The CEELab at Lakehead University is currently seeking students for several upcoming opportunities to begin in 2025 or 2026. While several MSc opportunities are listed, only 1-2 will begin in 2025.

MSc1: Impacts of water diversion on fish populations The student will conduct field work and evaluate long-term data from Lake 626 to evaluate the impacts of water diversion on the fish community (data collection spanning 2008-2024).

MSc2: Long-term variation in the Rainy Lake fishery (start date May 2025) In collaboration with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, the student will conduct field work and evaluate long-term data to determine the current state of the Rainy Lake fishery across all three basins relative to historic data. 

MSc3: Optimization of acoustic surveys for lake size and depth We are seeking a student to investigate the optimization of both single beam and wide-band surveys in ELA lakes. This work includes optimization of traditional mobile surveys but also developing methods to generate quantitative up-looking stationary methods.

MSc4: Investigating the ecology of Lakemounts Using data collected from Superior Shoals in summer 2025, the student will have an opportunity to test theories around the high productivity around lakemounts, or the genetic novelty of lake trout collected from this site. Additional sampling campaigns are being planned for 2026 and 2027. All proposed sampling campaigns would hopefully include the student as part of the sampling team depending on start date and availability of berths on research vessels.

The CEElab is led by Dr. Michael Rennie, a Canada Research Chair in Aquatic Ecology and Fisheries at Lakehead University. He is also a Research Fellow with the IISD-Experimental Lakes Area (ELA). Lakehead University is located on the shores of Lake Superior and is the only research-intensive Canadian University in Northwestern Ontario).

Interested students should send a CV, including cover letter expressing interest and relevant skills, as well as a copy of recent unofficial transcripts to mrennie@lakeheadu.ca. Please include the relevant position number in the e-mail (e.g. MSc1, MSc3) along with the candidate’s name in the subject line. Review of applications will occur as they are received. While the positions are targeted at domestic students, we encourage all qualified applicants from diverse cultural backgrounds and gender identities, indigenous persons, women and visible minorities to apply.