Adrienne Ducharme makes adjustments to the pump tube Lake 239 photo by Steph Higgins
While many of us take a summer break lounging at the lake, several dedicated UWinnipeg students are wading hip-deep in water doing research at the Experimental Lakes Area in Ontario.
Adrienne Ducharme is doing her Master of Science in Bioscience, Technology and Public Policy at UWinnipeg and was recently awarded a prestigious Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) $17,500 scholarship. Her research is focused on monitoring dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in Lake 239, examining the long term data and seeing what effect storms are having. Too much DOC causes a “browning” of the water and undermines the health of the lake.
“Being out at ELA is magical and there is such a long aquatic research history here, it is really unique in North America,” says Ducharme. “We also have Wednesday evening seminars right at the lakeside, for example, with an Aboriginal teacher, and you really feel the connection to the lakes.”
Adrienne Ducharme and Steph Higgins work on automatic water sampler on Lake 239 photo by Nora Casson
Ducharme is joined this summer by Steph Higgins who is providing assistance. She is in her 4th year (Geography). “The ELA is a place of learning and discovery,” says Higgins, who plans to continue in academia to obtain a Masters and PhD.
Ducharme and Higgins credit UWinnipeg’s Dr. Nora Casson, Assistant Professor (Geography) for her continued support and enthusiasm in researching the health of our lakes.
Today the Governments of Canada, Manitoba, Ontario announced support for ELA and the Manitoba government renewed support for the Prairie Climate Centre.
MEDIA CONTACT
Diane Poulin, Senior Communications Specialist, The University of Winnipeg
P: 204.988.7135, E: d.poulin@uwinnipeg.ca
