The Department of Geography and Environmental Studies
Presents
John Chételat, Environment Canada, National Wildlife Research Centre
On
Environmental controls on the fate of metal pollution in Arctic lakes

Abstract:
Lakes and ponds are dominant features of the Arctic landscape, and they provide critical habitat for fish and aquatic wildlife. Despite their remoteness, these northern systems are exposed to metal pollution via long-range atmospheric transport and, in some cases, local resource extraction. This presentation will highlight current research investigating how metals move through Arctic lakes, accumulate in aquatic organisms, and are transferred through the food chain. Arctic lakes can be more sensitive to metal bioaccumulation than temperate systems, particularly for the neurotoxin methylmercury, and characterization of environmental controls on metal fate is needed to understand geographic differences in metal exposure and consequences of climate change for these vast water resources.

Biography:
Dr. John Chételat is a Research Scientist with Environment Canada at the National Wildlife Research Centre in Ottawa. His research program focuses on the fate of metal pollution in the environment, using field-based approaches to identify ecosystem responses to these perturbations. He draws on his interests in limnology, the ecotoxicology of metals, food web ecology, and ecological applications of stable isotopes to identify environmental processes that control metal bioaccumulation. Dr. Chételat received his Ph.D. in biology from the Université de Montréal and his B.Sc. and M.Sc. in biology from the University of Ottawa. He has studied environmental issues in the Canadian Arctic for over ten years and currently has several projects investigating aquatic ecosystems in the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Nunavik.