Note: This is our Annual General Meeting.  Club business precedes our regular agenda of sightings and our presentation.

Our Presenter: Dr. Stacey Robinson is a Research Scientist at Environment Canada’s National Wildlife Research Centre in Ottawa.

Neonicotinoids and Their Effects on Amphibians

The Presentation:

Neonicotinoids are a new class of insecticide used in agriculture and can contaminate surface waters via run-off from fields. In recent years, the use of neonicotinoids has been speculatively linked to the collapses of honey bee colonies. Given that neonicotinoids are now the most widely-used insecticides worldwide, with substantial use in Canada, and persist in the environment, there is potential for widespread contamination of agriculture-associated aquatic ecosystems. My project examined the health impacts of neonicotinoid pesticides on aquatic ecosystems by studying the sub-lethal effects on amphibians, specifically wood frogs and northern leopard frogs.

Biography:

Stacey is a Research Scientist at Environment Canada’s National Wildlife Research Centre in Ottawa. Her research program focusses on studying the effects of pesticides and other contaminants on non-target wildlife. Stacey completed her PhD in 2011 at Carleton University where she studied the relationships between contaminants and parasites in double-crested cormorants. Stacey grew up on a hobby farm near Russell, Ontario and her childhood consisted of raising farm animals and camping with her family. She has always been fascinated and appreciative of the natural environment. Her first experiences of field research involved following white-throated sparrows through the forests of Prince George, British Columbia. She was studying the birds’ parasite infections for her undergraduate thesis at Wilfrid Laurier University. Stacey was always encouraged by her parents to follow her passions and she now has her dream job at Environment Canada.

One of Stacey’s Wood Frogs, spending its first day as an adult.