News

Waterloo Wetland Lab's postdoc Gab Izma, Danny McIsaac, Dr. Rebecca Rooney, and colleagues have co-authored a newly-published paper on the drivers of biological assemblages in urban stormwater ponds. The article, titled "Biofilms, Bugs, and the Built Environment: Exploring Local and Landscape Drivers of Diatom and Macroinvertebrate Assemblages in Urban Stormwater Ponds" is published in Water Environment Research, and is available online via open access.

The Waterloo Wetland Lab had a great time celebrating World Wetlands Day 2026 at the event hosted by the Ecohydrology Research Group on campus.

Congratulations to Claire Schon who won the award for Best Graduate Student Poster, and congratulations to Kayla Martin for presenting her first poster based on her MSc research!

We are thrilled to announce that Liahm Ruest successfully defended their MSc thesis this morning!

Please join us in congratulating Liahm on this incredible achievement!

A new preprint for an article on invasive plants and species at risk is now available online. The article, titled "High co-occurrence of invasive wetland plants and species at risk in Canada’s biodiverse Carolinian" can be accessed on bioRxiv.

We are thrilled to announce that Gab Izma successfully defended their PhD thesis this morning! We are so incredibly proud of them and the tremendous amount of work they put into their thesis.

Please join us in congratulating Gab on this incredible achievement!

We are thrilled to announce that Andrii Kramarenko successfully defended his MSc thesis this morning! We are so proud of everything he has accomplished.

Please join us in congratulating Andrii on this incredible achievement!

Waterloo Wetland Lab's PhD Candidate, Gab Izma, WWL alum, Danny McIsaac, Dr. Rebecca Rooney, and colleagues have co-authored a newly-published paper on the diversity of urban stormwater contaminants. The article, titled "An Urban Stormwater Contaminant Signature: DefiningPriority Contaminants for Urban Stormwater Research" is published in Water Environment Research, and is available online via open access.

Former Waterloo Wetland Lab Master's Student, Grace Lew-Kowal, Dr. Rebecca Rooney, and colleagues have co-authored a newly-published paper on the efficacy of drone-based herbicide treatment of invasive Phragmites australis. The article, titled "Suppression efficacy of remotely piloted aircraft systems–based herbicide application on invasive Phragmites australis in wetlands" is published in Invasive Plant Science and Management, and is available online via open access.

The Weed Science Society of America also published a press release highlighting the article.

Today, the Waterloo Wetland Lab helped lead a workshop at Hillman Marsh aimed at informing wetland practitioners about invasive Hydrilla. The workshop, which assembled over 40 attendees, focused on how to identify Hydrilla, and strategies to help prevent further invasions. CBC News also attended the event, and produced a segment covering the workshop.

Students from the WWL were honoured at the Biology Graduate Student Association (BGSA)'s first annual general meeting. Ashlyn DeBoer received the Professor Marilyn Griffith Senior Honours Project Excellence Award and the Ontario Graduate Scholarship, Hayden Epp and Gab Izma each received the Queen Elizabeth II Graduate Scholarship in Science and Technology, and Josh Pickering received the Ontario Graduate Scholarship.

Congratulations to all of the award winners, and thank you to the BGSA for organizing a wonderful event!