|
Our long-term research interest is to understand and model
nutrient-foodweb dynamics of freshwater and marine ecosystems, and
associated patterns of water quality, fisheries productivity, fate and
transport of nutrients, energy and contaminants along aquatic foodwebs, and
aquatic diversity. During the last decade, my research team has been
approaching these fundamental ecological concepts and theories using
ecosystem-level projects in coastal and interior BC, Alaska, northern Quebec
and Ontario. Some of these projects are: nutrient limitation of aquatic
productivity in coastal and interior lakes, delineation of aquatic foodweb
structure and sources of energy along aquatic foodwebs using stable isotope
geochemistry, linkages among foodweb structure, energy transfer efficiency
and Hg accumulation in plankton and fish, ecosystem level impacts of fish
farm on contaminants in traditional seafoods of aboriginal people, fish farm
impacts on sea lice infection of juvenile Pacific salmon, nutrient-foodweb
ecology of sockeye salmon ecosystems in Alaska and BC, foodweb dynamics and
trophic interactions among juvenile Pacific salmon in the Bering Sea
Ecosystem, resource partitioning between brook trout and juvenile Atlantic
salmon in northern Québec streams, and the impact of selective sport
fishing on foodweb structure, resource allocation and Hg accumulation in
lake trout of selected Ontario lakes.
Besides these, our major interest has always been to link
ecological understanding to aquatic resource management, and sustainable
clean and healthy water for public health and safety. To achieve these, we
have been working in partnership with several regional water supply
authorities and over 20 communities in BC, and 16 aboriginal communities
across Canada, and developing science and decision-making tools to reduce
microbial and chemical health risks in source and tap water through best
land- and water-use practices, optimization of disinfection byproducts and
through tracking sources of microbial and chemical pollution of source
water. Our current research
interest is also on the quality of water in the rural and slump communities
in under-developed countries like Bangladesh, Haiti and Cambodia, where we
are testing how the availability of safe household water leads to improved
health and childhood education.
|
