Lisa, MSc student
Who am I and what is my fieldwork project?
My name is Lisa and I am a 2nd-year biology master’s student in the Arnott Lab. In the summer of 2022, I sampled 16 lake sites to collect zooplankton for my project: Evolved tolerance to road salt pollution among wild populations of Daphnia. Daphnia, also known as water fleas, are crustacean zooplankton and are common primary consumers in freshwater ecosystems. That makes them integral for transferring energy from producers (i.e. algae) to consumers (i.e. omnivore zooplankton, aquatic insects, small fish, etc.). That is why it is important to understand how Daphnia are impacted by human activities, like salting roads for winter driving safety. The more we know about how Daphnia are responding to rising salinity in lakes, the more we can help conserve freshwater ecosystems with proactive policy and lake management strategies.
What was the best part of fieldwork?
Exploring Ontario was the best part of my fieldwork! I moved to Kingston from Burlington, Vermont in August 2021 for my master's and I hadn’t explored Ontario until my field season, which began in June of 2022. It was fun (and very exhausting) to drive around to different lakes in Ontario 2-3 days per week for about 8 weeks. Most of the lakes were polluted, urban lakes but this helped me understand the challenges facing towns, neighbourhoods, lake associations, and lake managers in Ontario. And some of the more scenic locations were beautiful! Plus we stopped at The Big Apple multiple times (yum).
What was the most challenging part of fieldwork?
Very long days! I worked several 14-hour days and I worked every weekend. This was exhausting and I was really burnt out by the end. But we were able to collect my study species, Daphnia pulicaria, from 9 lakes and we are using a 10th lake by testing a sample that was sent to us from the Vale Living with Lakes Centre! I made it through this period of really hard work with the support of my friends and lab mates. It’s so important to have a support system!!
