Kirsten joined the Servos Lab in September 2018 to begin her MSc after completing her BSc at McMaster University. Her project focuses on the impacts of treated wastewater effluent on the health of rainbow darter, a small native fish species in the Grand River. Earlier results in the lab have indicated that rainbow darter reproduction is negatively affected by contaminants in wastewater effluent, particularly estrogens, but that recovery is possible after one of the wastewater treatment plants in the region upgraded. Her work is following up on these results by studying the upgrades of the second wastewater treatment plant. Her project involves both field work and laboratory methods, including stable isotope analysis of carbon and nitrogen, gene expression, biochemical techniques, and histology, in order to assess effluent exposure and reproductive endpoints. This project is important because it will show how investments in wastewater treatment plant infrastructure improve water quality and ecological function. After working for Environment and Climate Change Canada she has now move on to working at Minnow Environmental.
