Geographers earn grant to study Lake Nipissing water quality

Researchers in Nipissing University’s geography department have earned a $50,000 grant from the Ministry of Environment’s Great Lakes division to monitor Lake Nipissing. Dr. April James, Dr. Dan Walters and Dr. Krystopher Chutko, all from Nipissing Geography department, will use the funding to equip two marine buoys that will monitor water quality (i.e. temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll a, total algae, and turbidity) and weather in Lake Nipissing. In addition, the North Bay regional Ministry of Environment office and Dorset Environmental Science Centre staff are providing equipment and technical support. Graduate students at Nipissing University will work with faculty and ministry experts to design research projects that address issues of concern in the lake.

This project builds on some of the recommendations from the annual Lake Nipissing Summit. In 2011, First Nations and municipal leaders in the Lake Nipissing watershed signed the Lake Nipissing Stewardship Declaration, which recommends: increasing public awareness to issues affecting the lake, disseminating information to the public, and enhancing collaborations.

The research project addresses these recommendations. It focuses on water quality issues of public concern; the data and information will be disseminated to the public; and it involves collaboration among our partners - First Nations, municipalities, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Natural Resources, North Bay-Mattawa Conservation Authority and community groups.