New People - Kidd Lab

Katharina Fischer (BSc University of Guelph). MSc student. Effects of methylmercury on the health of yellow perch in Kejimkujik National Park, Nova Scotia. (Karen Kidd)

Meredith Clayden (BSc Mount Allison). MSc student. Mercury bioaccumulation and energetics of food webs in Kejimkujik National Park, Nova Scotia. (Karen Kidd)

New People - MacLatchy Lab

Tanya Nadon and Jeremy Fulton have started Honours project with Dr. MacLatchy.

New People - Peake Lab

Craig McDougall. originally from Pinawa, MB (BSc U of Manitoba). Upstream and downstream passage over hydroelectric dams of lake sturgeon. MSc project. Co-supervisors: Steve Peake/Gary Anderson.

Katy Jay – originally from Ontario (BSc U of Guelph).
Summer technician.



Dan Stepanik – originally from Pinawa, MB (BSc U of Manitoba).
Summer technician associated with the Manitoba Science Academy.



Meagan Alexander – originally from Winnipeg, MB (undergrad U of Winnipeg).
Summer technician associated with the Manitoba Science Academy.



Christine Lacho – originally from Winnipeg, MB (BSc U of Winnipeg).
Summer technician associated with the Manitoba Science Academy.

New People - UPEI group

Sean McNeill - originally from Summerside, PE
Undergraduate Honours Thesis.
Measurement of Gonadal Steroidogenic Enzyme Expression in Three-Spined Stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus)
Co-supervised: Mike van den Heuvel and Natacha Hogan

Scott Roloson - originally from Montague, PE
Undergraduate Honours Thesis.
Dynamics and size structure of yellow perch (Perca flavescens) populations from north-eastern Alberta lakes.
Supervisor: Mike van den Heuvel

Laura Phalen - originally from Charlottetown, PE
Undergraduate Summer Student.
Development of molecular techniques for detection of iridovirus in yellow perch (Perca flavescens) exposed to oil sands process-affected water
Co-supervised: Mike van den Heuvel and Natacha Hogan

Ashleigh Allen - originally from Charlottetown, PE
Undergraduate Honours Thesis.
Influence of thyroid hormone on gonadal steroidogenesis and steroidogenic enzyme expression in the amphibian Xenopus tropicalis.
Supervisor: Natacha Hogan

Jenelle McKenzie - originally from Hartsville, PE
Jenelle is a student assistant field technician working in estuaries along Prince Edward Island's North shore. She is working on assessing fish community composition in eelgrass beds in estuaries with differing eelgrass structure. All of her work is part of an on-going project to identify land-use impacts on PEI's estuarine environment.
Supervisor: Kevin Teather

Completed Students

Allison Van Slack
• BSc Honours student in the MacLatchy Lab at Laurier, Completed in April 2009
• Starting in a MSc program in Agriculture at University of Guelph

Publications/Conference proceedings/Reports

Journal article publications

Buffagni A., Armanini D.G. & Erba S. 2009. Does the lentic-lotic character of rivers affect invertebrate metrics used in the assessment of ecological quality?. Journal of Limnology 68 (1) 92-105.

Monk, W.A., P.J. Wood, D.M. Hannah and D.A. Wilson. 2008. Instream ecological response to inter-annual variability in the hydrological regime for rivers in England and Wales. River Research and Applications. 24: 988-1001.

Wartman, C.A., N.S. Hogan, L.M. Hewitt, M.E. McMaster, M.J. Landman, S. Taylor, T.G. Kovacs, and M.R. van den Heuvel. 2009. Androgenic effects of a Canadian bleached kraft pulp and paper effluent as assessed using threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus). Aquat. Toxicol. 92 :131-139

Book chapters

Buffagni, A., Cazzola, M., Alba-Tercedor, J., López Rodríguez, M.J. & Armanini, D.G. 2009. Distribution and Ecological Preferences of European Freshwater Organisms. Volume 4. Ephemeroptera, Schmidt-Kloiber, A. & Hering D. (eds.), Pensoft publishers, pp. 388.

Metcalfe, C., K.A. Kidd and J. Sumpter. 2009. Chemically-induced alterations to gonadal development in fish. In: Leatherland and Woo (Eds.) Fish Diseases and Disorders: Non-infectious Disorders, 2nd Edition, CABI Publ., U.K.

