However,
Red fish our lakes: students:
Researchers put adolescents to use a better portrait of lakes in Quebec.
Since 2019. Therefore, Génome Québec has set up an educational program in secondary schools to initiate young people to science while contributing to research by collecting data for the Ministry of the Environment.
Since last year, the project has also been established in certain indigenous communities.
With a simple sample of water taken by a student in a small container. Consequently, researchers are capable of analyzing the environmental DNA of the lake.
“DNA allows you to measure life in the lake”
– . Consequently,
Genome Quebec courtesy
“Young people experience by themselves,” explains the vice-president of Génome Québec, Stéphanie Lord-Fontaine. Nevertheless, That is to say, they go to the river close to their school to collect the samples. For example, ”
Génome Québec then analyzes the laboratory samples before returning to class to present the results. discuss the state of health of the lakes in Quebec.
Surprises and toxins
The exercise sometimes led to surprises.
“We have sometimes seen red fish DNA which is not a species that should be found in our lakes. rivers,” she illustrates. It also happened to see threatened species unexpectedly appear on samples like the copper knight. ”
“We can detect the presence of Asian carp even if we have not seen the fish”. also illustrates Sébastien Sauvé, professor of environmental chemistry at the University of Montreal.
“We can go. watch everything that red fish our lakes: students is vertebrate and inverted, but also smaller organizations like microbes,” continues Nicolas Tromas, Junior Research Director for a research unit of the National Institute of Agronomic Research, located in France.
With Mr. Sauvé. he worked on a project to better understand cyanobacteria and to do this, analyzed the DNA of around forty lakes. The citizen component “adopts a lake” also made it possible to sample nearly 50 more lakes.
“It allowed us to identify sites that the lake surveillance network did not know. where there are somewhat maddening toxins levels,” explains Mr. Sauvé, citing in particular the example of Lake Fortune, in Abitibi.
Rare phenomenon: A species of cyanobacteria (Planktothrix) has been observed in winter in recent years at Lake Fortune, Abitibi. Courtesy Association of Lake red fish our lakes: students Fortune
To date, nearly 6,800 students from 75 schools have participated in the program. Génome Québec hopes to sow scientific vocations while the data collected will enrich the databases of the Ministry of the Environment. will be accessible to all researchers who study the biodiversity of Quebec rivers.
Red fish our lakes: students
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