Canada's Research Lakes

NewsBlog at Nature:

“Fans of environmental science can now have a direct role in helping Canada’s unique Experimental Lakes Area (ELA) continue to do the research it has done for decades.

The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), based in Winnipeg, took over running the ELA on 1 April, after the federal government eliminated funding for the decades-old environmental research facility (see ‘Test lakes face closure’ and ‘Last minute reprieve for Canada’s research lakes’). The Canadian provinces of Ontario and Manitoba have stepped in to provide money to run the facility and conduct research for the next several years, but more cash is needed to restore research at the ELA to its former levels.

So the IISD has turned to the public. It launched an appeal on the crowdfunding site Indiegogo seeking contributions to expand research and make the ELA less dependent on government largesse.”

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Maintaining the Long View→

Amelia Apfel, reporting for ENSIA:

“The Experimental Lakes Area, a network of 58 lakes in northwestern Ontario that has provided a unique outdoor laboratory for long-term ecological research and monitoring since 1968, recently came dangerously close to shutting down.

The ELA has one of the most complete sets of water quality information in the world and a long history of research on topics that are important to the public and policy-makers, including mercury pollution, harmful algal blooms and the impact of aquaculture on native fish populations. The studies are applicable to lakes on every continent.

Even so, the Canadian government announced in 2012 that it would pull the funding that keeps the field station running to save at least $1.5 million a year, part of a massive austerity plan. The ELA shut down briefly in April 2013 and has been open only on a limited basis since May.”

One hopes that the lake research community finds a way to make this work.