Canada Research Chair Dr. Maggie Xenopoulos is breaking through (the ice) to find out
Millions of people rely on the Great Lakes for drinking water, recreation, and transportation of goods. But how is climate change impacting these globally significant ecosystems?
Researchers from 16 institutions across Canada and the United States, including Trent’s Canada Research Chair of Global Change of Freshwater Ecosystems and Biology professor, Dr. Marguerite (Maggie) Xenopoulos, ventured onto — and under — the ice for the Winter Grab, a first-of-its-kind coordinated research effort to paint a picture of water quality and life in and under the ice. During the week of February 14, 2022, which historically marked peak ice cover extent on the lakes, teams collected ice and water samples from over 30 locations across all five Great Lakes.
“Not much winter research is done on lakes because the prevailing thought has been that everything is cold and frozen so there must not be much going on,” says Professor Xenopoulos. “However, several recent studies have now shown that life under the ice is abundant and diverse, and large lakes are increasingly vulnerable to climate change. No one is exactly sure what the consequences will be with ice cover losses and increasing air and water temperatures. The need for winter research has never been greater, particularly to help inform management decisions.”
Prof. Xenopoulos is one of two Canada Research Chairs involved in the project and is leading the analyses of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) for ice and water samples from every site of the Winter Grab. DOC is a major component of the earth’s carbon cycle and an important player in the functioning of aquatic systems. Prof. Xenopoulos has spent the last 20 years studying this sentinel variable in lakes and rivers across Ontario and the Great Lakes.
