This week Brendan chats with Dr. Michael Rennie about the IISD Experimental Lakes Area – or ELA for short.  The ELA is one of the most influential freshwater research facilities in North America, using whole lake experiments to unravel some of the mysterious connections hidden in our natural world. Brendan and Dr. Rennie discuss the history of the ELA and how whole lake experiments help us understand ecology by revealing the indirect connections in ecosystems.  They also discuss some of the ongoing projects in ELA that the Community Ecology & Energetics Lab is currently working on, such as his work to reintroduce extirpated freshwater shrimp into a lake and some new and exciting work on microplastics.

Dr. Rennie is currently recruiting for a PhD position at his lab at Lakehead. Check it out here: CEE Lab PhD opportunity.

Main point: "Take a few minutes and stop and think about that next decision or opinion".

Dr. Rennie can be found at: https://ceelab.ca/contact/ 

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Thanks as always to Andrew Gialanella for the fantastic intro/outro music.

The Fisheries Podcast is a completely independent podcast, not affiliated with a larger organization or entity. Reference to any specific product or entity does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by the podcast. The views expressed by guests are their own and their appearance on the program does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent. Views and opinions expressed by the hosts are those of that individual and do not necessarily reflect the view of any entity with those individuals are affiliated in other capacities (such as employers).