The effects of fire on aquatic ecosystems in the NWT

Our research group is working in the southern Northwest Territories to explore how recent, widespread wildfires are affecting aquatic ecosystem function. This research is occurring in collaboration with scientists from the Government of the Northwest Territories, and researchers from Wilfrid Laurier University (Dr. Bill Quinton), Environment Canada (Dr. Chris Spence), and the University of Alberta (Dr. David Olefeldt). Fieldwork for this project is being carried out in the Taiga Plains and Taiga Shield ecozones of the Northwest Territories, to understand the interacting effects of fire and permafrost thaw across diverse Arctic ecosystems.

Post-doc involvement: Ryan Hutchins

Graduate student involvement: Caren Ackley (MSc, Laurier; co-supervised with Bill Quinton; completed 2019); Katherine Burd (MSc, UAlberta, co-supervised by David Olefeldt; completed 2017)

Funding for this work is through POLAR Canada and the GNWT Cumulative Impacts Monitoring Program (CIMP)

Photo credit: Environment and Natural Resources, Government of the Northwest Territories