2025 Fellows
Samantha Mitchell
Samantha Mitchell (MSc-F student, Lakehead University) is investigating how variations in pollutants, hydrology, and plant communities influence carbon accumulation in Sudbury’s (Ontario) peatlands. By analyzing metals, metalloids, sulphur, plant fossils, pollen, and testate amoebae, Samantha’s research seeks to understand temporal changes and link pollutant concentrations to palaeoecological and hydrological data through geochemical analyses. Samantha’s work will enhance the understanding of the complex relationships between past, present, and future carbon sequestration in peatlands affected by smelting. This research is being conducted on the traditional lands of the Atikameksheng Anishinaabek.
Joseph Silva
Fire regimes in the boreal region of western Canada are changing. Fires are becoming more frequent and severe, which can reduce the resilience of boreal tree species and cause changes in forest structure and composition. Joseph Silva (PhD student, University of Lethbridge) is studying how fire regimes in northern Saskatchewan are changing, how this affects forest resilience, and ways land managers can mitigate negative effects. Joseph is using a combination of field data and remote sensing technologies to study how frequent and severe fires affect forest resilience at stand and landscape scales. In addition, Joseph is seeking to co-develop broad scale fire mitigation strategies in collaboration with a local First Nation and the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency. These strategies will be tested using fire simulation models to assess their potential to promote forest resilience. This research will support efforts to improve ecosystem and community resilience to wildfire in northern Saskatchewan.
Alexandra Langwieder
At the intersection of boreal and tundra ecosystems, James Bay supports diverse wildlife, including the world’s southernmost polar bear population. Polar bears depend on sea ice for hunting and moving through the landscape, but rapidly changing environmental conditions reduce ice availability and threaten their persistence. In the Eeyou Marine Region of eastern James Bay, Cree communities have observed changes in polar bear abundance and distribution and identified studying them through community-led work as a high research priority.
In response, our team of Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers, land stewards, and knowledge holders came together in 2020 to develop a research program grounded in Cree values and local leadership. We aim to investigate polar bear distribution, genetic relationships, and diet in the boreal ecosystem using non-invasive methods, including hair snares, camera traps, and Cree Knowledge interviews.
The Fellowship will support the documentation of Cree Knowledge from Elders and hunters, advancing understanding of polar bears' historical presence in James Bay, their relationship with communities, and their role in the ecosystem. Through this work, we seek to highlight the ecological and cultural significance of these southern polar bears and contribute to regional wildlife management as conservation needs evolve in the face of northern industrial development.
Mackenzie Mihorean
Mackenzie is a Master of Science student at Wilfrid Laurier University studying forest ecology. She is motivated to understand biotic interactions and their potential to have large scale impacts on boreal forests in ways that impact wildlife habitat.
Mackenzie is studying the implications of a deadly pathogen, Aspen Running Canker, on future forest transitions. Accelerated warming has increased wildfire frequency and severity challenging the recovery of spruce which has supported an increase in aspen forest cover. However, warming has also led to drought, making trees more susceptible to pathogen outbreak. The future trajectory of these aspen forests is now unclear. Mackenzie looks to investigate which forests are most vulnerable to aspen decline to contribute to ecological forecasting. This will support an improved understanding of the future availability of caribou habitat in the central Yukon.
The boreal forest is a disturbance-dominated landscape, but as these disturbances are intensifying in recent decades, research is needed to anticipate changing landscapes. This work is conducted in partnership with Yukon Government, Little Salmon/ Carmacks First Nation, WCS Canada, and Canadian Forestry Service.
Natasha Ayoub
Natasha Ayoub (PhD candidate, University of Waterloo) is working to identify rearing and overwintering habitats, as well as movement patterns, timings, and annual variability in habitat use by juvenile Chinook salmon in the Yukon River watershed. This investigation will use the isotopic chemical marker strontium (Sr) and will analyze ratios (87Sr:86Sr) found in water samples and adult Chinook salmon otoliths to determine important temporal and spatial use by these fish while in the freshwater phase of their life cycle. With the focus on land use planning in the Yukon right now, Indigenous, and non-Indigenous natural resource managers and salmon agencies have identified extensive knowledge gaps surrounding juvenile Chinook salmon and their use of rearing and overwintering habitats. By identifying habitat use and patterns, land use planning in the Yukon can be better supported, and we can work towards ensuring that healthy, connected habitats continue to be available for these fish.
