Research Team >> M.Sc. Students >> Cecilia Chung

Cecilia Chung (2010-2013)

To be honest, ecology wasn't always my passion. I didn't realize how much I liked it until my last year of undergraduate studies (I was convinced I was going into pathology). I ended up graduating with a B.Sc. in Ecology from the University of Calgary, and spent the following summer and fall working as a research assistant in Dr. Lee Jackson's lab. Working on the rivers and lakes was a terrific experience - I also had so much fun I decided to pursue my M.Sc. in the same lab! My previous experience was working with Didymosphenia geminata, an algae that has been causing nuisance blooms in Alberta rivers. I was interested in the effects different levels of bloom had on higher trophic levels, namely brook trout (Salvelinus fontanalis). My interests have since shifted to cumulative effects and alternate states ; how are nutrients accumulating over space and time, and what subsequent effects does this bring? Given tghese changes, could rivers demonstrate alternate states? I propose to investigate changes along the Bow River, Alberta as a result of point-source stressors (wastewater treatment plants). I expect to find changes in primary production as a result of changing nutrient concentrations, which would lead to changes in diel oxygen cycles. There are indirect, negative implications for higher trophic levels as a result of dissolved oxygen fluxes, so I am interested in using longnose dace (Rhyinichthys cataractae) as a sentinel species to determine how fish may be affected. I have quite a number of questions I want to answer, and the process is definitely exciting! On top of all of that, fieldwork is amazing. Working outside in the sun, in the outdoors - what more can I ask for? Note: Cecilia is currently working for Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development on a phosphorus management plan for the Bow River and South Saskatchewan River Basin. She was hired just before her defence.