Trent University Joins Rare Winter Sampling Of The Great Lakes

Trent University is joining Winter Grab, a first-of-its-kind coordinated winter research effort to collect and analyze ice and water samples from all five of the Great Lakes in order to paint a picture of water quality and life in and under the ice

Dr. Marguerite Xenopoulos, Canada Research Chair of Global Change of Freshwater Ecosystems and professor of Biology at Trent University, looks out over the ice-covered Lake Superior. Photo courtesy of Dr. Marguerite Xenopoulos

As one of 16 research institutions from Canada and the United states—and one of only three Canadian universities—Trent will venture onto the ice to support the largest coordinated winter sampling effort for these globally significant ecosystems.

“Not much winter research is done on lakes because the prevailing thought has been that everything is cold and frozen so there must not be much going on,” said Dr. Marguerite Xenopoulos, Canada Research Chair of Global Change of Freshwater Ecosystems and professor of Biology at Trent University. “However, several recent studies have now shown that life under the ice is abundant and diverse, and large lakes are increasingly vulnerable to climate change. No one is exactly sure what the consequences will be with ice cover losses and increasing air and water temperatures. The need for winter research has never been greater, particularly to help inform management decisions.”

Professor Xenopoulos, one of two Canada Research Chairs involved in the project, will be leading the analyses of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) for ice and water samples from every site of the Winter Grab collaboration. DOC is a major component of the Earth’s carbon cycle and an important player in the functioning of aquatic systems. Prof. Xenopoulos has spent the last 20 years studying this sentinel variable in lakes and rivers across Ontario and the Great Lakes.

“Among its many functions, dissolved organic carbon fuels aquatic food webs and microbes respire it into carbon dioxide,” said Prof. Xenopoulos. “But knowledge of this in winter is virtually unknown.”

Upwards of 30 locations are expected to be sampled by research teams across all five of the lakes during the week of Feb. 14 – the date that has historically marked peak ice cover extent on the Great Lakes. Trent University researchers will sample Lake Ontario’s Bay of Quinte and the southern part of Lake Huron’s Georgian Bay on the Canadian side.

Each research team will collect a large piece of ice and several litres of water for analyses of nutrients, carbon, phytoplankton and algae, and zooplankton. Teams will also submerge sensors to take on-site readings of water temperature, oxygen, chlorophyll and conductivity levels.

“Just looking at the number of sites that are being sampled, the distances being travelled, and analyses being completed, it is evident how significant this collaboration is,” said Dr. Nolan Pearce, a post-doctoral fellow working with Prof. Xenopoulos. “You need these partnerships to build a comprehensive understanding of what is happening across the Great Lakes because of the scale of area, but also because it brings together scientists with their own areas of expertise.”

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