Reports/Non-peer reviewed articles

Baird, D.J., Peters, D.L., Monk, W.A., Horrigan, N., Curry, R.A. and Tenenbaum, D.E. (2008). Assessing the ecological effects of instream flow modifications. 2007/08 Final Report. National Agri-Environmental Standards Initiative, NAESI Technical Series.

Baird, D.J., Peters, D.L., Curry, R.A., Horrigan, N., Monk, W.A. and Tenenbaum, D.E. (2008). Establishing Standards and Assessment Criteria for Instream Flow Needs in Agricultural Watersheds of Canada. A Synthesis Report prepared as part of Environment Canada’s National Agri-Environmental Standards Initiative: Water Theme. 70pp.

Peters, D.L., Baird, D.J., Monk, W.A. and Tenenbaum, D.E. (2008). Towards the Development of Instream Flow Needs Standards for Agricultural Watersheds in Canada – 2007/08 Final Report. National Agri-Environmental Standards Initiative, NAESI Technical Series.

van den Heuvel, M.R. Site-Specific Guidelines for Phosphorus in Relation to the Water Quality Index Calculations for Prince Edward Island. Report for the Government of PEI.

CRI Training - current offerings

Currently we have 3 non-credit professional courses that we are offering:

Backpack Electrofishing Certificate - online course + field practicum

Canadian Aquatic Biomonitoring (CABIN) Certificate program - series of online course modules + field practicum

Stream Restoration: Design and Monitoring - face-to-face week long course led by Dr. Bob Newbury to be held in Penticton BC 26-30 Oct, 2009. (Note: depending on requirement at your home institution, you may be able to request credit for this course).


Depending on the course, we have student and/or CRI rates, check out the course websites and contact Michelle Gray (m.gray@unb.ca) for more information.

CRI in the news - Muscrat Motives

This article was written and published by The Guardian on April 18th and featured the research project of Garry Gregory, an MSc candidate supervised by Mike van den Heuvel (CRI Fellow, UPEI).

Muskrat Motives - Two-year research project to take a good long look at some of the potential factors in P.E.I.’s declining muskrat population.

Depending on your freak-out factor, muskrats are either cute little animals deserving of that 1970s Muskrat Love hit by Captain and Tennille or one step away from a raunchy household rodent. But one thing is for sure, there are far less of them now in P.E.I. marshes than in recent decades past.

In response to this, a two-year research project will be taking a good long look at this semi-aquatic animal both in the lab and in its outdoor habitat to try to determine the cause of this population decline.

“It’s going to be interesting, especially the fieldwork, because it’s going to involve basically going to a marsh around dusk with night vision goggles and staying there for a period of time in the evening, just watching to see what happens,” says Garry Gregory, who is the graduate student in the masters program at Atlantic Veterinary College conducting the study.

It was the PEI Trappers Association that noticed a significant drop in the muskrat population, especially in the Eastern Kings region. “There are not really other monitoring programs in PEI for muskrat populations so they were just recording declining catches so they were a bit concerned and brought it to the attention of wildlife biologists,” says Gregory.

The study, which started in September 2008, is a project of the P.E.I. Department of Environment, Energy and Forestry, the P.E.I. Trappers Association, the Canadian Co-operative Wildlife Health Centre and the UPEI departments of biology, pathology and microbiology. It is also funded in part by the Wildlife Conservation Fund. It will combine fieldwork and laboratory work to identify the cause or factors responsible for the decline and hopefully restore the muskrat populations to healthy, sustainable levels. Potential factors may include predation, disease, habitat degradation and water contamination. Trapping isn’t expected to be a factor.

“Muskrats have been very resilient to harvest. Studies (elsewhere) have shown that you have can up to harvest up to 80 per cent (and be sustainable),” Gregory says. “We have (also) data to show that there are less trapped now than there has been in the past for a variety of reasons, such as low pelt prices. And the species has been declining, despite reduced trapper effort.”

