Environmental Studies

A recent collaborative research project between scientists from academia and government agencies has identified climate warming as the dominant driver of an increase in algal growth in the Athabasca oilsands region of northern Alberta.

Researchers used dated lake sediment cores to reconstruct past algal production and industrial impact at 23 remote, helicopter-accessed lakes in the oilsands region. Snowpack samples were also used to determine the nutrient deposition across the landscape.

Joining colleagues and conservationists from around the world, Dr. Stephen Lougheed (Biology and Environmental Studies) recently traveled to China to deliver public talks for Shanghai International Nature Conservation Week and the grand opening of the Shanghai Museum of Natural History.

Dr. Stephen Lougheed is also the Director of the Queen's University Biological Station. 

Queen’s University professor Peter Hodson has joined a new Royal Society of Canada panel that will study oil spills and their impacts on freshwater and marine environments.

Peter Hodson has been named to a new Royal Society of Canada panel dedicated to studying the impact of oil spills.

Queen’s University today announced the creation of a “two-plus-two” degree program, in partnership with China’s Tongji University.

The program will see Tongji students study for two years at its College of Environmental Science and Engineering in Shanghai, before coming to Kingston for two years of study in Queen’s School of Environmental Studies. Graduates will earn a Bachelor of Science degree in environmental science from Queen’s.

Sophie Kiwala, M.P.P. for Kingston and the Islands would like to invite all Queen's students to join her for the announcement of the re-introduction of the Invasive Species Act on Friday, November 7th at 11:30am in Room 3110 of Queen's Bioscience Complex, 116 Barrie Street.

Invasive species such as zebra mussels and phragmites cost the province tens of millions of dollars a year. Others not yet in Ontario, such as Asian carp and the mountain pine beetle, are serious ecological and economic threats.

Nine Queen’s University faculty members have been elected to the Royal Society of Canada, the highest number of inductees the university has had in one year. Fellowship in the RSC is one of the highest recognitions for Canadian academics in the arts, humanities, and the social and natural sciences. Seven of the nine electees are from the Faculty of Arts and Science!

Queen’s University scientist Dr. John P. Smol goes deep below the surface of our lakes and rivers to uncover the secrets of our environmental history, written in mud and silt. His collaborator and half-brother, Dr. Jules Blais, is a University of Ottawa environmental toxicologist who studies the effects of industrial pollutants on ecological systems. Dr. Blais’ toxicological work helps define past environmental stressors, while Dr. Smol’s ecological work characterizes the ecosystem responses to these stressors.