October 2008 Research file
A fine kettle of fish for Laurier researchers Dr. Jim McGeer’s lab is more than just a giant aquarium; it tells a complex story that helps influence environmental policy By Lori Chalmers Morrison
Dr. Jim McGeer, right, and graduate students Amanda Mancini and Tony Straus check one of the lab’s 14 fish tanks.
bioavailability conditions,” says McGeer. “This approach can lead to very conservative criteria set at concentrations less than some natural background concentrations in uncontaminated waters.” According to McGeer, if specific regulations are set for specific areas based on research, then it won’t inhibit industrial activity unnecessarily in areas where the economy relies on a particular industry. What the brown, brook, rainbow trout and lake whitefish in McGeer’s lab have told him so far is they are more susceptible to the effects of metals in soft water environments such as the Canadian Shield. McGeer translates his research results into tools for regulators who balance environmental considerations and meeting the demands of industrial and community users. Upstream from the fish lab, on the fourth floor of the science research centre, McGeer’s graduate students are examining the effects of metals on invertebrates, which can be more
sensitive than fish. This research relates to the fish lab in terms of trophic transfer. “We are interested in how contaminants transfer from one species to another through the food chain,” says McGeer. For example, a contaminant can accumulate in a resistant organism without an effect, but when it becomes food for a fish (or a sensitive invertebrate), it may adversely affect the predator. McGeer’s students are also looking at how metals are transferred through water and dietary routes of exposure. As the director of the Laurier Institute for Water Science (LIWS) launched in June, McGeer is also one of the researchers reeled in from many different disciplines to look at water on a bigger scale. “We’re combining our expertise to understand components of complex systems and how they all fit together,” he says. “There’s climatology, hydrology, ecology, toxicology and public policy aspects. Put together, they’re more than the
sum of their parts.” For example, climate change affects the storage and movement of water within ecosystems, and altered hydrology influences the mobilization and transport of contaminants, which in turn can
Who feeds the fish? “Everyone in the lab is responsible,” says McGeer. “It’s seven days a week, 365 days a year.”
Other people researching with fish at Laurier: Dean of Science Deb MacLatchy (ecotoxicologist and comparative endocrinologist), Michael Wilkie (environmental physiology and toxicology of ancient and modern fishes) and Lucy Lee (non-invasive diagnostic techniques to monitor health of aquatic organisms).
Photos: Lori Chalmers Morrison
If the fish lab in Laurier’s science building is the heart of biology professor Dr. Jim McGeer’s research, then the five pipes that wind around its perimeter pump its life-blood: five distinct types of water that create different testing environments for the lab’s 1,600 fish. These fish aren’t swimming over neon-coloured pebbles or plastic replicas of shipwrecks. The lab’s 14 aquaria are sturdy green plastic drums where the only diversion for the fish is a brief glimpse of light when the lid lifts at feeding time. Their job is simple: swim in different types of water and show how their response to contaminants varies with the different exposure environments. The story the fish have to tell, however, is complex, and relates directly to environmental protection policies. “We’re trying to understand how water chemistry affects the sensitivity of the fish to a variety of toxins,” explains McGeer, who focuses on fish physiology. Simply put, his research allows him to determine what concentration of specific metals in different aquatic environments is not harmful, and what is too much. All elements, including metals, occur naturally in water, and some concentrations increase through urbanization and industrial activity. But it’s not the amount of the contaminant in the water alone that determines its effect on fish; rather, it’s the amount of contaminant combined with the type of water the fish are swimming in. In other words, the bioavailability of a contaminant — the amount a fish actually absorbs — differs when a fish is swimming in soft water, for example, than when it is swimming in calciumenriched hard water. “If regulators don’t understand how the safe level of a contaminant can change from one environment to another, then they set blanket policies based on the most sensitive water and in the worst case, the highest
impact aquatic organisms. LIWS research focuses on two main areas. The first is northern Canada, where researchers are examining how changing climates and industrial development combine to alter aquatic ecosystems. The second area is the Grand River, which researchers hope to develop as a “living laboratory.” “Along the Grand River we find natural heritage, urbanized areas, agriculture, industry and recreational use,” says McGeer. “We’re looking at how the water system can be maintained and sustained with so many different pressures.” LIWS aims to use its research findings to improve the scientific basis of environmental protection regulations and to make policy recommendations related to water management and land-use planning. “Environmental protection is usually looked at one contaminant at a time, often out of the context of the complexities of the natural environment,” says McGeer. “The collaborative nature of LIWS allows us not only to understand the individual parts, but also the bigger picture.” It’s a big fish to fry, but McGeer is part of a school of researchers who are up to the task.
The lab’s 1,600 fish swim in different types of water to determine how water chemistry affects their sensitivity to a variety of toxins.
The biology of Laurier’s fish lab When it was established: In the 1970s. Where the fish come from: Local trout farms and the Ministry of Natural Resources. Number of fish: 1,600 (equal amounts of rainbow, brown and brook trout and late whitefish).
Number of tanks: Eight large, six small, with 11 more large tanks arriving soon. Number of researchers in the lab: Nine — five graduate students, three undergraduate, and one post-doctoral student.
Do they ever name the fish? “Sure, that’s Carl number one to Carl number 67,” grins master’s student Tony Straus. “No, that one over there is Brenda,” laughs grad student Amanda Mancini.
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