Trappers are supplying the carcasses for the first phase of the study that is concentrating on 28 marsh areas on P.E.I. There was some general research done in the late 1960s and early 1970s when the population was still relatively healthy, so there is some data for comparison’s sake. “The carcass analysis in the lab (will determine) the age and the sex of the muskrat so we’re able to determine if there’s any change in the population structure,” Gregory says.

Liver tissue will also be tested to determine if any contaminants, such as pesticides or heavy metals, are present to see if that might be playing a role in the population decline. The fieldwork will be conducted this summer.

“I think the study will give some good background data and maybe hopefully what we’ll find can be incorporated into some management decisions that will help the muskrat populations get back where they should be.”

CRI in the news - Canadian Rivers Institute – “a great investment"

NOTE: This article written and published online in Water Science News, March/April 2009 edition

Canadian Rivers Institute – “a great investment”

Since its creation in 1997, the Canadian Foundation for Innovation has committed approximately $4.5 billion in support to 129 research institutions across Canada, including investments in the Canadian Rivers Institute (CRI) at the University of New Brunswick (UNB). Drs. Alex Bielak and Donald Baird participated in a recent Outcome Measurement Study (OMS) of CRI activities to assess the success of the Foundation’s investment. Dr. Baird spoke about his role as one of several federal scientists embedded within CRI, while Dr. Bielak presented data showing increased research linkages between CRI and Environment Canada since the inception of the Institute. He also spoke as part of a panel on impacts on local, regional and national innovation. As the OMS coordinator wrote: “…we already ‘suspected’ that our investment at UNB for research in river ecosystems and aquatic ecology was a good one. Now we know that it was a great investment…”




About the Water News Newsletter from Environment Canada:
To forge better links between water science and water policy, this free newsletter produced by S&T Liaison provides timely information on the research activities of Environment Canada's Water Science and Technology Directorate to water professionals, policy and decision makers, governments, and other groups involved with managing water resources effectively.

Contact – S&T Liaison | Tel 905 336-4780 | Fax 905 336-4420

Environment Canada | 867 Lakeshore Rd., Burlington, ON Canada L7R 4A6

Spring Break CRI Meeting

On April 21, 2009, 56 CRI members-Fellows, Board Members, Associates, Staff and Students from UNB, UPEI, and Universite du Quebec (INRS) gathered at the UNB Fredericton campus for a day of learning and networking. This was organized in conjunction with the CRI Student Liaison Committee which is comprised largely of student representatives from each campus and is chaired by Dr. Andre. St-Hilaire of INRS.

This was an opportunity for members from all campuses to meet with each other and receive information on the latest news and plans at the CRI from Director, Dr. Allen Curry. In addition, everyone had an opportunity to learn of the growing research being carried out within each lab and to network with colleagues. There were lab tours of the Stable Isotopes in Nature Lab, Benthic Macroinvertebrate Lab, and Environment Canada's National Water Research Institute Lab.

In the afternoon, the members were split into 5 working groups to talk about and gather information on several issues and opportunities related to CRI students. Representatives from each group then presented their findings to the gathering, and the valuable information gleaned will be used to inform future plans concerning CRI students.

NSERC Discovery Grant Awarded to Dr. Natacha Hogan

Dr. Natacha Hogan, an Assistant Professor and an Associate Fellow of the CRI at the UPEI campus was awarded an NSERC Discovery Grant for her program: "Thyroid hormone influence on gonadal function and development: an amphibian model".

Her research program will examine how thryroid hormone mimics in the environment may impact on reproduction function through endocrinological cross-talk. Natacha will receive $24,000 per year for 5 years.

Congratulations Natacha!

Report lists America's 10 most endangered rivers

By Azadeh Ansari
CNN
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/science/04/07/rivers.endangered.list/


(CNN) -- Rivers are the arteries of our infrastructure. Flowing from highlands to the sea, they breathe life into ecosystems and communities.

But many rivers in the United States are in trouble.

Rivers in Alaska, California and the South are among the 10 most endangered, according to a report released Tuesday by American Rivers, a leading river conservation group.

The annual report uses data from thousands of rivers groups, local governments, environmental organizations and citizen watchdogs to identify waterways under imminent threat by dams, industry or development.

"Our nation is at a transformational moment when it comes to rivers and clean water," said Rebecca Wodder, president of American Rivers. "Water is life, yet our nation's water infrastructure is so outdated that our clean drinking water, flood protection and river health face unprecedented threats."

