A new paradigm for monitoring the cumulative effects of stressors in the Great Lakes

Tuesday, May 15
Campbell Hall

An IAGLR plenary featuring Kelly Munkittrick

Scientific Director, Canada Research Chair in Ecosystem Health Assessment Canadian Rivers Institute; Professor, Department of Biology, University of New Brunswick

Dr. Munkittrick was appointed Scientific Director of the Canadian Water Network in March 2011, a position where he leads the development of an innovative network focused on providing clean, safe and sustainable water across Canada and internationally.

Dr. Munkittrick is also the Canada Research Chair in Ecosystem Health Assessment in the Canadian Rivers Institute at the University of New Brunswick, where he assesses the environmental impacts of industrial and agricultural activities and develops methods for environmental effects monitoring and cumulative effects assessment of multiple stressors on aquatic environments.

Dr. Munkittrick received a BSc in fish and wildlife biology in 1980 and an MSc in environmental physiology in 1983, both from the University of Guelph, and completed a PhD in 1988 in the Department of Biology at the University of Waterloo.

In 1988 he held a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Guelph, followed by an industrial fellowship at EVS Consultants in North Vancouver, BC from 1989-90. In 1990 he joined the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Great Lakes Laboratory for Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, where he examined the environmental fate and effects of pulp mill effluents in the Great Lakes, and helped write the National Environmental Effects Monitoring regulations.

Dr. Munkittrick joined the National Water Research Institute as Project Chief in 1996 and led a group of scientists in their Ecosystem Health Assessment Project. He was the Associate Director of the Canadian Rivers Institute between 2001 and 2011, and has sat on international boards for scientific societies, technical experts and has led numerous working groups.

Dr. Munkittrick has helped organize numerous international meetings and workshops and has participated in several expert panels. He has active research projects that assess environmental impacts in Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Chile, Uruguay, Brazil, the United States and Canada, and he has worked, taught or given invited lectures in more than 25 countries.