Lake Blitz June Meet-up: Invasive Species Monitoring

INVITE ONLY

Participants will be registered Lake Blitz volunteers who are actively collecting observations on their local lakes across Canada.

In this 75-minute session, Lake Blitz volunteers will learn from invasive species professionals working in B.C. and Ontario, who will share their regional knowledge on how to effectively monitor for invasive species. Our team of speakers will cover everything you need to know from how to identify priority species, how to report sightings and why monitoring is so important for lake ecosystems under a changing climate. In this meeting, there will be plenty of time to ask questions about aquatic invasive species monitoring and about the Lake Blitz monitoring protocol.

It is understood that invasive species encroachment in lake ecosystems will be exacerbated by climate change. Invasive species are thought to be the second largest threat to global biodiversity, second only to habitat loss. As development pressures grow and climate change continues to disrupt ecosystem functions, aquatic invasive species are becoming harder than ever to prevent and control.

Joining us from Ontario will be Rebecca D’Orazio, Aquatic Invasive Species Specialist from the Invasive Species Centre. From British Columbia we will be joined by Katie Swinwood and Cassidy Patton, outreach facilitators from the Invasive Species Council of BC. These three speakers will offer valuable insights into their work and provide a national outlook on how different provinces are protecting lakes from the threat of invasive species.

Participants will be registered Lake Blitz volunteers who are actively collecting observations on their local lakes across Canada.

Hosted by Living Lakes Canada, the National Lake Blitz Program seeks to empower individuals from all over Canada to take an active role in stewarding their local lakes. Through the practice of monitoring for climate change driven impacts such as rising water and air temperatures, and invasive species encroachment we can better understand the state of our lakes through citizen-led data collection.

For more information please contact our Lake Blitz Coordinator, Camille LeBlanc, at lakeblitz@livinglakescanada.ca.