Most research on the Great Lakes takes place in the spring, summer and early fall. In a CBC radio interview, Dr. Mike McKay, Director of GLIER, points to the need for increased research on the lakes during the winter to gain a better picture of what's happening to the lakes during the colder months. With winters being increasingly variable in terms of temperature and ice cover, especially in Lake Erie which is the most shallow of the Great Lakes, it's important to understand how the ecosystem is affected by these changes, as well as the impacts on the shorelines. Dr. McKay also points to the need for increased wastewater surveillance around the Great Lakes, to monitor for things like Covid and more recently, Measles, as well as potentially for illicit drugs, as funding for wastewater surveillance was scaled back after the peak of the Covid pandemic.