SCIENCE & RESEARCH
LAND
FRONTIERS IN GEOCHEMISTRY
Glaciovolcanic cave biogeochemistry
Christian Stenner
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Hidden beneath Mount Meager’s Job Glacier is the only known glaciovolcanic cave system in North America steadily releasing sulphur-rich gases. Samples collected inside revealed acidic, sulphate-rich conditions and a diverse microbial community with the potential to use both carbon and sulphur. The findings also point to the cave as a possible analogue for icy ocean worlds such as Saturn’s moon Enceladus.
FRONTIERS IN GEOCHEMISTRY
Biogeochemistry of the rare sulfidic glaciovolcanic cave system on Mount Meager, British Columbia, Canada
CHRISTIAN STENNER
10TH INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON ICE CAVES
Glaciovolcanic cave formation and microclimate
Christian Stenner
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Glaciovolcanic caves are temporary landscapes, continually reshaped from below by volcanic heat and from above by moving ice. Drawing on field observations from several volcanoes, the research examines how heat, airflow and volcanic gases influence the formation and changing shape of these rare cave systems, building a broader picture of how volcanoes and glaciers interact.
10TH INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON ICE CAVES
Morphodynamics, morphology, and
microclimate of glaciovolcanic cave systems
CHRISTIAN STENNER
FRONTIERS UNBOUND: EXPLORING EXTREME ENVIRONMENTS
Glaciovolcanic caves as planetary analogues
Christian Stenner
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Dark, nutrient-poor and warmed by volcanic activity, glaciovolcanic caves share surprising characteristics with environments beyond Earth. Research spanning Mount Meager and volcanoes in the Cascade Range found distinct microclimates and microbial communities, including some that may survive on volcanic or trace atmospheric gases. These similarities could help inform the search for life on worlds such as Mars and Enceladus.
FRONTIERS UNBOUND: EXPLORING EXTREME ENVIRONMENTS
The environment of glaciovolcanic caves
and their value as planetary analogues
CHRISTIAN STENNER
CANADIAN JOURNAL OF FOREST RESEARCH
Post-fire forest regeneration failure
Ellen Whitman
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After a wildfire, a forest does not always grow back as the forest that came before it. Across western North America, hotter and drier conditions are making it harder for conifers to regenerate, raising the possibility of lasting shifts in some landscapes. This review examines how drought and changing fire regimes can combine to push forests beyond their capacity to recover.
CANADIAN JOURNAL OF FOREST RESEARCH
Considering regeneration failure in the context of changing climate and disturbance regimes in western North America
ELLEN WHITMAN
FACETS
Cultural and prescribed fire in Canada
Kira Hoffman
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Bringing cultural and prescribed fire back to western Canadian landscapes requires more than knowledge about how to burn. Drawing on five case studies, this perspective examines the people and organizations working across Indigenous knowledge, Western science, policy and fire practice to build trust and turn knowledge into action. The authors argue that investing in these “boundary spanners” is critical to expanding collaborative fire stewardship.
FACETS
Boundary spanners catalyze cultural
and prescribed fire in Western Canada
KIRA HOFFMAN
QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS
Long-term boreal fire regimes
Dorian Gaboriau
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Thousands of years of fire history are preserved in the sediments of northern lakes. Charcoal records from the central Northwest Territories show that warmer conditions alone did not produce the largest and most severe fires. Abundant vegetation also had to be available to burn, revealing how climate and fuel interact to shape boreal fire regimes over long periods.
QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS
Temperature and fuel availability control fire size/severity in the boreal forest of the central Northwest Territories
DORIAN GABORIAU
GENEALOGY
Indigenous science, technology and society
Jessica Kolopenuk
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What might science look like when understood through Indigenous thought rather than defined by Western institutions? Drawing on the Cree concept of miskâsowin, or finding one's sense of origin and belonging, Jessica Kolopenuk articulates an Indigenous approach to science, technology and society grounded in Indigenous knowledge, relationships and ways of knowing.
GENEALOGY
Miskâsowin: Indigenous Science, Technology, and Society
JESSICA KOLOPENUK
WATER
ECOLOGICAL
APPLICATIONS
50 years of kelp forest change
Brian Timmer
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Newly rediscovered surveys from 1972 revealed just how much the northern Salish Sea has changed. More than 550 hectares of bull kelp forest documented half a century ago are now gone, while other cold-water species have declined sharply. The research suggests that warming summer waters are reshaping the region’s kelp forest communities.
ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS
Historical data reveal extirpation of foundation species and kelp forest community deborealization in a coastal hotspot
BRIAN TIMMER
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY LETTERS
Mercury transport in the Yukon River
Kasia Staniszewska
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Permafrost thaw was thought to be a major source of the Yukon River’s unusually high mercury levels. But sampling across the Canadian portion of the watershed revealed a different summer source: glacier-fed tributaries carried high concentrations of mercury associated with sediments eroded from the landscape. The findings show how glaciers can influence the movement of naturally occurring mercury through northern watersheds.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY LETTERS
Glacial Erosion Drives High Summer
Mercury Exports from the Yukon River, Canada
KASIA STANISZEWSKA
REMOTE SENSING
OF ENVIRONMENT
Long-term retreat of Milne Glacier
Anna Crawford
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Nearly six decades of observations reveal a glacier steadily losing its grip on the seafloor. Satellite, airborne and ground-based radar data show that Milne Glacier’s grounding line retreated approximately three kilometres between 1966 and 2023, with the greatest retreat on its western side. Its underlying topography may leave the glacier vulnerable to further retreat as the High Arctic continues to warm.
REMOTE SENSING OF ENVIRONMENT
Grounding-line retreat of Milne Glacier, Ellesmere Island, over 1966–2023 from satellite, airborne, and ground radar data
ANNA CRAWFORD
FOREST ECOLOGY
AND MANAGEMENT
Forestry impacts on freshwater ecosystems
Dalal Hanna
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Decades of research have examined how timber harvesting affects streams, but important gaps remain. A review of 638 studies found that most focused on water quality rather than aquatic life, lasted five years or less and often overlooked harvesting at the watershed scale. The evidence points to where longer-term research is needed to better understand how freshwater ecosystems respond to forestry.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
An evidence map of research assessing the effects of timber harvesting on water quality, biotic and biodiversity indicators in running waters
DALAL HANNA
WILDLIFE
NATURE REVIEWS BIODIVERSITY
Pacific salmon and cumulative injustices
Sara Cannon
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The pressures facing Pacific salmon extend beyond habitat loss and declining populations. This review traces how ecological change and a history of colonial policies have created inequities that compound over time, affecting both salmon and Indigenous Peoples whose cultures, rights and responsibilities are tied to them. The authors argue that recovery requires addressing these interconnected injustices alongside the ecological threats facing salmon.
art credit: http://movement74.ca
NATURE REVIEWS BIODIVERSITY
Pacific salmon and cumulative injustices
in Canada and the USA
SARA CANNON
MOLECULAR
ECOLOGY
Environmental RNA as a measure of heat stress
Robert Masaki Hechler
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A water sample can reveal which species are present through environmental DNA. Could it also reveal how those organisms are responding to stress? Experiments using environmental RNA detected changes in gene expression as aquatic communities were exposed to increasing temperatures, pointing to a potential new way to monitor ecosystem health without capturing or sacrificing animals.
MOLECULAR ECOLOGY
Environmental transcriptomics under heat stress:
Can environmental RNA reveal changes in gene expression of aquatic organisms?
BRIAN TIMMER
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY
Heat risk in artificial bat roosts
Zenon Czenze
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Bat boxes can provide important shelter, but during extreme heat they can become dangerously hot. Measurements from artificial roosts near Lillooet, British Columbia, found temperatures high enough to push some bats beyond their ability to regulate body temperature. The research shows how roost design and placement can influence heat risk as extreme temperatures become more common.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY
Overheating bat boxes put bats in peril
ZENON CZENZE
MARINE MAMMAL
SCIENCE
Killer whale prey-sharing behaviour
Valeria Vergara
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Some of the social lives of killer whales unfold too subtly to see from a boat. A decade of drone imagery revealed prey sharing among both Northern and Southern Resident killer whales, with adult females playing a central role. Northern Residents appeared to share more often and in larger portions, offering new insight into how food moves through these closely related whale societies.
MARINE MAMMAL SCIENCE
Using Drone-Derived Imagery to Describe Prey Sharing Behaviours in Two Piscivorous Resident Killer Whale Populations
VALERIA VERGARA
HISTORY & CULTURE
PEERJ
Discovery of Ferrisaurus sustutensis
Victoria Arbour
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A partial skeleton discovered decades ago in northern British Columbia turned out to represent a dinosaur new to science. Victoria Arbour and David Evans identified Ferrisaurus sustutensis, a small horned dinosaur that lived near the end of the Cretaceous Period. The discovery helped establish the scientific potential of the Sustut Basin, where Trebek-supported expeditions are now uncovering a much richer record of ancient life.
PEERJ
A new leptoceratopsid dinosaur from Maastrichtian-aged deposits of the Sustut Basin, northern British Columbia, Canada
VICTORIA ARBOUR
CANADIAN JOURNAL
OF EARTH SCIENCES
Cretaceous ecosystems of the Sustut Basin
Victoria Arbour
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Northern British Columbia’s Sustut Basin preserves a little-known record of life near the end of the age of dinosaurs. Fossils from the region helped establish the age of these rocks and revealed a diverse ancient ecosystem that included dinosaurs, turtles, fish and plants. The research provided an important foundation for the Trebek-supported expeditions now uncovering new fossil sites in the region.
CANADIAN JOURNAL OF EARTH SCIENCES
Cretaceous flora and fauna of the Sustut Group near the Sustut River, northern British Columbia, Canada
VICTORIA ARBOUR
