Research Interests

I am a 2^nd year Master’s student at Laval University (Québec City, Canada) co-directed by Dr. Warwick Vincent and Dr. Reinhard Pienitz. My research focuses on developing a predictive model of cyanobacterial blooms in freshwater lakes using paleolimnological evidence, nutrient loading, and climatic variations. I have hypothesized that the analysis of fossil pigments from cyanobacteria along with a variety of environmental variables, including levels of nitrogen species, phosphorus and historical climate information such as average precipitation, temperature and more can be used to provide a global temporal perspective of lakes. My project seeks to create a model to predict blooms based on relationships that include timeline of past blooms, knowledge of lake history with respect to eutrophication, climate, and water chemistry.

Throughout my research I have become increasingly aware of the current situation facing the worlds’ freshwater resources and importance of developing tools to model the complex dynamics of freshwater ecosystems to assess risks. I am interested in spatial-temporal modelling of freshwater dynamics and in advancing current techniques to overcome some of the greatest challenges of freshwater research. I am also passionate about finding methods to effectively publish information such that it can be accessible to students, researchers, scientists, decision makers and the public on both a local and global scale.