Kelsey McGuire
Northern (>50°N) freshwater lakes are major methane (CH4) sources, a potent greenhouse gas. Warmer lake temperatures and drops in water levels have been noted in Northern Boreal Mountain lakes by Dane Nan Yḗ Dāh land guardians. This is impacting local communities and ecosystem function, where water transportation is limited, water quality is changing, and increased vegetation presence is noted. Few studies from the Northern Boreal Mountain region have documented how water temperature, water levels, and aquatic vegetation presence is changing in lakes and impacting CH4 budgets. To better understand the contribution of these processes to overall CH4 flux, I will be quantifying the magnitude and drivers of CH4 flux across vegetated and unvegetated zones in two Northern lakes within Kaska ancestral territory (British Columbia). We will be partnering with land guardians to share knowledge on the landscape and instruments used to evaluate lake function and health. My findings will help to provide a mechanistic view into how CH4 budgets are altered and the environmental factors driving these changes. This provides valuable information to Northern communities surrounding climate change impacts on freshwater systems, best management approaches for these sensitive systems, and the importance of two-eyed research to address ecosystem change.
Lyreshka Castro
My research investigates how shrub expansion and climate warming influence methane (CH₄) cycling in the alpine tundra of northern British Columbia. As rising temperatures drive the northward encroachment of shrubs into traditionally treeless ecosystems, it remains unclear whether these changes enhance or suppress methane uptake.
This project explores whether shrub presence alters the soil environment in ways that promote or limit methane uptake, focusing on how vegetation type, soil conditions, and microclimate interact. I compare plots with and without shrubs across alpine landscapes to determine how changes in plant traits affect belowground processes tied to carbon cycling.
As the climate shifts and vegetation patterns change, understanding these dynamics is essential for predicting feedbacks to global warming. This research contributes to conservation and land-use planning in the boreal–alpine transition zone by clarifying how plant-soil interactions influence the stability of Canada’s northern carbon stores.
Wes Moir
Wes Moir (MSc student at the University of Saskatchewan) is studying how multiple stressors are affecting freshwater ecosystems across central Yukon using benthic macroinvertebrates (“water bugs”). Benthic macroinvertebrates are excellent monitoring tools because they are diverse, abundant, easy to collect, and are sensitive to different types of stress. In collaboration with the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun, Wes will use benthic macroinvertebrates and their traits (e.g., feeding preference, breathing type, movement style etc.) as diagnostic tools to track how different types of stress shape aquatic ecosystems. This research aims to improve management decision-making, support regional land use planning, and contribute to the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun’s long-term water monitoring strategy.
Samantha Delisle
Within the Eeyou Maring Region (EMR) of James Bay, Northern Quebec, sits hundreds of islands where a variety of wildlife species exists. Unfortunately, information on these wildlife species and their distributions on the islands is sparse and poorly documented in the EMR. To bridge this knowledge gap, our project is partnering with local Cree communities to co-develop locally relevant and meaningful biodiversity monitoring tools. Our project answers research priorities of the coastal Cree communities of Waskaganish, Eastmain, Wemindji and Chisasibi, particularly by looking at the distribution of culturally important species and new/invasive species in the area. It closely connects and collaborates with various local and regional organizations, and with two on-going community-led research projects, the Polar Bear Ecology Project and the Coastal Habitat Comprehensive Research Project. Our project combines wildlife species detections from camera traps and sound recorders with Cree Traditional Knowledge from participatory mapping exercises to spatiotemporally inventory species presence and map species distribution. Our project will co-create a wildlife biodiversity knowledge baseline and help better inform local and regional decision making in terms of conservation, climate change adaptation, and land use planning.
Emma Wegener
The Hudson Bay Lowlands (HBL) are one of the largest, most carbon-dense peatland ecosystems globally. However, we are ill-prepared to assess the vulnerability of HBL carbon stocks to land-use and climate change. My research aims to identify carbon accrual feedbacks in northern peatlands, and evaluate how these feedbacks may respond to future climate and land-use stressors in the HBL. I’ve synthesized carbon accrual feedback mechanisms into a framework, identifying variables that, when altered through disturbance can trigger cascading ecosystem changes. To test this framework, I led a field campaign in the HBL in July 2024, extracting intact peat cores and analyzing the carbon density. To assess the resilience of the carbon stock and stability under disturbance, samples will be tested for carbon quality and nitrogen availability, then incubated under different temperature and moisture scenarios to simulate the effects of climate and land-use change. Over three months, I’ll measure CO2, CH4, and N2O emissions to track decomposition rates. This research is critical, as the HBL peatlands face increasing pressure from climate change and resource extraction. It will inform mining policy, guide reclamation efforts, and provide baseline data necessary for the protection and understanding of these critical ecosystems.
