Dr. Kerri Finlay, environmentalist at the University of Regina recently participated in a round-table discussion about issues and possible solutions related to water in Saskatchewan , along with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and MP Ralph Goodale.
Finlay has close ties to Bruce County as she is a graduate of Saugeen District Secondary School (SDSS), and the University of Toronto and University of Guelph.
According to her bio, her research focuses on aquatic ecology and biogeochemistry, specifically investigating the role of Prairie lakes in the global carbon budget, and the effects of anthropogenic activities on lake water quality.
She is interested in determining the role of human activities on the water quality in Saskatchewan Provincial Parks and how to develop ecologically-sound mitigation practices for water quality improvement to maximize the potential for recreational use.
In addition, she is also interested in carbon budgets in prairie lakes and ponds, and how carbon dynamics interact with climate change. “We have recently shown that prairie lakes are becoming stronger carbon sinks as the climate warms, and future research projects will examine additional factors such the effect of droughts, and severity of storms on carbon cycling in these systems,” she says.
Today, Finlay is Professor of Biology in the Science department of the University of Regina in Regina, Saskatchewan.