Jennifer Korosi, assistant professor of geography and environmental science in the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change, will deliver the J.C. Stevenson Memorial Lecture Feb. 17 at the 2021 Canadian Conference for Fisheries Research, held Feb. 15 to 19.
Presented jointly by the Canadian Committee on Freshwater Fisheries Research and the Society of Canadian Limnologists, this national conference brings together diverse research on a variety of topics and projects within fisheries, including the science, management and issues facing our waters and resources today. The theme for this year’s virtual conference is “Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Aquatic Sciences and Management.”
The Stevenson Lectureship, sponsored by Canadian Science Publishing, is a prestigious lectureship instituted in memory of Cam Stevenson, the long-time editor of the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. The lectureship is conferred upon a young, energetic and creative researcher at the cutting-edge of an aquatic discipline.
Korosi’s lecture will explore the impacts of thawing permafrost on the surface waters of the Northwest Territories. Permafrost is a dominant feature of the Canadian landscape, and it is warming rapidly. Unprecedented rates of permafrost thaw is a major stressor on northern freshwater ecosystems that has implications for water quantity and quality, as well as the livelihoods and well-being of northerners. Her talk will summarize the current state of knowledge on the impacts of permafrost thaw on northern lakes, from catastrophic lake drainage and expanding lakes, to shoreline slumping, drunken forests and wetland expansion. Waterscapes of the Northwest Territories will be emphasized, where recent advances in the mapping of permafrost condition and land characteristics provide exciting opportunities to document limnological responses to varying modes of disturbance from thawing permafrost. Korosi will also highlight opportunities for predicting and mitigating the impacts of permafrost thaw on water resources arising from cross-disciplinary approaches and co-partnerships between government, academia and Indigenous communities, including the Dehcho Collaborative on Permafrost.
Korosi’s research examines the nature and underlying mechanisms of lake ecosystem change over long timescales (decades to millennia) by interpreting physical, chemical and biological information preserved in sediment cores. Her work has explored lake responses to a multitude of environmental stressors across Canada, including acidification and calcium decline, contaminants, watershed development and climate change.
Korosi is also a past recipient of the Julian M. Szeicz Award for Early Career Achievement from the Canadian Association of Geographers, and the inaugural Early Researcher Award from the International Paleolimnology Association.