Grant: Research Tools and Instruments

The request is for the urgent replacement of a submersible fluorometer capable of generating highly resolved (to the centimeter-level) profiles to characterize the in situ spatial distribution of several phytoplankton groups in the water column of lakes. I have done research of international significance, involving on the order of 25 HQP, with an earlier (2003) model of the instrument that is no longer functional. The original instrument (bbe FluoroProbe) has been as an integral part of my research program on the structure and function of phytoplankton communities in lakes and the environmental factors influencing these. As my earlier submersible fluorometer is no longer operational, nor fixable, I need urgently to replace it with a newer bbe PhycoProbe model that adds some new important features of great benefit to my research program and that of my collaborators. In particular, the PhycoProbe can run autonomously while left in lakes at a desired location over time, thereby collecting high precision (up to 4x/second) data that will allow my lab to explore questions associated with my NSERC Discovery grant related to seasonal changes in phytoplankton communities, including the effects of reduced ice cover with climate warming. My Discovery research program is based on assessing the relations between functional traits, phytoplankton community structure in different food web and environmental contexts, especially related to anthropogenic influences (nutrient pollution, climate change, food web perturbation); for this program a submersible fluorometer with the capabilities of the PhycoProbe is essential as we need to estimate the biomass distribution in lakes in real time for further sampling to assess trait dynamics. The new PhycoProbe comes with the added feature of measuring liberated phycocyanin in lake water, allowing us to detect the presence of cyanotoxins more easily in lakes experiencing significant and undesirable cyanobacteria blooms. This will serve in studies on climate change effects that we are engaged in with the Belmont Forum (Biodiversa), also with Ouranos and Québec government partners (MDDELCC, MFFP) to assess the propensity of toxic cyanobacterial blooms in certain watersheds. In addition to also serving in my own Discovery research program, the instrument would serve in summer 2019 for the NSERC LakePulse Network in which the ecosystem health of lakes across Canada is being assessed and for which my earlier instrument served before its demise. Obtaining a replacement instrument that is urgently needed will enable me to carry out my various research objectives, while also engaging many HQP trainees, who will also become experts in utilizing and trouble-shooting the instrument and analysis of the data it produces. HQP will thus gain transferable skills that they will be able to take with them to positions in government, private sector and academic positions where questions of aquatic ecology and water quality are of interest.