Monday, November 7, 2011

Featured Professional: Jennifer Winter


Jennifer Winter is a senior scientist with the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, and directs nutrient monitoring programs for inland lakes and the Great Lakes. She also is acting supervisor for the Sport Fish and Biomonitoring Unit, the group responsible for the monitoring of contaminant levels in fish tissues throughout Ontario.

Jennifer’s path to a career in science began in England, where she earned a B.Sc. in Environmental Biology (Univ. of Liverpool) and a M.Sc. in Pollution and Environmental Control (Univ. of Manchester). She then moved to the Univ. of Waterloo (not England!) and the Ministry’s Dorset Environmental Science Centre (www.desc.ca).
Jennifer’s interest and background in environmental sciences forms the basis of a diverse research program on lakes at risk. She has studied the recovery of Sudbury area lakes, the effects of multiple stressors on the phytoplankton communities of Canadian Shield lakes and Lake Simcoe, trends in nutrient and chloride loading to Lake Simcoe, and trends in algal bloom reporting by the public. Currently, she is involved with a large, collaborative research project on Lake Simcoe which explores how key processes such as nutrient loading and climate variability affect the ecology of the lake.