Waterloo receives federal investment to boost citizen science for Great Lakes coastal monitoring
The University of Waterloo has been awarded federal funding to tackle environmental challenges impacting the ecosystem health of the Great Lakes. Environment and Climate Change Canada recently announced support for 50 partner-led projects through their Great Lakes Freshwater Ecosystem Initiative.
This investment builds on Canada’s 2023 commitment of $420 million over 10 years for the Great Lakes, advancing efforts under the Canada Water Agency's Freshwater Action Plan, to accelerate restoration and protection initiatives.
Waterloo’s project, Engaging Citizen Scientists in Monitoring Coastal Change within the Great Lakes, led by Dr. Chris Houser, Dean of the Faculty of Science, Professor in Earth and Environmental Sciences and Water Institute member, has been awarded $271,000 over four years.
As part of the community-based science stream, this project will expand a citizen science program to monitor coastal changes, with an emphasis on shoreline change, nearshore health and the impacts of climate change.
Photo: Dean, Faculty of Science, Professor, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and Water Institute member.
The Great Lakes are experiencing more intense storms, much higher water levels and reduced lake ice, leading to increased wave activity, accelerating erosion. Community members can contribute to the project by photographing the shoreline from designated locations and uploading their images to the project’s database using a QR code. These photos will help monitor key indicators like water levels, wave activity, coastal erosion, lake ice levels, bluff retreat, and barrier breaches.
The project builds on the success of the Coastie Initiative, also led by Dr. Houser, at sites managed by Parks Canada, which contributes to the global CoastSnap Community Beach Monitoring movement from Australia.
“We are experiencing unprecedented changes along our coastline,” says Dr. Houser. “As an example, there are parts of the north shore of Lake Erie that are eroding up to 4 metres per year. We are losing coast at an unprecedented rate and we need to gather more information on how and where this is happening.”
“I need more eyes on the coast and we all need more people engaged in costal science and opportunities to train the next generation of coastal scientists.”
Dr. Houser also emphasized the importance of community involvement: “The citizen science component is key to expanding our monitoring network. It allows us to scale up cost-effectively while getting the public engaged and thinking about costal processes.”
The project data collected, along with historic photos, videos, and educational resources, will contribute to a broader open-access database supporting research, education, and coastal management efforts across the Great Lakes, and is used by several research programs in Waterloo’s Global Water Futures (GWF) program.
Learn more about the Great Lakes Freshwater Ecosystem Initiative projects here.
Banner photo: The tip of point Peele National Park, courtesy of Dr. Chris Houser.