American Rivers has released its annual endangered rivers report since 1986. The report is not a list of the nation's most polluted waterways, but highlights 10 rivers facing decisions in the coming year that could determine their future.

Here is American Rivers' Most Endangered Rivers list for 2009:

1) Sacramento-San Joaquin River System
Location: California

Outdated water and flood management puts California's largest watershed at the top of America's most endangered rivers list for 2009. A recent breach in the delta's 1,100-mile levee system could have dire effects on surrounding ecosystems, farming and agriculture, commercial fishing and California's civil infrastructure. State and federal authorities are looking at alternative water-management strategies for the river system, which serves 25 million Californians and more than 5 million acres of farmland.

2) Flint River
Location: Georgia

The Flint is one of 40 rivers nationwide that still flow undammed for more than 200 miles. Conservationists say that dams proposed by Georgia lawmakers would bury more than 50 river miles, destroy fishing and boating opportunities and cost taxpayers millions of dollars. The American Rivers group believes that fixing the state's leaky pipes, using water meters and minimizing water waste would be a cheaper and more cost-effective alternative.

3) Lower Snake River
Location: Idaho, Washington, Oregon

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has built four dams to irrigate and generate energy for the Northwest, but these dams also prevent salmon and steelhead trout from reaching their spawning areas. Every year, those dams kill as many as 90 percent of juvenile salmon and steelhead trout that migrate downstream to the ocean. Conservationists say that removing the dams would eliminate a growing flood threat in Lewiston, Idaho, and create an opportunity to modernize the region's transportation and energy systems.

4) Mattawoman Creek
Location: Maryland

A highway development project here jeopardizes one of the Chesapeake Bay's few remaining healthy streams. The project threatens clean water sources, thousands of acres of forests and wetlands, and an internationally-renowned, multimillion-dollar largemouth bass fishery.

5) North Fork of the Flathead River
Location: Montana

A proposed coal-mining project across the Canadian border puts Montana's North Fork of the Flathead River in jeopardy. An estimated 50,000 acres of the Flathead headwaters could be transformed into an industrial gas field. The projects threaten the river's clean water, local agriculture, fish and wildlife and recreational industries such as rafting, camping, fishing and boating. American Rivers and its partners have called on local Canadian governments and the U.S. State Department to work together to halt these projects.

6) Saluda River
Location: South Carolina

Excess levels of sewage waste threaten the drinking water of more than 500,000 South Carolina residents, conservationists say. Sewage in the river increases phosphorous and algae levels, depletes oxygen, and kills fish and other aquatic life. American Rivers is asking the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control to improve sewage-treatment standards and ensure the river reduces its phosphorous levels by 25 to 50 percent.

7) Laurel Hill Creek
Location: Pennsylvania

Known for its fishing, swimming and kayaking, this popular vacation spot faces threats from a bottling plant and tourism-related development. Without adequate planning and safeguards, withdrawals will continue to exceed the creek's reasonable capacity, putting recreation, the local water supply, and fish and wildlife in jeopardy.

8) Beaver Creek
Location: Alaska

One of the nation's last wild rivers faces extinction if an oil- and gas-development project constructs 600 miles of roads and pipelines, airstrips, drilling pads, and gravel mines along the creek. Alaska native communities depend on the area for subsistence hunting and fishing. It's also a popular destination for anglers, boaters, skiers and hunters.

9) Pascagoula River
Location: Mississippi

The U.S. Department of Energy wants to hollow out natural salt domes 30 miles northwest of the Pascagoula to create a storage area for up to 160 million barrels of oil. A pipeline 330 miles in length would be constructed to withdraw water from the Pascagoula to dissolve the salt domes and distribute oil to and from the site. The DOE predicts 18 oil spills and 75 spills of salty, polluted water during the construction and initial fill of the hollowed domes, damaging rivers, streams, and wetlands in the basin, conservationists say.

10) Lower St. Croix National Scenic Riverway
Location: Minnesota, Wisconsin

Rezoning of a 26-mile stretch of the river's state-protected section would allow for the construction of a major development on the riverfront. American Rivers believes the development could lead to land erosion along the river and more storm run-off while harming the region's biodiversity.

