.
Eutrophication
To better understand the causes and impacts of algal blooms and cyanobacteria proliferation, research teams are developing detection and monitoring tools for affected environments. Team members are looking at restoration scenarios and predicting future impacts of environmental change.
Metal contamination
Lack of ecotoxicological data on metals makes it difficult to assess the environmental risks of mining. Faculty are not only acquiring new knowledge in this area, they are also developing new analytical methods, assessing interactions, and exploring the cumulative, synergic, and antagonistic effects of the contaminants aquatic organisms are exposed to in their natural environment. Drawing on lab research that has provided insights on the parameters that influence the bioaccumulation of metals in exposed organisms, research teams are now studying organisms in the field, where they are chronically exposed to stressors.
Global warming
We now know that a significant portion of the world’s natural methane emissions comes from lakes, and more specifically from a previously unsuspected source: boreal lakes. As a result, we need to more accurately measure the components found in greenhouse gas emissions and better understand the carbon cycle in northern ecosystems where data is scarce.
Biogeochemistry and trace metals in the aquatic environment
Metal biogeochemistry
Aquatic Geochemistry and Ecotoxicology
Freshwater Ecology and Ecotoxicology
Ecotoxicogenomics
Aquatic and bio-optic ecology
Biostructure of freshwater ecosystems
