The Great Lakes will have a network of well-equipped guardians thanks to a plan hatched by a UWindsor researcher with funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation and Ontario’s Ministry of Research, Innovation and Science and Ministry of Economic Development and Growth.

Aaron Fisk and his nine collaborators will receive $15.9 million for the Real-time Aquatic Ecosystem Observation Network (RAEON), a collaborative research project which will provide infrastructure and data management for Canadian scientists to carry-out cutting-edge research on freshwater ecosystems.

“The lack of action on freshwater ecosystems by Canada is obvious when examining disproportionate spending by American versus Canadian federal governments on Great Lakes issues,” said Dr. Fisk, the Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Changing Great Lakes Ecosystems. “The Real-time Aquatic Ecosystem Observation Network will provide the instruments and staff to carry out comprehensive and multidisciplinary research to understand and support management of the Great Lakes, and will be a reference for researchers worldwide who are investigating freshwater ecosystems.”

The funding will allow Fisk and his team of researchers from Carleton, Trent, and Western universities, and collaborators from the United States, to create a network of real-time sensors, autonomous sub-surface vehicles and an extensive collection of independent instruments.

A portion of the funding will also go to build a 223-square metre addition to the University of Windsor’s existing Freshwater Restoration Ecology Centre in LaSalle.

This addition will provide space for preparing, calibrating and maintaining the RAEON instruments and equipment, preparation and surgeries related to telemetry and biologging applications and developing, storing and analyzing collected samples associated with the network’s research program.

The Great Lakes are pictured at sunset in this 2012 NASA satellite image.

Fisk, a professor at the Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research and Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, said the most significant challenge for researchers in the next 20 years will be understanding the impacts of the rapid changes in ecosystem processes and function associated with climate change and maintaining ecosystem services.

“As home to 20 per cent of the world’s total freshwater resources, Canada has a global responsibility to protect these freshwater ecosystems,” Fisk said. “Despite their importance to Canada’s social, economic and environmental health, freshwater ecosystems are threatened and vulnerable; yet they remain understudied and underfunded.”

Among the many areas of focus to be studied, Fisk said the new infrastructure and data management will assist in forecasting and responding to current threats like nutrient pollution and early detection of future threats, such as Asian carp.

“This network will give leaders in government, industry and even individual Canadian households the comprehensive science-based data they need to make effective, responsive policy and management decisions,” Fisk said.

“RAEON will keep Canada at the forefront of aquatic research and technology development, allowing us to be a global leader in the conservation of freshwater ecosystems.”

Dylan Kristy

A week of giveaways and fun will mark the Organization of Part-time University Students’ first annual Winter Appreciation Week, through January 12.

While supplies last, part-time undergraduates may claim a free gift package of promotional materials —including a day planner listing academic resources and support services — from the organization’s office in room 172, CAW Student Centre.

Border City Wrestling will provide entertainment and action in the centre’s Commons area at 7 p.m. Wednesday, January 10.

The OPUS Lounge will serve up free pizza at 12:30 p.m. Friday, January 12, and continue through the semester every Friday at the same time, same place.

Learn more on the OPUS website.

Annual passes entitling employees to participate in casual dress days each Thursday are now available for just $50 from the campus campaign for United Way.

The University has approved casual dress days every Thursday through 2018. Donations by cash or cheque are tax-deductible and the United Way will issue income tax receipts at the end of the year.

The passes are available for purchase from campus campaign co-chair Sheri Lowrie at sherio@uwindsor.ca or 519-253-3000, ext. 3977.

Lowrie also has tickets for the “Dinner for Two Anywhere in the World” raffle, which offers a chance to win a trip for two to any location in the world while supporting United Way programs in Windsor and Essex County.

The draw date is January 26; tickets are $10 each or three for $25. Find details on the United Way website.

Do you plan on hiring a student for the summer 2018? The federal government’s Canada Summer Jobs program provides funding to help employers create summer job opportunities for students.

It is designed to focus on local priorities, while helping both students and their communities. As a public sector employer, the University of Windsor is eligible to receive funding for up to 50 per cent of minimum hourly wage for positions between 30 and 40 hours per week for six to16 weeks over the summer.

The Office of Career Development and Experiential Learning will work in partnership with the Department of Finance to coordinate one Canada Summer Jobs application on behalf of the University of Windsor to include all of the individual job proposals received by the internal deadline.

The deadline to submit a proposal and have it included in the University of Windsor application is Friday, January 26. Faculty and staff interested in hiring a summer student can find more detailed information about the criteria and access the online job proposal form on the Office of Career Development and Experiential Learning’s website.

All applications for positions at the University of Windsor must follow this process so that they may be signed by someone with the authority to enter an agreement on behalf of the University. Note: this program is not the same as the Student Experience Program funded by the provincial government. Information about that program will be posted as it becomes available.

An information session to review the application process and answer questions is set for Wednesday, January 17, at 10 a.m. in room 100, Joyce Entrepreneurship Centre — interested faculty and staff can register online.

Angela Sullivan, secretary in the information services department of the Leddy Library, won Thursday’s DailyNews trivia contest and its prize of two tickets to the Ianni Scholarship Competition on January 14 in the SoCA Armouries.

Sullivan’s entry was drawn from all those which correctly identified “Calendar Girl” as a hit for Neil Sedaka, Betty Francis as the character played by January Jones on Mad Men, and Two-Face as the Batman villain most resembling the two-faced Roman god Janus.

Top student musicians based on their grades in the December performance juries will vie for the $500 Ron W. Ianni Memorial Scholarship in Music Performance on Sunday. This scholarship was established in 2005 by Mina Grossman-Ianni and the School of Music to honour the late president of the University of Windsor. Tickets are $15, with a student price of $5.