"Being named as one of America's most endangered rivers is not an end for the river, but rather a beginning," said Wodder.

Through the collaborative efforts of citizens and local, state and national governments, a number of waterways from past American Rivers' endangered lists have been preserved.

"With the listing comes a national spotlight and action from thousands of citizens across the country," Wodder said. "These 10 rivers have a chance to be reborn and to serve as models for other rivers all across America."

NSERC award for Megan Finley

Megan Finley was just awarded an NSERC Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship at the doctoral level.

We would like to congratulate Megan on receiving this prestigious scholarship!!

Megan is supervised by CRI Fellow Dr. Mike van den Heuvel and will be examining immune dysfunction related to oil sands process-affected waters in rainbow trout.

NSERC Award for Hélène Higgins

Hélène Higgins was just awarded an Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship from NSERC - these awards are given to the top-ranked applicants at each level (master’s and doctoral).

This is a major achievement and accomplishment and we would like to congratulate Hélène!!

Hélène an MSc student co-supervised by CRI Fellows Drs. Simon Courtenary and André St-Hilaire.

Awards to CRI students @ APICS 2009

Congratulations to Heather McCracken, MSc candidate (Supervisor: Dr. Rick Cunjak CRI Fellow), received the award for best graduate student paper for a presentation entitled "MEASURING LACUSTRINE INFLUENCE ON COMPOSITION AND FUNCTION IN A STREAM COMMUNITY" given at the Atlantic Provinces Council for the Sciences (APICS) ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES CONFERENCE, held March 27-28, 2009, UNB, Fredericton.

Congratulations to Amanda Savoie, an Honours student under the co-supervision of Myriam Barbeau and Katy Haralampides (CRI Fellow), who won the best undergraduate poster award at the Atlantic Provinces Council for the Sciences (APICS) ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES CONFERENCE, held March 27-28, 2009, UNB, Fredericton. Her poster title was "Effects of density of the amphipod Corophium volutator on sediment properties on a mudflat".

Well done to both of you!

CRI Retreat - April 21 - UNB-F

CRI Student Retreat - UNBF

All day April 21, 2009.

This is an opportunity for all in CRI to get together with the main focus being on the students of the CRI.

Details on the events of the day will follow shortly.

Welcome to sCRIbbles 2009 + Director's Note

2008 has been another great year for the CRI. We’ve added many new projects, students, staff, and we’ve lost a few people who’ve graduated and moved on in their careers. Our professional development programmes are flourishing and our new undergraduate programme, Water Resources Major, in the new BSc in Environment and Natural Resources at UNB which began in September 2008. We’ll be launching a new website soon with a new look and more information. I’m looking forward to even more excitement in 2009.

- Allen Curry, Director CRI

Well we have started the year off with a new edition of sCRIbbles and will now publish/post the main editions every 4 months (Jan, May, Sep). We will still post news items and other timely newsworthy items as they happen.

We hope you read it, enjoy it, and pass it along to others - come back often to see current updates through the semester.

Thanks to everyone who made their submissions for this edition of sCRIbbles! Each Fellow's Lab has its own sCRIbe - if you want your info included, make sure you contact your friendly sCRIbe.

- Michelle Gray - "Editor" for sCRIbbles

Recent Happenings - CCFFR

The Canadian Conference for Fisheries Research (CCFFR) conference was well attended by CRI folks and was a huge success - the city of Ottawa was bustling and beautiful.

Recent Happenings - Baird Lab

Baird Lab goes Brazilian: July 20-25 2008, Jeff, Wendy, Colin, Salomé Menezes (Portugal) and the head honcho himself attended the 8th INTECOL International Wetlands Conference in Cuiabá, Brazil. Held every 4 years, this is the foremost gathering of wetland scientists and conservationists in the world. It was an excellent opportunity to discuss current research and global challenges facing wetlands with other students and researchers. Donald co-chaired a workshop with Max Finlayson looking at the responses of freshwater systems to agricultural intensification in the Northern and Southern hemispheres that focused on problems as well as solutions. The UNB contingent was very fortunate to have local student Carla Velasquez provide a personal tour of the University of Mato Grosso, its incredible insect collection, and the university Zoo!