News

Excess nutrients in lakes can lead to unsightly algal blooms, turning water green and producing toxins that impact our water quality.

One excess nutrient, phosphorus, enters waterways from agricultural and urban areas and eventually settles in lake sediments. Here, it can cycle back into the water column or be stored in deeper sediment layers. But many lake water quality models do not adequately capture how nutrients cycle between these sediments and the water column.

Recent work by Igor Markelov, Raoul-Marie Couture, Rachele Fischer, Sigrid Haande and Philippe Van Cappellen merged two existing lake models to better understand processes that influence nutrient cycling between sediments and the water column.

Large shallow lakes, like Lake St. Clair in the Great Lakes region, are often assumed to be well mixed. But this assumption has consequences for predicting downstream nutrient loads, particularly when this assumption is incorrect. Lake St. Clair is a small shallow lake upstream of Lake Erie. Understanding nutrient dynamics in this lake is critical for predicting nutrient loads to Lake Erie where high nutrient loads have led to recurring algal blooms.

In a new paper co-authored by Lake Futures researchers Serghei Bocaniov and Philippe Van Cappellen, along with Donald Scavia, this assumption is challenged to explore how small shallow lakes influence downstream nutrient loading.

Nutrient pollution from excess fertilizer use threatens water quality around the world. Wetlands, lakes and reservoirs can limit the movement of these nutrients to downstream waterways, protecting their water quality. But, little is known about how their size influences their ability to retain these nutrients.

Igor Markelov, Lake Futures PhD candidate, successfully defended his PhD thesis titled ‘Internal Loading in Lakes and Reservoirs’, with interest in bioenergetics of redox gradient zones and biogeochemical cycling. Igor completed his work in the Ecohydrology Research group under the supervision of Philippe Van Cappellen. Igor’s examination committee consisted of Raoul-Marie Couture, Nandita Basu, George Arhonditsis and Merrin Macrae.

Tamara Van Staden, Lake Futures student, successfully defended her MSc thesis today titled "Phosphorus Legacies and Water Quality Risks: A Vulnerability-Based Framework in Southern Ontario". Tamara completed her MSc research under the supervision of Philippe Van Cappellen and her advisory committee, Nandita Basu and Chris Parsons.

Congratulations, Tamara!

Lake Futures lead Nandita Basu was recently welcomed as a member of the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists. Nandita was honoured at the Royal Society of Canada Gala held in Ottawa.

A perspective paper published in the journal Freshwater Science, co-authored by Lake Futures researchers Philippe Van Cappellen, Chris Wellen and Mohamed Mohamed, outlines the main knowledge gaps and uncertainties facing the remediation of eutrophication and associated harmful algal blooms in Lake Erie. 

New Lake Futures research highlights the role of reservoirs in managing water quality. This work shows seasonal patterns in dissolved phosphorus are influenced by nearby dams and reservoirs.

Mark Servos was awarded the Stephen J. Klaine Environmental Education Award at the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) at the SETAC North America 40^th Annual Meeting. This prestigious award recognizes significant contributions to environmental education.

Nandita Basu was invited to speak as part of the Distinguished Lecture Series hosted by the University of Saskatchewan Global Institute for Water Security and Global Water Futures.