Laura Neary

2021 Weston Family Awards in Northern Research recipient

PhD student
University of Waterloo

Laura is a PhD student at the University of Waterloo and has been lucky enough to visit and work within the Peace-Athabasca Delta (Treaty 8), on the traditional homelands of the Mikisew Cree First Nation, Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation and Métis. Her research addresses concerns over lake drying and has culminated to the development of a hydrological monitoring program for the shallow lakes within the delta. This work has contributed to a key priority of the Federal Action Plan, through implementation of the monitoring program which is now financially supported by the federal government and led by local Parks Canada employees and community-based monitoring groups. The next step in her research journey is to apply similar methods and tools used in the Peace-Athabasca Delta to another Ramsar Wetland in the Northwest Territories, the nesting location for the endangered whooping crane, to understand lake hydrology at primary nesting site locations.

Learn more about the Weston Family Awards in Northern Research.