Queen's Experimental Ecology & Ecotoxicology
We study pollution to find new ways to protect the health of our lakes and wetlands
Congratulations to QE3 alumnus, Eden Hataley, whose thesis-based publication “Experimental evidence from the field that naturally weathered microplastics accumulate cyanobacterial toxins in eutrophic lakes” has been accepted in Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry.
Congratulations to Lydia who successfully defended her thesis, “Weaving Knowledge Systems in Wildlife and Ecosystem Health”.
Congratulations to Chloe who successfully defended her thesis, titled “Naphthenic acid fraction compounds (NAFCs) reduce the reproductive success of wood frogs (Rana sylvatica).”
Collin Jurrakko and his co-authors have published an article titled “Brachypodium Antifreeze Protein Gene Products Inhibit Ice Recrystallisation, Attenuate Ice Nucleation, and Reduce Immune Response”.
Frost events are responsible for billions of dollars in crop damage and local economies worldwide annually with the frequency and severity increasing due to climate change largely due to ubiquitous ice-nucleating pathogens. We’ve demonstrated the capabilities of a unique antifreeze protein from the grass, Brachypodium distachyon, with dual anti-ice and anti-pathogenic activity in which gene products are able to bind and control the growth of ice crystals so to prevent ice-recrystallization damage to cells, attenuate pathogenic ice nucleation by docking on ice-nucleating proteins, and dampen the energy costly host immune response so as to maintain yields.
Congratulations to Yael Lewis, new Master’s student, who was awarded the Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS) to support her M.Sc. research. As part of the pELAstic Project at IISD – Experimental Lakes Area, Yael has been investigating the effects of microplastic pollution on emerging insect and zooplankton communities in the littoral zone of a boreal lake.
Queen's Experimental Ecology & Ecotoxicology 