McGill University
M.Sc. candidate
Supervisor: Kyle Elliott
Raphaël Lavoie, ECCC
Start: 2021-09-01
End: 2023-08-31

Project

Biomagnification and spatial distribution of mercury in the Gulf of Saint-Lawrence
I study the prevalence of mercury in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence ecosystem, particularly in high trophic level prey. Mercury is an important contaminant for both wildlife and humans, and little is known about its ability to biomagnify up the food web into high-level consumers like northern gannets (Morus bassanus), and its distribution in the Gulf of Sain-Lawrence. In my project, I use amino-acid specific and bulk stable isotopes to track the trophic transfers of mercury into northern gannets. I also use GPS tracks pinpointing prey captures to map out the isoscapes and mercury chemoscape of the Gulf.

Keywords

Mercury, stable isotopes, northern gannets, Fish, biomagnification, isoscapes & chemoscapes