Embedding with the “Guardians of the Great Lakes”

Winter is the least studied season in the Great Lakes, yet its changing ice cover dictates critical ecosystem processes that remain poorly understood.

A new collaborative network aims to fill the massive data gap in winter research across the Great Lakes through coordinated sampling and shared infrastructure.

A Russian-Swiss interdisciplinary project reveals how under-ice convections and ice quality drive ecosystem development and carbon emissions in Lake Onego.

Winter ecology demands resilience and flexibility, as seen in the comeback of cisco populations in Lake Ontario and the challenges of fieldwork in freezing conditions.

With ice cover declining rapidly, the scientific community must urgently coordinate winter research to understand climate impacts before the data is lost forever.

Winter conditions drive divergent activity patterns in fish species, promoting coexistence in ways that shorter winters due to climate change may threaten.

Continuous winter monitoring in Lake Erie reveals shifting metabolic states and CO2 fluxes, offering a glimpse into the lake's future low-ice conditions.

Deep-water fish like round gobies and alewives migrate significantly between seasons, with winter diets and behaviors differing sharply from summer patterns.

Earlier winter runoff correlates with lower summer phytoplankton biomass in temperate lakes, suggesting winter conditions set the stage for summer productivity.

Jana Levison evaluates the effectiveness of restoration projects for fish species at risk across Southwestern Ontario as part of the FishCAST program.

Dominique Rumball investigates groundwater quantity and quality, focusing on nutrient transport and climate change impacts in the Great Lakes basin.