Profiles

I received my bachelor's in Environmental Studies from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in Ukraine.
Now I am a participant in a research exchange program in Canada. 

Invasive Phragmites australis is a threat to wetland biodiversity and integrity across North America. My project is investigating the use of insect-based biological control for suppression of invasive Phragmites australis using two stem-boring moths. My research is part of the broader pilot program in North America for the biological control of invasive P. australis.

Microplastics are one the most abundant forms of aquatic pollution in the world today, with studies indicating that every level of the food web interacts with this manmade contaminant. My research focuses on how freshwater invertebrates are affected by microplastics and how they, in turn, may affect microplastics in the environment.

Urban stormwater ponds can simultaneously harbour incredible biological diversity and heavy contaminant loads, but are largely neglected by water monitoring and ecological assessment efforts. My research will help to develop a new and biologically-relevant tool for detecting the presence and concentration of pollutants in stormwater using biofilm (a.k.a. microbial slime!) sampling across a gradient of urbanization.

Grace Lew-Kowal, Technician

I will be studying carbon storage and sequestration in The Meadoway, a restored meadow along a hydro corridor in Toronto. Specifically, I will be trying to determine the degree to which turfgrass-to-meadow restoration enhances carbon storage and sequestration. Before starting here as a student, I worked in the Waterloo Wetland Lab as a technician for most of the year after finishing my undergrad in Biology also at UW. Outside of this work, I enjoy birdwatching, reading, listening to music and playing board games among other things.

My project involves using trait-based ecology to promote the active restoration of Long Point wetlands after the removal of invasive Phragmites australis. I’m hoping to help the native seed bank by creating and adding seeding prescriptions onto them to bolster their natural biotic resistance against P. australis.

My current research focuses on the response of breeding bird communities during a period of adaptive white-tailed deer management following a prolonged period of overabundance at Long Point, in Norfolk County, Ontario, Canada.

My project focuses on using eDNA metabardocing to better understand biodiversity in urban ecosystems. I focus on stormwater ponds and working with the Residential development Impact Scorecard for the Environment (RISE) to induce ecological best practices in urban developments.

I am investigating the fate and effects of microplastics on freshwater algae. My research involves intensive field work during the spring and summer months at the Experimental Lakes Area (IISD-ELA), as part of a multi-disciplinary collaborative project known as PELAstics. Freshwater lakes are our greatest resources, yet they are currently inundated with plastic and microplastic pollution.

Ashlyn is a fourth year Environmental Science student at UW. This summer she worked as a co-op student on the Meadoway project studying the interaction between adult butterflies and native plant species in meadow and turf sites. Now as a Senior Honours Thesis Student, her thesis is on how survey methods differ in terms of their resulting abundance and richness of butterfly-plant interactions. Ashlyn will be joining the lab as a Master's student in the summer of 2025.

My role as Research Technician is primarily to help support the numerous on-going projects across the Waterloo Wetland Lab. I have a range of experience in fieldwork environments and have participated in numerous research projects during my time in academia, with topics ranging from; invasive vegetation, soil, social sciences, water quality, benthic macroinvertebrates, fish, and freshwater mussels. I’ve worked in some beautiful environments across southern Ontario and can’t wait to explore more as a part of this team.

Molly is a BIOL 499 (Undergraduate Honours Thesis) student studying the effects of urban restoration practice on the butterfly population and community in the Meadoway. She has completed a summer field season assisting with butterfly-plant interaction as well as working alongside Toronto and Region Authority Conservation Authority (TRCA) on butterfly and caterpillar surveys. Her work largely consists of analyzing historical survey data, and she is presenting these results at the 2024 Ontario Entomology Society Annual Meeting. 

The Meadoway project is converting a Toronto hydro corridor from turfgrass to meadow to promote urban green spaces, increase biodiversity, and mitigate the effects of climate change. I am synthesizing the data collected from this project to develop a multi-criteria tool to identify other potential urban areas that can undergo a turfgrass-to-meadow conversion to support biodiversity conservation and climate change adaptation on a national scale.

As a fourth-year ERS student, my research project focuses on the highly invasive wetland grass Phragmites australis subsp. australis and its impacts on aquatic ecosystems. I’m particularly focused on comparing seed-cleaning methods to better understand the plant's reproductive potential. My project involves a combination of fieldwork and lab-based experiments, aiming to refine techniques for studying seed biomass, viability, and quantity. Beyond this specific research, I’m also interested in the broader applications of restoration ecology, particularly in the use of native Phragmites species for wetland recovery and sustainable surface water management.

I’m a fourth-year Environmental Science student, and my project is focused on larval Chironomidae (non-biting midges) and their role in the incorporation of microplastics into the sediment of a lake in the IISD-Experimental Lakes Area.