At the end of January 2025 we had our annual team workshop in Ottawa, with a record breaking 30 in-person attendees. Over two full days we heard from researchers and students about the research they have conducted on the fate and effects of microplastics in freshwater ecosystems, including results from mesocosm experiments and preliminary findings from the whole-lake experiment. We spent lots of time discussing plans for how and what we will sample in 2025-2026 to best capture all the intricate compartments of the lake ecosystem and how it responds to microplastics, even after we’ve stopped adding them.
We celebrated the start of many publications that have come from this project, and discussed future publication plans in the works. We continued our discussions and team building over some games of pool, and ended the workshop with a magical skate on the Rideau Canal. And now with the close of another fabulous meeting, we start to look forward to the upcoming field season, feeling inspired and rejuvenated!
The pELAstic Project 