Have you ever wondered how dragonflies and other aquatic insects survive the winter? What impact will climate change have on these important ecological communities? Drill through the ice with Dr. Rosemary Martin to discover the surprisingly active ecosystem that exists below the ice of our ponds and lakes during the winter.  Rosemary “Rosie” Martin will share some cool results from her PhD research on overwintering aquatic invertebrates as well as some under-ice video footage captured in local Ontario ponds.

Dr. Rosemary Martin – Rosie recently defended her PhD in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology department at the University of Toronto Mississauga. Her thesis focused on how aquatic insects overwinter and how the under-ice physical conditions determine who survives, who stays active, who eats whom, and how that all plays into food web and community structure in subsequent seasons. Much of her research was carried out at the Koffler Scientific Reserve, U of T’s field research station located just outside Newmarket. Rosie is currently a postdoctoral research fellow at Michigan State University where she is studying the physiology and energetics of overwintering dragonflies.

This meeting will be on Zoom.

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